Finding Yourself At The Movies: One Step At A Time

     There are those who attribute their  shortcomings to the past which serves to entangle the believer in a quagmire of inactivity giving birth to depression.   In this instance,  there is little to be gained from analyzing  the past.  I recently saw the movie "Wild" that reminded me of the futility of extreme soul searching.  This flick is based on a book penned by Cheryl Strayed (not her birth name)  about her  internal as well as external voyage.  In this tragic tale, she takes a 1,100 miles hike across  the Pacific Crest Trail  along mountain ranges of the Mojave Desert into Washington State. Her humongous back back weighs her down and represents her past mistakes and hardships.  She carries it everywhere  immersing herself in intense pain symbolized by the body bruises they inflict. Initially, her purpose is  penance for sins  committed as a consequence of past hardships and to honor her mother who was a naturalist and an expert on the PCT. Eventually she learns that everything in her life has had a purpose or maybe not.  She learns to giver up he obsession with the past  and get on with her life.
     Cheryl, played by Reese Witherspoon,  is no super hero with any special skills.  She represents anyone whose screwed up badly and lost their internal compass.     We share her  past perceptions and her journey.  We learn about her resourceful mom Bobbi, played by Laura Dern, who left her physically abusive husband. Bobbi supports herself and her two children on a meager salary and food stamps and then dies from cancer  two months shy of earning her college diploma.  Shortly afterwards, our  protagonist begins a four year decent into heroine abuse and numerous extramarital affairs resulting in divorce and chronic depression. All background information is provided to us by the use of flashbacks which are Cheryl's remembrances.   Cheryl's inner spirit is so low she has nowhere to travel but up and so her introspection proceeds one painful step at a time.  After a lengthly examination of the past she then fast forwards those  thoughts and revelations  to bring herself to the present moment.

     "Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."- Buddha

        At the risk of redundancy,    there is very little benefit  analyzing  the past.We need to perceive who we truly are one step at a time without putting obstacles in our path. You can not un-ring the bell.   Hopefully, your survival made you stronger, wiser, resourceful. resilient  to withstand the challenges in life.  Let go of your preconceptions,  of comparisons with others, and have the fortitude to fight for the life you want!  You have been presented with a unique opportunity to live ever mindful of who you really are to yourself.  No longer judge yourself harshly and  forgive your shortcomings.  Heal and look forward eagerly to the infinite possibilities in your life.  
     The Dalai Lama said,  There are two days in the year that nothing can be done.  One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live."

Bottom Line:  Celebrate the life you have and not the one you lost.  Live in the present.