5 Life Lessons Taught By The Muppets

5 Life Lessons Taught By The Muppets

 I can’t imagine living in a world without The Muppets. Those cuddly¹, felt critters are like best friends you’ve known your entire life. They’re fun, they’re goofy, and they just fill you up with a warm feeling inside…don’t they?

Thanks to Jason Segel and a host of other talented folks, the recent The Muppets movie was a big success for Disney, and Jim Henson’s fluffy² family is back in the limelight. Henson’s creations³ started out as a fun way to teach children some basic ABCs, as well as important life lessons. But as with The Muppet Show, the craziness was kicked up a few notches⁴.

Just because you’re too old for Sesame Street (and hopefully you already know your ABCs), that doesn’t mean you’re not too old to learn something. The Muppets are more than entertainers — they’re pretty good teachers too.

Here’s a look at 5 life lessons you can learn from The Muppets.

1. Have Fun

Being shot out of a cannon⁵. Throwing boomerang fish. Telling awful knock-knock jokes. If nothing else, the Muppets sure know how to have a good time. As we get older, life seems to get more serious. And yes, more responsibility can do that to a person.

But never forget to take a deep breath and just live a little. Have some fun!

2. Hang in There

Before the recent success of their newest movie, The Muppets were in limbo⁶ for well over a decade. No hit movies, very little merchandising — no one seemed to care or even know who they were. But Disney took a shot with the latest film, and they’re back in the minds and hearts of fans everywhere.

Being persistent⁷ is a valuable trait⁸. When life’s knocking you for a loop, just hang in there. Lean on your friends when the going gets real rough and know that the tough times will eventually pass. Before you know it, you’ll be back on your feet stronger than ever.

3. Be More Tolerant⁹

If a pig and a frog can get along, then you and your neighbor can get along. Everyone can use a bit more tolerance¹⁰ and acceptance in the world. Stop worrying so much about how much money someone makes, or what kind of job they have, or even the color of their skin. Just accept people as people. Yes, you may not like them all but you can even learn to love annoying people.

If the whole world would just sit down together and watch a few episodes¹¹ of The Muppet Show, maybe we’d see a lot more countries trading in their arms for whoopee cushions.

4. Music Makes Everything Better

The one thing you could always count on from The Muppets is that they could break into some huge song-and-dance number at any given moment. Whether it’s doing chores or working on some mundane¹² task at work, crank up the tunes¹³ and you’ll see how much better you feel and how much faster time goes by.

5. Dream Big

They didn’t need to connect with any rainbows to follow their dreams. The Muppets always have a dream and they do whatever it takes to get there, no matter how big, crazy or unreachable it is. Heading to Hollywood to make a big picture or even putting on a telethon to raise 10 million dollars. They may not have always reached their goals, but they certainly gave it their all. Follow their lead. Dream often. Dream big. Perhaps someday you’ll make it.

You may not have ping pong balls for eyes or an awkwardly¹⁴ placed hand controlling your every movement, but you can still live your life the way The Muppets do. Have fun, spread the love and follow your dreams.

1 cuddly   

adj.抱着很舒服的，可爱的

参考例句：

• The beautiful crib from Mom and Dad is so cuddly.爸爸妈妈送的漂亮婴儿床真舒服。
• You can't call a hedgehog cuddly.你不能说刺猬逗人喜爱。

2 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

3 creations   

创造( creation的名词复数 )； 创造物； （尤指所述由上帝）创造天地； 宇宙

参考例句：

• This artist's creations are worth collecting. 这个艺术家的作品值得收藏。
• The intellectual creations of individual nations become common property. 各民族的精神产品成了公共的财产。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

4 notches   

n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级

参考例句：

• The Indians cut notches on a stick to keep count of numbers. 印第安人在棒上刻V形凹痕用来计数。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They cut notches in the handle of their pistol for each man they shot. 他们每杀一个人就在枪托上刻下一个V形记号。 来自辞典例句

5 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

6 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

7 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

8 trait   

n.显著特点，特性

参考例句：

• Creativity is a human trait.创造力是人类的一种特性。
• Repose of manner is an estimable trait in a horse.神情镇定是一匹马可贵的特质。

9 tolerant   

adj.容忍的，有耐力的

参考例句：

• She's tolerant toward those impudent colleagues.她对那些无礼的同事采取容忍的态度。
• A tolerant person usually has breadth of mind.有宽容精神的人通常胸襟开阔。

10 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

11 episodes   

插曲，片断( episode的名词复数 )； 一集

参考例句：

• The novel deals with the romantic episodes of her early life. 小说叙述了她早期生活的浪漫插曲。
• Three episodes have been telescoped into a single programme. 把叁集的内容压缩成了一个节目。

12 mundane   

adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的

参考例句：

• I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
• I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。

13 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 awkwardly   

adv.笨拙地；困难地；难看地；尴尬地

参考例句：

• I had been lying awkwardly and my leg had gone numb. 我一直以一种不舒服的姿势躺着，腿已经麻木了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He stood awkwardly in the doorway, not sure what to say. 他尴尬地站在门口，不知道该说什么。 来自《简明英汉词典》