I've recently finished watching an anime series called Slayers (I watched the original, Try, Next, Revolution, and Revolution-R, basically everything on Hulu). Each of the episodes has an opening and closing song. I thoroughly enjoyed the series. The characters seemed have a life of their own. Each one kept on fighting (sometimes with some encouragement by their friends) despite the odds or the tragedies that happened to them. Overall, it was a powerful story on the triumph that can come when someone keeps fighting.
Today's song comes from the opening of the Slayers NEXT series. The title is 'Give a Reason'. Alas, it's in Japanese, but I'll shared a link to it here:
I'd love to give the lyrics, but alas, they are in Japanese. I'll share part of a translation here:
Things are moving so fast
The moments ticking by.
I'm running through this city
To me, a savanna.
Like it's struggling
Trying to break free
I wanna test all this power.
I know that "The Answer"
Is out there someplace.
The answer that everyone looks for
From the day they're born.
When all looks lost and there's no escape
I turn to my dreams!
I'm not afraid of getting hurt
But I'm not strong, either.
It's just that I can't stand
Just doing nothing anymore.
Here we go, go!
I'll just run on
And let nobody stop me know.
I wanna find the me in the future
And give her a reason for life!
(Translation was taken from the close captioning for the series on www.hulu.com).
I love this song. It has a lot of energy and is very enthusiastic. It reminds me of a recent realization about myself that I've had: that I'm resilient and much more durable than I used to think I was. I've been through a lot, and I've yet to lay down and completely stop fighting and struggling. Even when I fall apart, I somehow find the strength to keep going through.
I had a really discussion with a friend about the fact that I've come out publicly on this blog. I realize that it was really risky situation. When I made the decision, I realized that I was tired of hiding behind masks, and that I was tired of doing nothing. I wasn't so much afraid of being hurt further, as I was of continuing to live in pain and shame. I decided that I was going to stand up and fight, even if it meant possibly drawing more challenges and grief into my life. As the song lyrics state, I just couldn't stand by and do nothing anymore. On a related note, I gave my friend a piece of advice. He's been struggling and I said that he could take some advice by how video game characters react to struggles. They take time to feel their emotions, work through things, talk about them, and then they keep on fighting. They always keep struggling.
On a related note, sometimes the struggle I have is to let go and let Heavenly Father step in to help with my life. Sometimes the struggle is to stand up for myself, even if it's something I haven't done in the past. Sometimes the struggle is to step into situations that are risky and unfamiliar. Sometimes it means battling my own thoughts to have thoughts that are elevated and uplifting.
On a personal note, things have been difficult lately. The procedure that I was worried about was far more pleasant than I imagined. I'm a bit sore from that. Outside of that, I've been fighting off the tail end of a cold. It also feels like I've been challenged in spiritual ways as well. But like I said before, I'm going to keep on fighting.
On a Slayers related note, my favorite character from the series is Xellos. This could be major spoilers. Technically, he should be a villain but often helps the heroes for his own reasons. He is very powerful, but likes to act via manipulation. He is very knowledgeable but he doesn't always share everything he knows with the heroes. One of his iconic lines is 'That's a secret'. In the later series, the characters start to say it for him. Hilarious!
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