Groundhog Day

I found out many years ago that the movie Groundhog Day – starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell is apparently my husband’s favorite movie. I had never seen it at the time, but I’ve certainly seen it now! On nights when we want a bit of ease and comfort – and something we “don’t have to pay attention to” that’s the movie choice that always comes up for us.
We always end up watching the whole thing.

The movie follows a weatherman on his coverage of Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney PA where he finds himself stuck in a time loop. He wakes up the next morning, and it is again, Groundhog Day. The movie follows his actions as he lives the same day over and over, trying every possible outcome, at first railing against this insane phenomenon – but the more he resents it the worse his days go. Then he realizes that this is a gift, that he can do wonderful things with this borrowed time, suffer no consequences, have incredible experiences and maybe learn a thing or two.

This morning, I woke up the same way I’ve been waking up for about 10 days or so. I hit the snooze bar, begged for quiet for another 5 minutes before getting the girls ready for the day. I realized in my head that waking up this way was setting me up for more of the same. When I looked out the window, I saw the sky was gray and gloomy… how it’s been for several days now and I felt deflated. I miss the sun I thought to myself. If the sun were out I’d feel different. If anything felt different, I’d feel different.
How conditional of me.

After dropping Adelynn off at school I came home with the baby and put a pot of hot water on for coffee. While I stood at the stove, the idea of the movie Groundhog Day popped into my mind.
That’s how I feel.
I feel as though I’m living the same day over and over.

However, I also see the message in that movie so strong. It’s a gift that Phil is given the opportunity to have the same day every day. It’s a gift because it doesn’t have to be the same. He runs into the same people day in and day out, with the same experiences, and at a certain point in the movie, he decides to learn from them. He decides to do things differently, to avoid stepping in the deep puddle and soaking his pant leg, to walk around it.
That’s growth.

We get stuck in time loops. I’m guilty of this. What did Einstein say? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

There we have it folks.
But as I said earlier, it DOESN’T have to be this way. As soon as we see that we are running on the hamster wheel, seeing the same things, doing the same things, we can stop.
Step off.
Do something different.

So I did!
First, I acknowledged that I was doing this, living on the time loop.
Then, I made a different breakfast. I sat with Felicity at the table and wrote while she played. Then we played! I acknowledged that it’s my own routine that has me feeling trapped, even insane.
After thinking this, I realized the potential in my day. I realized how much freedom I truly have! I can do anything I want for most of the day… and the things that are structured like school drop off and pick up, are just minutes of the structure. I can go about my life differently. I don’t have to live Groundhog Day the same way every day.

This realization brought freedom.
Spirit speaks in interesting ways and reminds us of our power when we are able to really hear it. Today, a movie plot was my reminder and I’m happy to say I’m adding some variety to the mix.
Even if the sun isn’t out!