What 8 Star Wars Characters Can Teach You About Living Well

∗NO SPOILERS IN HERE for The Force Awakens∗

Habits are hard to change.

New Year’s resolutions are A New Hope but so often they fall like the Death Star, shattered before completion.

We all want to embrace the Light Side yet our resolve too easily succumbs to temptation.  Come the end of January can your will still be strong enough to push on, day in, day out, until the end of February? June? Next Year?

After all, we want to change our habits to get better outcomes, a better life.  It’s hard but if you pay attention to the consequences of your lifestyle rather than short term choices, you can see where you are going and that can keep you away from the Dark Side.

Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

George Lucas’ Star Wars saga has brought us so much, including insights on the repercussions of how one lives their life.  Let’s take a look at a few of the iconic characters that display the power lifestyle choices have on our destiny.

Jabba the Hutt

You’ve probably heard “sitting is the new smoking“.  Well, Jabba sits ALL the time plus he smokes.  He also eats a lot and is not mindful about it at all.  I don’t seem to recall him eating any plants, just strange creatures.  His mindset is full of malice and greed.  He’s a bully, sexist and a tyrant.

Where does this get him?

Firstly, look at the guy. He’s morbidly obese, probably has diabetes and a host of metabolic disorders. His skin oozes.  His face is swollen and he struggles to move.

Secondly, he ends up strangled because of his poor mobility and compromised respiratory system.  His treatment of women is directly responsible for his ultimate fate.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Everywhere you turn these days, the value of meditation is being praised.  It’s no longer just the realm of monks and mystics. CEOs, entertainers and athletes are also utilizing it for the multitude of benefits they get.  Well, Old Ben Kenobi is a case study in the value of the meditative life.

His patience is incredible.  I mean he had to deal with Anakin’s tantrums and Luke’s impulsivity.  Even though he was one of the most powerful and experienced characters in the galaxy, he quietly lived on a desert planet for years, keeping watch over a young Luke for the potential he could fulfil one day.

Obi-Wan almost always acted with respect, grace and kindness.  He is the ultimate giver – sacrificing his own life to ensure that good triumphed over evil by permitting the Millennium Falcon to escape the Death Star and consequently, allowing Luke and crew to come back and destroy this scourge on life.

When he is finally struck down by his former Padawan, his transcendent mindset is demonstrated as his body vanishes and his spirit lives on as he “become[s] more powerful than you can possibly imagine”.

General Grievous

Technology is great but rely on it too much and neglect your body and you’ll end up like the General. Grievous is not a droid, he is a cyborg, reflective of how endlessly connected many of us are.  Always on our smart phones, watching TV excessively, hunched over a keyboard for work and hardly finding the time to get out in nature, drop the electronics and move freely with our head up and shoulders back has caused a host of health issues.

Grievous’ is so wrapped up in technology’s advantages that even with all his added abilities his physical form is compromised.  He has a terrible posture, slouching forward like a keyboard warrior and can’t get rid of his chronic cough.  If he focused on his physical health more, he wouldn’t be so grumpy.

Princess Leia

Too often people let their health slide to work harder with the hope of greater success.  Being busy doesn’t translate into better results.  Balance and working smarter are much more effective for sustained results.

Just like her mother, Padmé Amidala, Leia is an example of a strong, smart woman, who leads through action and strategy.  She displays incredible balance as a diplomat, with exceptional cognitive function, as well as a warrior, with physical strength, skill and endurance.

There’s no need to sacrifice physical health for your career and vice versa.  Leia shows that when you build a strong, capable body, your mind is sharper and people take you more seriously.  More than once, she saved her ‘rescuers’.

The value of a mind-body approach to life results in a great leader who can hold their own in all arenas of life.

Palpatine, The Emperor, Darth Sidious

The Emperor prays on people’s insecurities and is always driven by selfishness.  This makes him blind to his own weaknesses.  His mindset is one of scarcity as he needs to squash others voices.  Constant negativity ultimately turns his immense power against him – his creation, Darth Vader, becomes the instrument of his demise.

