“Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character.
These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.”

There is a famous video on Youtube called “People are awesome”. If you watch it you will feel a sense of wonderment watching the human race achieve and delight us with so many incredible feats.

Wonder. We often look at things around us to find wonder, for some it’s in the Amazon forests, others in the deep oceans and for some it’s in space.

However, the most overlooked place to find wonder, is in us.

The world is constantly up to date with news about horrendous acts that humanity commits against each other. Every news outlet, every social media platform is full of evidence pointing to the cruelty found in mankind.

So, it’s understandable to overlook ourselves when looking for wonder. After all, why would we? There’s nothing to be said about war, genocide, false imprisonment, rape, inequality, or discrimination.

This is why movies like Wonder are sometimes needed.

It’s not merely proof that we are capable of more than hatred, it’s a reminder that we should pursue more. More courage, more kindness, more friendship, and more character.

It’s a reminder of the incredible things we can do, just by being.
It’s a moment where we stop looking around us, and look within instead.
Looking at Auggie, there was so much wonder.
The amount of courage that Auggie displays is not simply cinematic fiction. Millions of people display that kind of courage and more on a daily basis.

Battling peer pressure, insecurity, and bullying is no easy task to say the least.
And it’s because of these battles, that Auggie’s friendship was almost infectious towards the end.

This movies serves three great purposes.

1) “Kinder than is necessary. Because it’s not enough to be kind. One should be kinder than needed.”

It serves to remind us to actively pursue kindness. The world is full of hate, and it’s our job and duty to be kind, kinder still, kinder than necessary.

To go out of our way, to against our evolutionary instincts of our own mere survival, and to reach out to others.

2)   Wonder? Look no further than in you.

It’s easy to get distracted with technological marvels and brilliant discoveries of nature and deep space, as we should. However, the most remarkable thing of all, lies in the limitless capacity of mankind to change for the better, and to do good.
Don’t undersell yourself, and don’t think too much of it as well. The most noble of all human pursuit is that of the self, and to be kinder, is to find it and help others along the way.

3) “When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”

Never let your ego get in the way of you being a better you. Don’t cater to your insecurity, overpower it. Don’t feed it, starve it out. If you risk being harsh or cruel simply for the sake of being in the right, it’s not worth it.

“The best way to measure how much you’ve grown isn’t by inches or the number of laps you can now run around the track, or even your grade point average, though those things are important to be sure.
It’s what you’ve done with your time, how you’ve chosen to spend your days, and whom you’ve touched this year.
That, to me, is the greatest measure of success.”

We have it within us to blow ourselves away with what we can achieve. But more importantly, we have it within us to be amazed at who we can be.

We just need to work on it.

Be kind, grow, be full of wonder. In other words, be wonderful.