Lessons From Uncle Iroh

Anyone who’s seen the show Avatar: The Last Airbender, knows that everyone loves Uncle Iroh! On the surface, he seems to be a simple man with a love for tea and his nephew Zuko. However, the more the show progresses, the more we learn about him and the lessons he teaches that apply to the show as well as real life.

Learn To Understand Other People

“It is important to draw wisdom from other places. If you only take it from one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, the other nations will help you become whole.” -Netflix Season 2 Episode 9. Iroh has always shown that he is accepting of all kinds of people. He taught us that keeping an open mind to other philosophies can help us to further understand and accept ourselves. Iroh understood that sometimes our strengths can come from what we learn from others. If you pay attention to the show, the different styles of “bending” are real forms of martial arts. Sometimes, you can see people mixing the styles of bending from other nations, as well as their own, to perform something both beautiful and powerful!

Learn to Live With Yourself

Uncle Iroh was always a guide for Zuko, helping him decide if he is living for himself, or if he is just living a life that was forced onto him. When Zuko asks him, “Don’t you think I want more than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?” he responds with “There is nothing wrong with living a life with peace and prosperity, I suggest you think about what it is you want from your life, and why.” -Netflix, Season 2 Episode 6. Iroh, tells Zuko on multiple occasions to look inside himself to really figure out what you want. Which shows you how difficult that can be, especially when people have spent your whole life telling you how to live. Zuko even later tells Iroh, “I know my own destiny Uncle.” However Iroh retorts with “Is it your own destiny, or is it a destiny, or is it a destiny that someone else has tried to force on you. It’s time for you to look inward, and begin asking yourself the big questions: Who are you? And What do you want?” This is a lesson that some people can live a whole lifetime and never learn the answer to it. Sometimes it’s hard to truly know what it is that we want, since we are so easily influenced by our society and what others tell us what we should want. Figuring out who you are can be one of the hardest things to learn in life. For General Iroh, it was humility and loss that set his path. Iroh’s son was killed in battle, lost the fight at Ba Sing Se, stripped of his rank, looked down upon and exiled from his own nation. Iroh spent his life trying to heal from the death of his son, and yet the process helped him find peace. He accepted that the events of what happened can never be changed, but how he chooses to live his life now is entirely up to him. I think that is one of the most important lessons that we all should learn.

Learn to live in the moment

“Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one on lifes true delights.” -Netflix Season 2 Episode 8. Iroh is a man who can take any moment and make it fun and pleasant. Even during a serious talk, he still finds time to crack a joke or two. Whether it’s playing music with strangers, sharing tea with friends, or playing pai sho with anyone who will join. The only thing that matters to him is what is happening right then and there. His actions of being calm and collected at all times is one of the many reasons ATLA fans love him so much. Living in the moment is something we all aspire to learn. Especially since we spend so much of our lives planning and worrying. “Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel, you can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving, you will come to a better place.” -Netflix Season 2 Episode 18. Iroh has always been someone who expresses that you can’t always control what happens around you, but not giving up and enjoying your time in the present can help you be at peace.

Learn to Ask For Help

As many ATLA fans know, Iroh is the type of person that will help a mugger fix his stance when he is being mugged. One of the biggest struggles people have is asking for help when we need it most. It can feel shameful and oftentimes it feels scary that we will be judged. Or Maybe we just don’t know how. Whatever the reason may be, asking for help can be difficult, especially when we think we don’t need it. “There is nothing wrong with letting people love you and help you” -Netflix, Season 2 Episode 8. What some people don’t seem to understand is that sometimes receiving help can be the most rewarding feeling. Like as if a burden is lifted from your shoulders. “While it is always best to believe in oneself, a little help from others can be a great blessing.” -Netflix, Season 2 Episode 14.

Learn to Be Humble

Something important to learn is that just because you have the power to destroy someone, doesn’t mean you should do so. Iroh was always underestimated, despite being known as The Dragon Of The West. In the face of danger, Iroh will still try to reason with his attackers. “Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame.” -Netflix, Season 2 Episode 9. Iroh, teaches us that being too prideful can make us overconfident and that will cause us to never learn from our mistakes. Humility can push us to our lowest points, but it can also be used to accept our own flaws and make us modest. Being humble is being able to accept who we are far from being a perfect person while also having confidence in ourselves.