When I first started applying to college, I planned on applying to both the University of North Carolina and the University of Southern California, but I decided upon further investigation that these were not schools that I wanted to go to. However, I had already worked on the essays for the common application. One of the topics was "how a fictional character has influenced your life," so the following is my essay on how Timon and Pumba from The Lion King have impacted my view on life.
Timon and Pumba aren't regularly considered the most profound characters in The Lion King. I don't think people give them enough credit. With merely two words, Timon and Pumba created a way to solve all their problems. Humans have been working to come up with a universal solution like this for years.
I have seen the movie The Lion King too many times to count, the musical once, and I have the soundtrack for both. If you look through my iPod, Hakuna Matata can be found on my list of "Top Twenty Five Most Played." Timon and Pumba have played a pretty big part in my life.
"You gotta put your past behind ya, kid. Look, bad things happen, and you can't do anything about it..." Timon says to Simba before bursting into song, "Repeat after me, Hakuna Matata." In swahili, Hakuna Matata is a phrase meaning "There are no worries." For me, Hakuna Matata means that life moves on, and you have the choice to either move on with life or get stuck in the past. I choose to move on.
Somewhat recently my car battery died in the school parking lot. I hadn't bothered to fix my poor parking job that morning, so for the next few days I was constantly getting complimented on my "amazing" parking ability. It would've been so simple for me to be upset about not being able to drive myself, the insults on my parking job, or how much replacing the battery would cost, but I wasn't. I couldn't change the situation. All I could change was my attitude.
There's a well known prayer called The Serenity Prayer that begins with "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Hakuna Matata perfectly sums up this prayer. Don't waste time dwelling on things that are unchangeable. When my car battery died, there were so many different things for me to be upset about, but I had places to go and people to see. There wasn't time to sit and pout.
In today's world, too many people waste their time pouting about what's already happened. Timon and Pumba never fretted about their past. Pumba didn't have the best past. He struggled with some embarrassing bodily issues and lost a lot of friends because of it, but in the film, he doesn't dwell on it. He found Timon and moved on with his life. In the book Sun Dials and Roses of Yesterday, Alice Morse Earle writes, "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present." We can't change history. Timon and Pumba taught me that. They taught me to stop worrying about what's already happened and get on with my life.
"It means no worries for the rest of your days. It's our problem free philosophy, Hakuna Matata."
Only 112 more days... Until then, keep calm and boomer sooner!
Only 112 more days... Until then, keep calm and boomer sooner!
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