Annapolis + Yes Man + Seven Pounds = a new direction in life

I feel like I just attended a full Tony Robbins seminar, or read a self-help book cover to cover, or something to that general effect. I watched the movie, Annapolis, awhile ago, but the message still resonates quite strongly within me, and having just finished watching Yes Man and Seven Pounds (in a row, during a 4 hour movie marathon), I can confidently say that I am, at present, in the process of reevaluating my life on a grand scale. I will say that I am someone who (thanks Dad) has an emotional disposition to feel very emotional during movies, even when the scenes playing out don't have a clear emotional focal point. That being said, I think that anyone, callous or compassionate, would be hard put to watch the three movies I have mentioned and not to feel some twinge of empathy, sympathy, or humanity coming out of them. I will chalk some part of this up to good directing, screenplay, and/or writing, but I think that the message each of the three aforementioned films combine to send is one that any real person cannot ignore. Is our world perfect? Absolutely not - far from it, in fact. But the next question the proverbial 'philosophe' would ask is this: are we doing all we can, as individuals, to push the world in the right direction? I will be the first to point out that, pertaining to Annapolis, our government (at least under the careful watch of George, Jr.) has left many people and peoples unsatisfied - despondent even - looking for some light within what has become of the glory and hope of our Constitutional ideals. However, reading into the ideals themselves, no one can ignore or remain ignorant of the fact that there is a sincere hope somewhere, buried underneath all the words, their discrepancies included. Annapolis, for all its poor acting and picayune plot-line, does send a positive message to the judicious and inquisitive viewer: this life isn't all about you, or what you want to accomplish - it's about something much bigger. Each one of us is a spoke in one giant wheel (says I - the optimist for humanity) towards progress, and once we realize that and leave our selfish natures behind, we can contribute something meaningful to humanity as a whole.
Seven Pounds, similarly, is not a movie about individual accomplishment. True, it is a wildly fantastic case study of what momentous change can occur in a small bubble in the world when one determined, resourceful, and competent person puts every ounce of themselves into an exceptional undertaking. However, the message by the end is clear - while our own lives may be important in themselves, mostly to us savoring the pleasures of living a life we enjoy, the effect that we can generate and project onto the world around us - changing other peoples' lives - is what gives each individual worth. That is precisely what makes a life worthy of being lived. We learn it in kindergarten for a reason: sharing is good. Sharing is what makes communities function, what keeps families together and nations indivisible.
Finally, on to Yes Man, which may seem to some not really of equal emotional/educational caliber of the previous two (okay, maybe just Seven Pounds). The movie centers around themes of self-help, personal improvement, and general psychology ideas as we get a typical performance from Jim Carey - hilarious and vulnerable at just the right moments (and somehow always managing to leave a smile on our faces even when we feel like grabbing the tissue box). Saying no may seem the easiest thing to do sometimes, and to be fair saying yes all of the time is not always the best, as the movie makes sure to illustrate. But the general thesis I came up with was this - and I ask for no credit pertaining to originality or even intelligence in formulating this thesis - you lose in life when you take no risks. It's rather simple. I'll refer back to a cliche poker saying, which is that you can't win what you don't put on the table. For those unfamiliar with the game of poker, this basically means that if you don't play your hands, regardless of what cards you may be holding, good or bad, it is impossible to win. Sometimes in life, you get thrown lemons, and you make lemonade, as the saying goes. But when life doesn't give you lemons, sometimes you just have to strap on your boots and go out into the world to go and get those lemons, so you can enjoy yourself some sweet lemonade! It's cliche yes, and it's also quite unoriginal I'm sure, but I've learned that sometimes the most obvious things are the things we miss. It's so easy to get caught up in the fast pace of today, with the constant stream of information coming at us in the media wherever we look, that we don't stop to think about what we're doing living our lives - it's almost like we stop living and start floating, coasting, drifting through life aimlessly and without purpose. It's been quite a long time since my last post because that is exactly what happened to me (plus I've been kinda busy, but excuses only bring more excuses, so that's neither here nor there). Anyone patient enough to read this entire post, I thank you kindly and hope you enjoyed it and maybe even got something out of it.

Until next time - call me em.