Movie Quote Monday – Groundhog Day
This is one of my favorite movies, and I think a lot of other people feel the same way. If you haven’t seen it (first off, shame on you), it’s about a guy who is living the same day over and over and over. He goes through various stages of acceptance and rejection of his circumstances, and it’s funny and sweet and kinda sad and totally thought provoking.
Probably the scene that always sticks out the most to me is when Phil’s in the bowling alley talking to his new pals Gus and Ralph. This marks a kind of awakening moment for him and is the start of his manipulations of all this extra time he’s been given. At the bar, he asks the guys what they’d do if they were stuck in the same place, living the same day over and over again, and nothing you do matters. Ralph says, “That about sums it up for me,” and I’ll admit that sometimes I have that feeling myself.
But as I was watching the movie last week, this little bit of dialogue really struck me hard:
Phil: Let me ask you guys a question.
—Gus: Shoot.
Phil: What if there were no tomorrow?
—Gus: No tomorrow? That would mean there’d be no consequences, there would be no hangovers… We could do whatever we wanted!
Phil: That’s true. We could do whatever we want.
I was asking myself what I would do with all of Phil’s time, whether I’d let it trickle away or whether I’d use it to expand myself. And it occurred to me how often I feel like there isn’t enough time left in my life to do whatever I want with it.
But that’s an excuse, I think. I could easily live 60 more years, and that is enough time. Even 50 years or 40 years or 30… That is enough time to make it worth my while to learn a new language or an instrument. Or go to that movie I wanted to see in the theater or take a class or start a whole new career. Or just to take a moment to chat or give someone a hand.
Even one more year is enough time to accomplish something. It’s enough time to do what I want.
So what would you do with all of Phil’s days?
What do you want to do with the rest of your own?
♦
steadily skipping stones 
I like this movie too, it has a premise that we all can relate to. Part of the midlife crisis thing is realizing you are running out of time. But as you say, not really! There is plenty of time to accomplish what you want from life if…IF…you stop whining and do it. By ‘you’ I mean ‘me’. 🙂
I’ve felt like I was running out of times since I was in my twenties. I think a part of that is never really knowing what I wanted to do with my life – that has caused me an awful lot of angst. And part of it may be just fear of trying new things. And part of it is definitely laziness. 🙂
Boots,
The no consequences thing would probably mean I’d wind up a fugitive or in jail at the end of a lot of those first days. Then after this got boring I would go for some smoochy stuff with various women…….:)
Eventually I would dabble in some Universe Awakening twists……probably do away with time all together.
RR
You basically described what he went through in the movie, haha. I think it would be hard to resist having some fun with it, at least for a while. But I’d always be scared that the one time I did something really, really bad would be the day that the time loop ended and I’d be stuck with the consequences of what I’d done.
I really enjoy your end of post questions! These are difficult ones, but in response to the second I say: I would like to do all things I have held off from doing due to FEAR!
Thanks for answering!! And what a good answer! That’s the first thing that went through my head, too, is that I would try all the things that I’m too scared to do now. All the things that might kill me or make me embarrassed or that I’m afraid won’t turn out right.
Michelle, is it possible that we’re cosmic twins separated at birth? This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Every time I watch it I learn something new. There’s something very Buddhist about it. Greatness. If cancer has taught me one thing (and probably this movie) it’s this: even one DAY would be enough, if you made it a good day.
I think it’s entirely possible! 🙂 One interesting thing about this movie, I learned in the extra features, is that people from all different faiths and belief systems embraced this movie and said how much it mirrored their beliefs. That’s kind of funny and understandable at the same time.
I thought about you, actually, as I was writing this post, and about what you’re going through. It’s the kind of situation that really makes you think (I would imagine) about how you’re spending your time here. And we never know when our one last day will be, so it’s important to make each one a good day. I don’t always. or even all that often, live that way.
Wow, that’s so interesting that all the different faiths were touched by the movie. To me that speaks of the unity of all belief systems, despite the different ways that we interpret (or misinterpret) the core values.
Yes, I do value each day more than I did before, and some things are just no longer that important, but I still have blah days that are “wasted” on worry. I try not to let myself go there often, but it’s inevitable, especially during chemo. It’s tough to feel happy when your body feels horrible.
“Even one more year is enough time to accomplish something. It’s enough time to do what I want.” – Beautifully said and so spot on! Now you’ve made me want to go re-watch the movie 😀
Thank you, haha! It’s well worth re-watching, isn’t it? It’s one of those movies that you can watch with true interest and happiness no matter how many times you’ve seen it!