Groundhog Day

Image: chrisroll / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As is customary this time of year here in the U.S. we take time out of our lives to pay homage to a giant rat in the hopes that the cold winter will be mild and pass us by thus ushering in an early spring season. We call it: Groundhog Day.

It just so happens that in 1993, Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell star in a film by the same name.

If you've seen the movie, you know that somehow Bill Murray's character is subjected to living the same day over, and over, and over, and over. And according to some, Harold Ramis (the director & writer) explains he relives "Groundhog Day" for more than 10 years - some estimates say 30 or 40 years.

If that is the case, is Ramis using the story of the plight of Phil Conners as a look into the life of most Americans?

Think about what most people do...

• They have an alarm clock wake them up from a cozy bed. 
• They eat breakfast (probably the same thing every day - or at least very few variations). 
• They take a shower. 
• They get dressed (probably the same outfit gets revisited every 4 or 5 days). 
• They drive to work (probably leaving at approximately the same time every day and driving the same route every day). 
• They perform the same tasks and duties while at work. 
• They eat lunch (probably at the same place - or small assortment of places). 
• They go back to work. 
• They drive home (again taking the same route in all likelihood). 
• They fix dinner (again with very little variation - hey it's Wednesday, that means it's meatloaf night). 
• They watch some TV or read a book, catch the news and go to sleep.

And the next morning they start all over again.

And they do this for 40 years of their life hoping to one day be able to retire and live on 1/3 of the income that they can't survive on now.

I call this a "settle for" life. But you don't have to live this way forever. Just like Phil in the movie, you can learn to live each day to the fullest. Chase your passions. Start that business you've always wanted to start. Find something, anything, that can inspire you to do something you've never done before.

Take a different route to work. Leave 45 minutes earlier and meander down side streets, or leave 60 minutes later and wait for the traffic to thin out - although this is probably not for someone who has a traditional job, most managers don't like it when you slide in "whenever you feel like it" (boy am I glad I don't have a manager.)

But what ever you do... don't get stuck in a rut. Don't end up reliving the same set of events day in and day out for the rest of your life. You're better than that. You were meant for more than that.

I believe in you. And even if no one else is, I'll be pulling for you.

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