Rewind a few years. Grab yourself a bowl of cereal and  plop down in front of the T.V. to watch your favorite cartoons. At the time all you saw was the cool action or the funny jokes, but you never would have guessed the impact those cartoons would have on your life. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters was my favorite to watch. It had everything I wanted as a little kid– action, adventure, monsters, and a group of best friends that could do whatever they put their minds to. Little did I know this show was teaching me life lessons still applicable today.

Evil lurks behind every corner in the show, from loved ones being taken away to double crossings and backstabbing, yet every time good prevails. Much like the world around us there are always terrible things waiting to happen or people ready to stab us in the back, but that doesn’t mean we should put up a shield, stay inside, and never meet new people. It means we just need to be careful about the decisions we make when out in the world and everything will be ok. Every main character fights for someone they love and are willing to risk everything to save them like every one of us should be. If someone needs your help you should be right there with an outstretched hand waiting to do anything that you can for that person.

“Trust in the heart of the cards,” Yugi, the main protagonist, would always say which just sounded like some cool phrase when I was little, but it taught me to trust in myself and anything would be possible. These are very important things for everyone to know at a young age, but if you were to tell a child these things they most likely wouldn’t understand. By putting them in a T.V. show, kids don’t even realize they are learning them.