How to get unstuck & live again: Lessons from the Movies [Zombie Edition]
Got a question for ya…
Have you ever seen a Zombie movie?
Did you enjoy it & wanna see more, or did you hate it and wish you could forget that you wasted those 2 hours of your life?
I’m not someone who usually watches horror OR zombie films; I used to think anything zombie related was just silly. I mean really, I don’t have time for watching crazed dead people eating brains!
But there are TWO lessons I learned recently that I think EVERYONE should learn, from the following two zombie films (and you don’t even need to watch them).
2 lessons and stories from 2 films. 2 questions. 1 challenge.
Last year, at the recommendations of my brothers (they said it was really funny) I saw the comedy, WARM BODIES. I also saw WORLD WAR Z, probably due to a YouTube trailer with Brad Pitt, but what can I say, it did look like it might actually be a good movie.
I wasn’t a raving fan of either movie at the time, but something changed this month. I’ve been living/traveling in Thailand for the past 4 weeks and I came across BOTH movies again while I’ve been here.
Note: If you haven’t seen the movie & are still planning on watching it, now is where I should probably say SPOILER ALERT!!!
Here’s the story:
Lesson 1: How to get unstuck & not die: WORLD WAR Z
I accidentally found myself eating amazing Thai BBQ outside with some locals (trying not to get eaten by mosquito's because they were kind in the jungle part of town) and they had their TV, that I could see from where I was sitting.on inside their little “house.”
I saw that the movie World War Z was on and it reminded me of a line that I loved from Brad Pitt in the film “Movement is Life” but I couldn’t remember the exact situation and context.
So when it started to rain, I was glad to go sit inside on the mattress on the floor (they didn’t have couches or anything) until I realized that the film had been dubbed in Thai. damn. Yeah, so that was interesting.
So I figured I would try Google & hoped for a YouTube snippet, and what would you know, there was a clip with the scene.
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So the set up to the scene is that Brad Pitt and his family (wife and 2 kids) are fleeing this citywide invasion of “man eaters” and they don’t know what’s going on yet, but they just know it’s bad and they need to get off the road. So they find their way to an apartment building looking for safety and shelter.
They are relieved when they are helped by an unzombified family who live in the building and who allow them inside. But after a while Brad Pitt says to the father of the family:
“I used to work in dangerous places, and the people who moved survived, and those who didn’t… (shakes head) movimiento es vida (subtitle: movement is life). You have a better chance if you come with us.”
But the father declines, and so Brad Pitt and his family leave — and then the zombies find the family’s apartment — and they don’t even have to show anything, you just know — they are goners!
The sad part is that they realized the truth TOO late.
One decision made the difference.
They didn’t say YES when someone offered them a way out.
They allowed fear to paralyze them.
They thought that if they hid in their apartment they would be ok.
But then they were STUCK.
*** MOVEMENT IS LIFE ***
What a metaphor for so many things, for personal growth, for careers, for life and relationships, but for this example, I wanna touch on something that I hear a LOT.
Since I travel for long periods and go to as many countries as are calling my name, people often say “you’re so lucky” or “I wish I could do that” or “I wanna have your life.”
Like it’s something that magically happens and it’s all rainbows and fairies and smooth sailing over here in Jacquelineland. But those are all their invisible scripts- their conscious mind trying to make themselves feel better by putting it all down to luck, or excusing themselves from that opportunity because they don’t think they could do it (for a plethora of reasons: ie I don’t have the time or the money or _______________ ).
So they, like the family in the film, are too afraid to leave the comfort of what is familiar to them, because the unknown world out there is SCARY.
And it can be, but hiding because it feels safer is not gonna get you to where you wanna go, and it might just kill you.
Dramatic maybe, but saying “yes” and being willing to MOVE yourself from your comfy chair, or desk or bed or just from what you are familiar with is the key to life.
Movement might just save your life (as it would have theirs).
See the movie clip here: http://j.mp/LessonsFromTheMovies-WOWZ
Lesson 2: How to live again, after being a zombie (WARM BODIES)
I was flicking through TV channels in my hotel room late at night a couple of weeks ago and the ending of WARM BODIES was on.
And I just let it play, as it was one of only a few English channels — I’d had just flicked through 60 channels to discover that.
And right at the end there the main character who had been human, but was turned into a Zombie and then discovered he was changing back into a human again, but he was a different person and had to learn how to LIVE again.
He speaks of learning to to be human again and says:
“It was scary at first, but every great thing starts out a little scary, doesn’t it?”
Isn’t this so true?
This goes for so many things, but it’s especially true if you want to do something new, step out of your comfort zone, and yes, if you want to travel. Scary but SO worth it!
I’ve been going through a lot of things in the past few months and doing a LOT of things that scare me, but I thought to myself:
“You know, it’s good if it’s scary, cause this is gonna be SOOOO good for me. It’s gonna be a great thing! As long as I keep moving forward!”
See the movie clip here: http://j.mp/LessonsFromTheMovies-WB
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CONCLUSION
To wrap up, I’ll end with this quote that sums up both these lessons.
The best selling author, Stephen Pressfield, wrote many books, but his most compelling work THE WAR OF ART is about the RESISTANCE that we all feel and have in our lives in every area, and every day that keep us from doing so many things.
He was just interview by Oprah for Super Soul Sunday and said:
“Put your ass where your heart wants to be.”
Good huh?
But to do this it takes guts to face your fear + MOVEMENT!
So, let’s get on it people!!! #GetGumption
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Two questions:
1. What do you DREAM that could be so great — but that scares you half to death?
2. What would require MOVEMENT in your life, but you kinda just wanna hide and just play it safe.
Challenge:
- What can you do today to take even just ONE small step — make a movement in the direction you wanna go? Leave a comment or note to reply!
Cheers from Thailand,
Jacqueline
