“Those who have swords and know how to use them, but keep them sheathed, will inherit the world.” ― Jordan Peterson
Avatar Aang’s destiny is to face off with the evil Fire Lord Ozai and restore balance to the world in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Every generation, a figure is born into the world who can command all of the elements: Fire, Earth, Water, and Air. This person, the Avatar, can do it all, whereas the everyday people from each nation can only wield their one native element.
The Fire Nation, in keeping with fire’s symbolic reputation for passion, anger, and assertiveness, is a domineering force in the world, swallowing up territory and waging war on the other elemental kingdoms.
Everything is falling out of balance. Aang’s problem is that he is not only very young, but an Airbender monk and a pacifist at heart. He will fight, but he does not seek to kill or do lasting harm to his opponents. Aang’s Airbending arts are all about putting distance between himself and an enemy, using the air between them to redirect and deter their attacks.
Aang is not confrontational, and yet he is somehow supposed to subdue an imperialist warlord. Not great timing for the Avatar to be born as an Airbender. Jesus of Nazareth could relate. All of Judeah at his time was under Roman occupation, and when people cried out for a Messiah, they had long believed it would be a warrior riding in on horseback to lead a revolution. Instead, they got a man of peace.
The world really needed just about anyone else but Aang. It needed a fighter.
At some point in your life, you’ve been thought of as a pushover or someone’s doormat. Maybe it was a hurtful parent, an abuser masquerading as a friend or mentor, a boss, or a romantic partner. We love people and want to do right by them, so we take the abuse and rationalize it.
Again and again, we’re rolled over, and in time, we become masters of conflict avoidance.
“If I don’t do this, they won’t come at me.”
“I could be more accommodating.”
“It must have been something I said.”