{"id":2532,"date":"2019-02-02T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-02T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/?p=2532"},"modified":"2019-02-01T21:17:56","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T02:17:56","slug":"happy-groundhog-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/happy-groundhog-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Groundhog Day!!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-html-block\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.podbean.com\/media\/player\/qeqe2-a5d050?from=yiiadmin&amp;download=1&amp;version=1\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.podbean.com\/media\/player\/qeqe2-a5d050?from=yiiadmin&amp;download=1&amp;version=1\" height=\"122\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-name=\"pb-iframe-player\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p dir=\"auto\">\n<p><strong><u>Groundhog Day is an opportune time to talk about the movie and the musical of the same name<\/u>.<br \/><\/strong><br \/>When <strong><em>Groundhog Day<\/em><\/strong>, the movie, opened on February 12, 1993, it was regarded as little more than a better-than-average Bill Murray comedy about an arrogant TV weatherman forced to relive the same day over and over and over again. <u>Since then the movie and the musical have taken on a second life as a deceptively deep philosophical meditation on the meaning of life<\/u>. <em><u>A God Buzz<br \/><\/u><\/em><br \/>Besides seeing the movie 26 years ago I saw <strong><em>Groundhog Day, the Musical<\/em><\/strong> on Broadway two years ago. The ticket was a lot cheaper than one for <em>Hamilton,<\/em> which was more than my monthly Social Security check. I did enjoy it, but I missed seeing Bill Murray who came to see the musical the next day.<\/p>\n<p>In the movie and the musical, we encounter Phil Conner, a nasty, self-centered weather forecaster. His primary goal is to have his way with his kind and beautiful producer, Rita.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>For unexplained reasons, Phil is trapped in time \u2013 on Groundhog Day.<\/em><\/strong> He is forced to repeat that day over and over. He soon finds he is in a life with no consequences. He quickly pursues hedonistic, chaotic and criminal behavior. This turns out to be a trap \u2013 a false freedom of sorts.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\"><strong><em>This recurrent day took about ten years for Phil. <\/em><\/strong>He represents how a soul could change if it had an extremely long time to get things right. Eventually, Phil grows tired of his selfish and sinful pursuits. He comes to learn that Rita represents all things good. He has to be true in his intentions, actions and spirit to win her heart. After countless rejections, Rita eventually brings out Phil\u2019s best.<br \/><strong><em><br \/>Having been sentenced to repeat that day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, he also learns about all the people, their backgrounds and what makes them tick.<\/em><\/strong> He learns it\u2019s far more rewarding to help others. Near the end of the film and musical he learns he cannot save the old man living on the street. He accepts that he has limitations and that time is incredibly valuable.<br \/><strong><u><br \/>HERE ARE 6 VALUABLE LESSONS I LEARNED FROM THE MOVIE AND THE MUSICAL<\/u>:<\/strong><br \/><strong><br \/>1.\tThe Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living<\/strong>Most us aren\u2019t as self-involved, self-indulging, or self-celebrating as Phil is. He\u2019s a man who never takes stock of his life and its failings. <em>He does not follow the advice of Socrates:<\/em> <em>\u201c<u>The unexamined life is not worth living<\/u>.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><\/em><strong>2.\tEmotional Honesty Should Never Be Replaced by Sarcasm<\/strong><u><em>It\u2019s easy to be sarcastic<\/em><\/u>. In our sometimes unsentimental age, deflective humor and emotional distance can be a more comfortable way to go. It can also make you a jerk like Phil, who is sarcastic and ironically detached about everything. Phil mocks anything that might be even remotely sincere or authentic: people\u2019s interests, lives, professions, and emotions. It facilitates his ability to care only for himself and keep a perpetual distance from others. <em><u>There is no greater way to engage with life and people than removing any barrier between yourself and emotional honesty<\/u>. <br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>3.\tYou Can\u2019t Plan a Perfect Day<\/strong><em><u>Anyone who has ever tried to plan the perfect first date knows that there\u2019s no way to make it perfect<\/u>. <u>It just<\/u> <u>happens<\/u>.