You know, we often say life is a journey, but is it one that you're actually enjoying?
Do you feel like there's more to life than what you're currently experiencing right now?
Or maybe you're already walking down a particular path and not sure how it's going to shape
up?
Well, today we're going to look at one of the most iconic journeys out there.
One that you can honestly say has inspired a lot of anime since its debut way back in
the mid 80s or mid 90s.
And of course, I'm talking about the one, the only Dragon Ball.
Hey what's going on guys?
My name is Nate and you're listening to the Otaku Liberation, a show where we help you
break free from the chains that are holding you back in your life by connecting biblical
principles with themes from your favorite anime.
And again, no need for a spoiler warning, because I'm sure we've all have seen Dragon
Ball in one form or another.
So I'm going to dive right in.
So what is Dragon Ball?
It was created by Akira Toriyama and its initial run was from 1984 to 1995.
And its original premise was, believe it or not, kind of based on the journey to the West.
Alright, basically just, forgive me, I don't know how the journey to the West is myself,
but I do believe it's by a character called Son Goku, who I believe is like the Monkey
God or Monkey Deity, something along those lines.
And it was about its journey.
Alright, and that's kind of the inspiration Toriyama took when he was first creating Dragon
Ball.
And initially, Dragon Ball's whole premise was to find, believe it or not, the Dragon
Balls, right?
The seven mystical orbs that when you gather them all, you can have any wish that you want
granted, right?
And the reason I say that was the initial goal, because again, if you've been keeping
up with Dragon Ball, then you know the Dragon Balls have almost been long forgotten, right?
The story has changed drastically from how it was in the early 90s to where it is currently.
And you know, whether good or bad, I think that does symbolize how our own journey and
our own lives can take.
Because you may start off with one goal in mind, one particular thing that you're trying
to do and accomplish, and along the way, life happens, and you have to pivot.
You have to change direction.
You have to figure out, okay, so maybe that's not going to work out.
What am I going to do now?
And for some people, you can take it in stride and just kind of go with it, roll with the
punches, kind of go with the flow.
And others may have an actual issue with it, right?
They're like, no, this is my plan.
This is what I had planned to do.
It's supposed to go X, Y, and Z. Now it's more Z, Y, X, and I don't know what to do,
and I'm just going to get real frazzled and frustrated.
And I know for a long time that I was the latter.
If things didn't happen the way that I envisioned them or how I planned them out to be, then
I would actually get really upset about it.
And it would bother me for days on end.
Something happened on Monday that might have thrown off my plan I'm still mad about on
Thursday.
And when you're stuck in the past like that, you can never move forward, right?
You're always just stuck.
You always have a sense of just anger and frustration over things that you can't control,
right?
That's the biggest thing is that typically we're the most upset over things that we have
no control over whatsoever.
And why waste that energy?
Why not direct that energy towards things we can control over, right?
Because we can't control what happens to us.
We just control how we respond to it.
And that's been the biggest kind of journey I've been on in the last couple of years
is just, okay, just kind of taking my hands off the reins and letting God work through
me and work out how things are going to work out, how they need to work out, right?
Now, I'm not saying don't do anything.
Don't just say, have your hands up and just say, all right, God, you got it.
I'm just going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs.
No, don't do that.
Because again, he wants us to participate in our own journeys, in our own lives and
just take the helm because I heard it this way and I thought it was pretty interesting
that God doesn't want puppets.
He wants partners.
Again, God doesn't want puppets.
He wants partners.
And when I heard that, it really resonated with me because again, one guy gave us free
will so we can choose to follow him.
We can choose to be obedient and follow his will or we can choose not to.
We can very, very much so choose to go our own way and to do our own thing.
But if you've been around long enough, you know that never worked out the way you expect
it to.
And you know, it's worse.
It's always going to be worse.
And if you just listen to what he said and follow his direction, his guidance, then you'll
be much better off.
Even if it doesn't seem like it now, because again, like any journey, like any journey
in life when you're trying to learn something new or even if you're improving on something
that you've already learned that you can.
Life has ups and downs, right?
