Happy Groundhog Day! What a glorious day it is, too! I don’t know if Phil has or will see his shadow. Nor can I remember which way it is supposed to go if he does or doesn’t. But I do remember the movie.
Bill Murray is excellent in it as he relives the same day over and over and over. He is stuck. Like many of us feel stuck sometimes, feeling like we are reliving the same day over and over. But he has really been given a wonderful gift. As he realizes this, he makes quantum leaps in progress. He realizes that he has choice. He starts to take advantage and make better choices, incrementally, slowly, day by day, because he feels like he has nothing but time.
By the end of the movie, he can play piano like a pro, is friends with everyone in town and gets the girl because he really pays attention and gets to know her. He is transformed. All in a day. Because he felt he had nothing to lose, he tried so many things and eventually he was able to continuously make good choices that added up. We, of course, don’t exactly see all of that in the movie but we intuitively know that is what happened. He took risks he normally wouldn’t have taken. He made choices to spend his time in ways he normally wouldn’t. He eventually chose wisely when he realized he could improve his situation.
We may not get to live Groundhog Day every day but we do have choices to make every day. What would happen if we decided to act as if this was the day we had to live? The choices we make do add up over time, and just like they were for Bill Murray, they are transformative in the aggregate. Life and death have been set before you, choose to celebrate and give thanks for life or to complain or worry into death. It is your choice. I help people see their choices more clearly and make better decisions.
