One of my favorite movies is a Bill Murray classic: Groundhog Day. I’ll watch anything with Bill Murray but the value of this movie goes far beyond its actors. The real power of this movie is the message we take from it. Plenty of people have written about what the movie means to them. Here are the lessons I see in this movie:
- Do your best
- Be your best
- Use your best to help others
When the main character, Phil Connors, began using his time to improve himself and to help others, he began to have better, happier days. Even though he was still stuck in a time loop on the same day, he made it work by learning new skills, meeting people and letting his true personality and spirit come out.
He was not perfect. He was not able to help or save everyone. But he tried. His attitude changed from “What can the world do for me?” to “What can I do for the world?”. And he put this new value system into action every day.
It was his new focus on being the best he could and helping others that broke the time loop. It allowed him to get on with his life. And it was a much better life too.
Before the time loop, Phil Connors was stuck but he didn’t know it. The time loop helped him see how stuck he was and that there was a better way. Once he found that “better way” his life improved. So did the lives of those around him
I like this movie because it reminds us we don’t have to be perfect to be happy. All we have to do is be the best we can and use the talents we have to help others. If we do this we can be happy.
In a way, the main character in this move was lucky. He was forced to make changes. He had to get things right or he wouldn’t have been able to continue his life. The rest of us have to create our own Groundhog Days, (something I need to do better.)
How do you create yours?
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