It has peaks and valleys.
And so nothing is not going to be sunshine and rainbows all the time.
And it's not going to be dark and gloomy all the time.
They come in ways.
They come together.
And it's really about navigating that.
It's really about navigating the high points and the low points and really relying on the
one thing that's constant and all that.
Right?
God, he's never changing.
He's always constant.
And the way that kind of is, you know, back to Dragon Ball, if you guys have, you know,
if you've been around long enough, if you've seen Goku's journey from when he was a child,
again, Goku is the main character for those who haven't seen Dragon Ball.
Dragon Ball literally begins from when Goku was a child to where we are now.
You know, he's actually he's a granddad now, believe it or not.
His oldest child has a daughter.
And we've been along on that journey with Goku since, you know, essentially since day
one since he was an infant.
And some of the trials that he's gone through, you know, dealing with King Piccolo, dealing
with the Red Ribbon Army, you know, then as he got older, became an adult, dealing
with his older brother that he never knew, Raditz, and then dealing with the kind of
self discovery when he realized, OK, I'm not human.
I'm I'm an alien.
I'm a Saiyan.
And finally, other Saiyans and other people like him for the first time in his life.
And, you know, they show up and they're trying to destroy everything.
Right.
And then it's we used to go from those moments to moments of, you know, this peace.
And we know he married wife, Chichi, he has a family in nothing.
He's saving he's saving the universe on more times than any of us can count, really.
And one thing that Goku does consistently throughout the series is that he just enjoys
life.
Right.
He enjoys every bit of it.
Well, I should say every bit of it.
But you know, you don't understand.
You understand what I'm saying.
Even when his back's against the wall, even when the whatever, whoever he's fighting
against him, like they have to up a hand, he he gets serious, but he's always reveling,
just loving every single bit of it.
I mean, that's what Saiyans are.
They enjoy they enjoy a good fight.
They enjoy embracing the challenge, embracing the struggle, because on the other side of
it, they know they're going to be better off for it.
They know they're going to get stronger.
They know that they're going to get to that next level so they can take on the next big
thing that comes that comes their way.
And I mean, I know athletes definitely understand that, you know, when you're when you're practicing,
no one likes practice.
I don't care what you say.
No one likes practice.
If you do, I love you, but you're you're a little strange.
And you know, whether it's practicing skill, whether you're lifting weights and getting
stronger and practicing your craft, you know, you're if you're a writer, you write a bunch
of rough drafts or things like that.
It's the the the the progress of getting from point A to B very rarely.
People actually really enjoy every bit of that.
Like most times we enjoy the end result more than what we did and what it takes to get
through there, which is fine.
I mean, it is what it is.
But so we take it again, I was kind of just rewatching Dragon Ball, rereading about it
and just understanding the dynamic.
It's like, you know, as much as he enjoys training, Goku enjoys the real thing more.
He enjoys the actual getting in, getting his hands dirty and going to work.
Right.
You know, Goku, Vegeta, you know, all the sands.
And because that means that that's what they do.
They live to fight.
They live to really, you know, give it and give it the best that they can possibly give.
And whatever life throws at them, they're running into a full force.
And and honestly, I can look back at it now and see why that's inspired so many people.
You know, even outside of just like our anime community, just like people in general, they
can not only quote Dragon Ball, but they know what Dragon Ball is.
Right.
They understand the concept, the principles behind it, of, you know, hard work, you know,
hard work helps you get to and get to your goals, get to that next level that you're
trying to see.
And just because you may lose once or twice doesn't mean you're out for you're down for
the count.
Right.
Long as you can pick yourself back up, along with you keep going and take a step by step
by step and then just keep going.
Every time you get knocked down, you get up, dust yourself off and keep moving forward.
And it was really just inspiring.
And honestly, if you just look up on YouTube, how Dragon Ball changed my life.
I'm sure the vast majority of them was like, I'm a fitness guy.
It's too good to be fair.
Because I mean, I know when I was a kid and I saw these dudes bulging muscles, you know,
using martial arts and stuff like, yeah, that's cool.
