It's Groundhog day again, and again, and again...

Have One Perfect Day, that's all it takes, and voila, you graduate. Here we go...

You wake up a little late. You have an important meeting. You race around getting ready. Your two year old child throws food on your new suit. You change into something less attractive. Now you are frazzled and really late. Your car won’t start. It’s so cold outside. Finally you hit the road, too fast. When you hit the ice you slide into a ditch. You grab your cell phone to call the office but the battery is dead. Finally someone stops and calls a tow truck. By the time you get to work you’re not looking too good and you missed out on a deal that could have made you lots of money. All day  long things go wrong and when you get home all you want is some love, some support and a little peace. But the kids are squabbling, your mate just wants to be served, your teenage son wrecked the other car today and there is no relief in  sight. Sound familiar? It’s groundhog day.

Remember the movie Groundhog day with Bill Murray? I recommend you see it again, and again, and again until you understand it. He gets trapped in one hellacious day where everything goes wrong. And he stays trapped there for a long time until he learns to see things differently. People show up who really irritate him. There is a bum on the street who he judges and always avoids. There’s this insurance salesman who gets on his nerves…every day.

This is our life story. We are all trapped in Groundhog day. We wake up every day and have another opportunity to see and react to things differently. In the movie he tries to escape by killing himself in various ways but it doesn’t work. We do the same things through alcohol, drugs, TV, junk food etc. We try to obliterate ourselves, but it doesn’t work. We wake up the next day and have to face the same stuff. So in the movie he eventually realizes he is never getting out and he decides to make the best of it. Bit by bit and a little at a time he starts to choose different reactions and he even starts taking piano lessons. We don’t know how long he was actually trapped in that day but eventually he  got it right and had  one perfect day. Then he graduated into his next life. A life of love, peace and culture.

Watch the movie. Then try this. Realize you are trapped in groundhog day and vow to do things differently every time.  When your kid throws food on you laugh a little, stay relaxed and get the joke. Drive a little slower. Charge your cell phone battery. Greet that person who irritates you with love and acceptance and keep doing it till they go away. I have tried this and it works. It took five times until I  truly accepted the person and then we had a great conversation. The sixth time I saw him he just waved and walked by. It was Graduation day on  that one.