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Finish Your Jedi Training

What Star Wars Taught Me About Persistence and Patience

By Ellie ScottPublished 6 years ago 7 min read
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Let me preface this post by saying that until five days before this was written, I had never seen a Star Wars movie in my 28 years on this Earth (to be accurate, I saw The Phantom Menace when it came out, but I was assured by many fans that this does not count).

I was at a party the day before my first viewing, and conversation with my friends drifted toward light sabers and Wookies and someone named Greedo. I went to adopt my usual move of silently slipping into the next room to wait for the conversation to return to something to which I could contribute, when my friend stopped me and announced to the party, “Wait! Ellie is backing away because she has never seen a Star Wars movie!”

Record scratch. A plate shatters. Gasps. A baby cries. In the distance, drums.

I am used to this reaction because I wasn’t ashamed of the lack of Stormtroopers in my life; however, I was so over the shock. It isn’t as if I don’t watch movies and haven’t seen many critically acclaimed films and cult classics. I have just as much love for Julian Fellowes’ Gosford Park as I do Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. Most people I’ve encountered my age saw the space odyssey trilogy as kids because their parents loved them when they were children. My parents just happened to love Blake Edwards, Rex Harrison, and Charlie Chan more than science fiction. After much discussion, and a bribe of soup, it was agreed that I would sit and watch the first two films.

To be real, I was mainly excited for my friend’s amazing cooking (you’re the best, A!).

The next night, soup and sandwich in my lap and eagerness on my face, the infamous opening sequence began. I laughed, gasped, teared up, and cheered as heroes and villains fought to rid the galaxy of evil. Because of my experience watching classic films, it was easy for me to imagine being a seven-year-old seeing this film for the first time or even an adult in 1977 who had never seen anything like this BECAUSE THERE WAS NOTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE IT. There was still enough magic for an adventurous 28-year-old.

As The Empire Strikes Back began, I was certain this movie was a different emotion altogether. Where A New Hope is action and family fun, the sequel is deeper and more introspective (here come the spoilers!). Here we see Luke begin his Jedi training with Yoda, an adorable but curmudgeonly Jedi master with syntax issues. Luke is brooding and passionate, which Yoda warns makes him susceptible to the allure of the Dark Side. He is instructed to connect to the Force, which lives both within and independently of himself, and to listen to it; it can only do what he tells it to do, good or bad. During his training, he uses the Force to connect to Princess Leia and Han Solo, and senses they are in trouble. Yoda and the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi plead with the frantic young Skywalker to wait until he has mastered his Jedi training, for then he will be in the best position to do the most good. If he leaves now, he could help them, but there is a much larger chance that he will do more harm than good. Desperate to not sit around and wait, he takes off and [MEGA SPOILER] finds out he fell right into Darth Vader’s trap for him.

Though I didn’t ask my friend to stop the movie, he could have right then and there. That struck a nerve with me in a big way. And I mean a Death Star-sized way. I gleaned everything I needed to know right in that moment.

For months, I have been struggling with a lot of things: finding something to do that both brings me joy and pays my bills (at least somewhat on time), creating meaningful and lasting relationships (completely sort of failing at the romantic ones), defining self-care through something other than carbs, trying to finish a full tube of chapstick before I lose or wash it. It seemed like everything I put my hands to turned out awfully. I kept pushing myself into scenarios that were easy fixes, causing stress for everyone involved. As someone who already consistently operates at about an eight, I was at an 11 for several months. All the carbs were consumed. My skin suffered. No one was happy.

All of the self-help books, videos, inspirational emails, and memes with puppies in hats kept telling me that I just needed to let go and believe. If I just kept working on changing my mental state to one of abundance and peace, that eventually I would have what I desired. I chanted and cheered, posted mantras around my house, journaled, wrote my debt and troubles down and set them on fire (therapeutic but not recommended). If you told me swallowing a bucket of nails would get me where I wanted to be, I would have had a bib around my neck and a bucket of Cane’s sauce on the table before you could finish your sentence (don’t act like you don’t dip everything in it too). I was so desperate to have answers that I looked at the minutiae of every situation as a message guiding my every decision instead of looking within at what I really wanted.

I think Luke and I both were just doing the training because someone said we should. We had no idea what else we should be doing to get what we wanted out of life; why not climb vines in a bog for hours or break your teeth on railroad spikes? Luke knew he wanted to go help Han and Leia; ultimately, I knew I wanted to be writing full-time. Instead of looking within ourselves to know what we already knew to be our truest desires, we looked for excuses. “You’re asking for the impossible.” “I’m wasting my time.” “There is no way I could make that happen.” Neither of us were able to see past our self-doubt and fear of failure to step into our own truths.

In the same vein, Luke ran off when he should have stayed, and I jumped in the first situation that seemed like a good idea. We both gave up on the processes that we knew would work because the results we wanted weren’t coming fast enough. Luke stepped away because he could not see that sitting still and working on himself was the way to do the most good. Yoda warned him that though the future was always changing, it was clear that his training was not finished. No matter how hard or bravely or recklessly he fought, if he waited until he was at his best and optimal self, he would have the skills and self-worth to know he could complete his mission successfully. Likewise, no matter how many times I accepted a position or relationship I knew would provide me a temporary fix, I ultimately knew the situation would never be fixed until I allowed myself to attract a more permanent solution.

In the darkness of the movie screen, I had an insane realization: believing in yourself, and Jedi training, are like making a roux. It seems insanely simple; how hard can a two ingredient process be? Melt bacon drippings: check. Mix flour and spices: done. As you are continually stirring, things don’t look right. It’s too lumpy. The color is wrong. It’s too wet. It’s not wet enough. You check Grand MawMaw’s scribbled notes and, yup, you didn’t leave anything out. At the bottom of the page you see a note: “Keep stirrin’ bebe. It’ll come togedda!” So you stir, and hope, and stir, and breathe through it, and just when you are ready to pour the concoction down the drain, the roux looks perfect. You put in the right ingredients in the right combination, put in the patient and necessary work for it to happen, and trusted that your hard work would pay off. No friends encased in carbonite, no elevated blood pressure from stress and too many cinnamon rolls. Just a beautiful pot of gumbo and the sweet taste of success.

As the credits rolled, I found myself invigorated and empowered in a way I never imagined. This is why it took me so long to watch these movies. I needed to be at this moment in my growth and healing to be able to truly accept the message and power of the Force. Had I watched it at the countless other opportunities I have had and not been at this point in my life when I felt like I was doing everything right but it was all wrong, would I be sitting here writing this instead of filing papers at my dead end job?

For all you Padawans who are diligently but blindingly working towards goals you believe in with every fiber of your being: keep stirring. Keep training. Keep going. You will find the droids you’re looking for in the end.

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About the Creator

Ellie Scott

Has a scarf for every occasion. Curious about the insides of all things. Nicknamed Sunshine. Striving to be as great as my dog believes I am.

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