I want to do that.
Like this.
And I'm sure you hear a lot of similar stories like that.
But in another kind of under arching premise behind Dragon Ball, besides just, you know,
enjoying the journey and just taking everything in stride is a concept of redemption.
And honestly, I didn't really realize this until I was preparing for this episode.
And throughout the history of Dragon Ball, Goku has had the uncanny ability to change
foes into not only friends, but honestly, some of the closest friends that not just
to him, but as for the whole group in general.
I mean, it started off with started off with Yamcha back in Dragon Ball.
I mean, no, Yamcha is a meme now for those who know.
But he wasn't a really a villain villain, but he wasn't a friend either.
Right.
And he's still around.
And of course, the big ones we know is Piccolo.
We go to beat King Piccolo.
He was evil.
He came back.
He still was kind of evil.
But through his relationship with Gohan and being around Goku and the rest of the guys
over time, Piccolo became one of the most loyal companions that anyone's ever had.
And that that says a lot.
Then, of course, for the biggest one that all of us will know is Vegeta, who came to
Earth literally to kill Goku, to kill all of them.
Everyone he's friends with now.
I say friends loosely because it's Vegeta, but everyone he's friends with now, he literally
came there to kill.
Right.
And.
And all because Goku made the decision to spare his life back in the day.
Honestly, if Goku didn't make that decision to it to, you know, try to get the words right
to extend that that type of offering that forgiveness towards this man, that honestly,
they all would have died a long time ago because that single moment changed the course of a
lot of things that happened later on in the series.
You know, I'm talking about when they fought, you know, they fought Boo and even later on
in Super and things like that.
For those who keep up.
Right.
If Vegeta wasn't around, none of them would be.
And that that whole thing stemmed from Goku deciding to, you know, just say, hey, you
know, you don't you don't you don't deserve to die just because of what you've done.
And that in of itself, I think speaks volumes for a lot of us is that our past doesn't define
us, how we choose to move forward does.
And honestly, this really, really hit home for me in a lot of ways because I serve out
in one of our local jails where I'm at and just being there and worshiping with the guys
there who, you know, whatever they've done to get in those into those positions, you
know, that that's their business and and not there to cast judgment on them.
We're just there to have them know the word of God and just know that again, your past
doesn't define you.
Whatever decisions you may have made to land you in whatever predicament you're in now,
it doesn't have to be that you don't have to stay there.
And through the grace of God, God was he was Goku in that moment, extending his arm when
he gave Jesus to die for her, saying that you don't you don't have to die for your
transgressions.
You do have a shot at redemption.
And just to know that you have that type of hope, you know, really put everything in respect,
at least for me, at least for me, it did.
Right.
And I'm talking about this whole journey that is life, right.
Knowing that as long as you truly change.
I mean, that's the key part.
That's the key.
You don't don't get it twisted.
Don't think you can, you know, your past doesn't matter, but you keep doing the same thing
over and over and over again.
And it's like, no, no, no, you have to make the decision to change, to truly and genuinely
want to change and change for the better.
Right.
I'm not saying you got to you have to do an entire 180 overnight because, you know, let's
be honest, that doesn't happen.
But making the conscious effort to decide, OK, each and every day, I'm going to get a
little bit better.
Like I said in one of my previous episodes, you know, just get one percent better each
and every day.
And in a year from now, you you won't even be able to recognize yourself and you won't
even believe that, man, I used to do that.
Man, I used to be like that.
Man, I'm glad I'm saved.
I'm glad I was extended at Olive Branch to, you know, change my life.
And really, and that could happen at any at any point in your life, no matter how old,
how young you are.
You may think, you know, you've made too many too many mistakes or you've made just this
last big mistake was was it that was the nail in the coffin.
And I say it's not because again, this life thing has has ups and downs and some downs
are really, really, really down.
And some ups are really, really, really up.
Right.
And if you give up now, you're never going to see that.
You're never going to allow yourself the opportunity to experience that.
And I don't want you to be like that.
