Lessons from Po

Moral lesson is my favorite part writing reviews back in graders. Well it’s good to know that until now, there are still a lot of reads and movies that are peppered with it. I thought they got lost. I just didn’t notice it has gone through different forms. 

Po, the flabby fat hero, in the movie Kung Fu Panda sequel teaches us loads of morals probably from his flabby fat belly.

Maybe not ‘morals’ is the right term but ‘wisdom.’ I’d help Panda spread his words.


*** “There are no accidents” ***

So simple a thought yet it reaches deep. TRUE. Just like what Rick Warren in ‘A Purpose-Driven Life’ was saying.


*** “One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it” ***

AGREE. It’s not about what we plan. It’s about His plan. Again, there are no accidents.

No matter how we try to avoid it, at the end of the day, we will still end there. Only, we made the road longer.


*** “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the "present.” ***

So true Oogway, we are too concerned about what was and what will be. We try to control what will be given what was. But the truth is we can never. But what we do now, can affect the future.


*** “There is no secret ingredient” ***

Po’s dad continued by saying: “To make something special you just have to believe it’s special.”

Hard a thought to digest. Practically because now the trend is, “how to become like…”, “how to be like…” in the next blah blah blah days.

You just have to be YOU.


*** “The sign of a true hero is humility” ***

Easy to say, hard to do. BRAGGING RIGHTS. Yeah, right. It irks all the more when you are not even a ‘hero’ but you ooze with pride.

Teach us humility….


*** “You must believe…” ***

YES, in yourself and in the strength of others. This one, I should learn…




When Po came back recently, he got stubbier, and he got us more in Kung Fu Panda 2.


*** “The only thing that matters is what you choose to be now” ***

THE PRESENT. So the soothsayer added, “Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that doesn't make you who you are. It is the rest of your story, who you choose to be... So, who are you, Panda?”

NOW will define your FUTURE.

I choose to be…. even when….


*** “We cannot give up hope.” ***

It all ends when we give up hope. So profound, yet so true.


*** “Inner peace” ***

Po and even Bridget Jones, see, master this one. You can do things beyond what you can do, said Master Shifu, when you have Inner peace.

In the same way, Oogway compared our minds to water. When we are agitated, it becomes fuzzy. Only when we have calm our nerves do we see the bottom.




Some lessons are trivial. Some are profound. But all rings true. And maybe from our own bellies, we can keep them.