Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Winter Break Bucket List - Tuesday

Today I officially finished the Movie Goals of this Winter Break through a lovely movie date with my boss.  We saw UNBROKEN and WILD....two films that made me really reconsider the many gifts that I have in my life and have inspired me to be My Best Self.

UNBROKEN is the story of Louis Zamperini, and Olympic Athlete who was shot down during WWII and then drifted at sea for 45 days before being "rescued" by the Japanese and held at an internment camp where he was beat and tortured before war ended.  The film mainly chronicles his time lost at sea and as a prisoner, but there are wonderful flashback scenes of how he grew up an immigrant in Southern California, eventually becoming a track star for Torrance High School.  The best scene from these segments is when Louis' older brother, Peter, is helping him get inspired to become a runner.  The advice given to Louis from Peter is "Take it 'til you make it."  Meaning that you have to endure before you can succeed...and you have to work before you earn the rewards.  This sounds alot like a running mantra to me - in endurance events you have to live with alot of intense training and sometimes pain.  Finishing a 20 mile run, a race, a long weight workout can seem like alot until you consider what the benefits are.  In fact, you can apply this mindset to anything that you think may bring you down.  Illness, a tough project a work, a tough paper that you have to write, an obstacle you have to overcome.  TAKE IT 'TIL YOU MAKE IT.  


The second movie we saw was WILD, the story of Cheryl Strayed and her quest to hike the Pacific Crest Trail on her own while finding her "Best Self".  Cheryl lost her mother to what seemed to be cancer and then went into a downward spiral of drug addiction and sex with strangers until finding a copy of a book on the PCT.  She then hiked that trail on her own during the summer of 1995 and chronicled her travels through journaling.  She wrote the book WILD, which was optioned by Reese Witherspoon. Reese produced and stars in the film and I think it's her best performance since ELECTION.  It was hard to not feel empowered watching her journey....but also coming to understand how we all deal with grief differently.  Any woman who ever lost their mother should watch this movie - and for that matter, anyone who ever dealt with the grieving process should see this movie.  while I don't have to hike the Pacific Crest Trail to find My Best Self, what Cheryl Strayed did taught me to be more authentic and present, which has a great deal to do with the goals I have for myself in 2015.


I also had a good strong workout at the gym, but haven't done much more in the way of housecleaning or preparing for the 333 challenge.  Tomorrow is yet another day, and I still have five more full days of  Winter Break. 

1 comment:

AMY said...

I loved the Torrance Rose Bowl Parade float that was dedicated to Louis Zamperini.