I don't want you to feel like, you know, because of the mistakes you've made, because of your
decisions that you don't deserve happiness, that you don't deserve to, you know, have
that goal, have that dream, have that vision.
And kind of honestly, no one else can say that for you.
No one else can can honestly take that from you.
Right.
At the end of the day, you're only in control of you.
And that's true for everybody.
You know, not your mom, not your dad, not your sister, brother, uncle's aunts, cousin,
best friend, your teacher, your boss, your co-worker.
No one else has control over you besides you.
That's it.
Point blank period.
No one else can can keep you where you are and no one else can drag you out of where
you are either.
You have to you have to be willing to take that first step.
Now, people can help you.
They by all means get around people who support you, who and not just support you blindly,
but who tell you about you, right, who knows the good, bad and the ugly and who are willing
to just to be out there and to tell you off.
We need to be told off.
It also lift you up when you need to be lifted up.
Right.
And they walk in stride with you because, you know, again, life again, like I said,
you know, life is a journey and it's better when you do it with people who who are equally
yoked like you are.
Right.
That doesn't that doesn't mean they think the same necessarily.
But they we all had the same same goal of trying to get trying to better ourselves and
just to be better people just in the world and have everyone be elevated, everyone be
lifted up because it's when we come together, beautiful things are beautiful things are
made.
I mean, there's so much so much power in one in one person that if you multiply that by,
you know, even even like 10, 10 to 20 people.
Right.
That's that's enough to move mountains.
And again, you again, we just we won't be able to ever to experience that if we get
stuck on what what was or what what could have been right.
Not necessarily the past, but a possible future that we feel like we gave up on that we didn't
get the chance to experience.
And so I just really getting a real on the hammer that point home for you guys and just
like really say it just because you feel like it's over now and doesn't mean it is just
because you feel you've messed up now doesn't mean it's over.
Right.
I mean, look at Vegeta.
Vegeta was a ruthless, bloodthirsty killer, and now he is he's a he's a proud papa of
two children and a wife that he begrudgingly admits that he loves.
Right.
Anyone who's seen the Battle of the Gods movie, he said, you know, that's my Bulma.
He straight up just said that that's that's his wife.
That's his joy.
That's, you know, the reason why he fights.
Right.
The reason why he pushes past his limits, the reason why he goes beyond what you know,
whatever whatever opposition he's facing.
Right.
And I'm not going to go too much into detail on that because you know, there's no wink
wink that may or may not be next next week's episode.
But anyway, so I want to give you guys this description when I was reading and it's Collosians
in verse 14, it says in him, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The one line just says it all right.
And in him was him being God, we have redemption, the forgiveness, forgiveness of our sins.
So I mean, again, no matter what you've done, no matter how dark and bleak it may seem through
him, like we got God and Jesus, God sent Jesus to pay the price for all of this.
Right.
We just have to accept him as our savior and and truly repent.
Right.
To turn around, to not be stuck in the same things that we are currently stuck in right
now.
Just in this saying, OK, God, forgive me.
Keep doing the same thing.
OK, God, please forgive me.
I won't do it again.
Does the same thing.
You know, none of that.
Maybe I encourage you to today and right now at the end of the deal, at the end of this
this episode to really, really let us see it.
Let us sing for a moment.
Really reflect and say, is this how I want my life to continue to be just down down this
one path or let us just nowhere in sight?
Or do I want to do I want to start making some changes today?
Do I want to be brave enough to step out in the face, to step out and bet on myself?
Because God already bet on me when he sent his only son.
So on to you, you take your pick.
You take your pick.
Would you rather sit there and just die and die spiritually speaking and live here in
your own darkness, in your own in your own mind?
Or are you willing to take the chance at a brighter future?
I think about it.
So again, just want to thank you guys for tuning into today's episode.
I pray that you got what you needed out of that.
And hopefully you learned something new about yourself and something that you can apply
to your life starting today.
And feel free to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review.
I love reading you guys reviews and comments and I use them to help improve each and every
episode.
So again, always remember you are the main character of your story and that story doesn't
end until he says so.
All right.
Thanks for watching guys.