A life lived solely for power with the use of manipulation to get it, doesn’t end well.  While power might come, you end up alone and even those closest to you will not truly support you in the end.  If you wish to be followed, love beats fear.

It’s also worth mentioning that wearing a giant hood over your face at all times is going to block the best source of vitamin D, the sun, from supporting your hormonal health, aiding in cancer prevention and improving the quality of your skin. I mean look at this guys pale, wrinkly face!

Luke Skywalker

Spending time outside, knowing how to grow your own food, learning how to fix things yourself, having integrity, loyalty and being a good student will get you everywhere in life.  Before he knew anything about the Force and Luke lived on a farm, he displayed these traits.

Luke was humble enough to help out at his uncle’s farm, open minded enough to listen to Old Ben’s teachings and down to earth enough to hang out in a swamp and learn from a small, old creature who spoke with strange syntax.

While he struggled with his impulsivity, he is Anakin’s son you know, he embraced his mother’s characteristics in the end.  Just like his sister, Leia, he balanced mind and body through physical training and mental exercises.  Unlike General Grievous, his talent with technology did not restrict him from outdoor pursuits and being present in his own body.

From farming on a desert planet and doing handstands in a swamp to riding a tauntaun on the snow planet of Hoth, Luke was comfortable in the outdoors and developed himself with body weight exercises and mental focus.  No need for gyms and endless academic studies.

Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker

Incredible talent is not enough.  Talent needs to be cultivated with emotional intelligence and social contributions. When fear and anger are strong motivators and we deal with our emotions in unhealthy ways, things can go very astray.

Young Anakin experienced the loss of his mother and consequently, feared the death of his wife, Padmé, so much that he went down a tragic path that resulted in his worst nightmares coming true.  The incredible gifts he had became twisted into the menace of Darth Vader.  His impatience caused him to avoid the necessary training and habit formation that he needed to become a Jedi Master.

As the fearsome Darth Vader, he was just a pawn for the Emperor, never even realizing his ambition for ultimate power.  He lost his wife and became estranged from his son and daughter because he didn’t cultivate his emotional health.

Strength, talent and ambition are all great but without gratitude, humility and self-awareness, they can lead to life behind a mask. In the end, Anakin returns and redeems himself by an act of selflessness.  His mask comes off but since it has defined him for so long and is integral in his physical survival, he can not live without it.

Still, this final transformation shows us it’s never too late to do the right thing and transcend our past mistakes.

Yoda

A little green in your life is extremely powerful.  Even if you are a serious carnivore, eating plants is crucial to living a long, healthy life.  Embracing a natural lifestyle and ancestral health can give you incredible resilience, strength and prolonged optimal cognitive functioning.

Clean air, exercise, rootleaf soup and lots of thoughtful, intentional living enabled Yoda to live to nearly 900 years old. His peaceful disposition, communication skills and wisdom were even greater than his incredible speed, power, agility and lightsaber skills.

Yoda is a minimalist, wearing homespun robes and residing in a small natural home.  He cooks his own meals, goes for walks and meditates regularly.  There’s nothing processed about this guy.

He has an endless capacity to help and teach others.  His greatness is made that much greater by the legacy he leaves.  He is the ultimate holistic practitioner.  He has a deep understanding of the interconnectivity of all things and weaves this into his daily life.  He even has a great sense of humour.

By letting go of ego and seeing himself as one with all, his small stature is transcended by his enormous power and wisdom.  His longevity is a testament to a life well lived.

So, the next time you think you can’t do something, whether that be exercise regularly, cut sugar out of your diet or change your habits, embrace the Force and remember Yoda’s words, his wisdom and strength:

May The Force Be With You!

Now I want to hear from you. What has Star Wars taught you about lifestyle choices? What Jedi tricks do you use to utilize the Force for good in your life?

You will comment below…