<\/em> Phil tries to create the ideal day to prod Rita into falling in love with him, but it always fails. It\u2019s partially because his intentions aren\u2019t genuine, but also because he is forcing what can\u2019t be forced. It\u2019s only when he learns to live a full life that she spontaneously finds her way into it, and begins to share a day with him far better than the one he tried to construct earlier on. <em><u><strong>Groundhog Day<\/strong> beautifully reminds us that the best days of our lives are the ones we don\u2019t plan for. They\u2019re the ones that just happen to us<\/u>.<\/p>\n<p><\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>4.\tSometimes You Have to Reach Your End To Grow<\/strong><u><em>There\u2019s a point in <strong>Groundhog Day<\/strong> when Phil\u2019s looped existence becomes his nightmare<\/em><\/u>. He starts killing himself (by really painful methods) to try to escape, but he can\u2019t succeed. When he hits his lowest point, he confesses to Rita, <em>\u201cI\u2019ve killed myself so many times, I don\u2019t even exist anymore.\u201d<\/em> More importantly, he says \u201cI\u2019ve come to the end of me. There\u2019s no way out.\u201d What he doesn\u2019t realize is that coming to his end is the way out. It\u2019s an existential reboot, a clean slate. <em><u>Sometimes we have to realize we\u2019re not the person we want to be anymore in order to propel us towards becoming someone better<\/u>. <u>A God Whisper<br \/><\/u><\/em><strong><br \/>5.\tA Life of No Consequences Gets Boring<\/strong><u><em>The first few days of Phil\u2019s perpetual do-over teases us with the vicarious pleasures of imagining what we would do if we could do anything without fear of the consequences<\/em><\/u>. Initially, it\u2019s a lot of fun watching Phil eat whatever he wants, steal a groundhog, get into a high-speed pursuit, and pick up women. However, <strong><em>Groundhog Day<\/em><\/strong> <em>confirms what many of us probably already suspected: l<u>iving a life of constant whimsy and self-indulgent wish fulfillment would get boring and eventually quite depressing<\/u>. <u>A God Flash<\/u><\/em><br \/><strong>6.\tReal Happiness Is the Happiness of Others<\/strong><u><em>The antidote to Phil\u2019s initial self-indulgence is finding humility and the desire to put others before himself<\/em><\/u> \u2014 whether it\u2019s buying his co-workers coffee, saving a child from a tree, or fixing an old lady\u2019s flat tire. It wasn\u2019t enough for Phil to change. His change required the helping of others. <em><u>Therein lies life\u2019s true rewards and the path to a meaningful existence. Helping others has turned him into the kind of person Rita can love, and therein lies his own true happiness<\/u>.<\/p>\n<p><\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\"><strong><em>I hope you get a chance to see the movie again sometime soon. <br \/><u>Happy Groundhog Day<\/u>!!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Groundhog Day is an opportune time to talk about the movie and the musical of the same name.When Groundhog Day, the movie, opened on February 12, 1993, it was regarded as little more than a better-than-average Bill Murray comedy about an arrogant TV weatherman forced to relive the same day over and over and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"qubely_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"ocean-thumb-m":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"ocean-thumb-ml":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"ocean-thumb-l":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"qubely_landscape":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"qubely_portrait":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",150,150,false],"qubely_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured.png",100,100,false],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/1548613916_featured-45x45.png",45,45,true]},"qubely_author":{"display_name":"Medard Laz","author_link":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/author\/medlaz\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/category\/daily-treats\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Daily Treats<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"&nbsp; Groundhog Day is an opportune time to talk about the movie and the musical of the same name.When Groundhog Day, the movie, opened on February 12, 1993, it was regarded as little more than a better-than-average Bill Murray comedy about an arrogant TV weatherman forced to relive the same day over and over and&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2532"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.treatsforthesoul.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}