What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today! - Phil Connors, Groundhog Day

In 1993, comedian Bill Murray starred in the movie “Groundhog Day” about a TV Weatherman caught in a never ending Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, PA.  For years, this big shot, big city celebrity has been assigned to cover this annual ritual in this po-dunk, back-woods town, and he dreads it – no, he loathes it – er, well, there is really nothing he hates more than this assignment.

To his horror, the movie plot goes, Murray’s character manages to reach the end of this year’s  dreaded/loathed/hated day, which features the annual hold-up-a-furry-rodent-to-see-his-shadow ceremony, only to be immediately startled awake by a little clock radio blaring the Sonny & Cher hit song, “I Got You, Babe”.  He’s in the same bed in the same little motel room and he is forced to start that same Groundhog Day all over again.

Each morning, he sees the same people in the same places having the same conversations.  No matter what he tries (and he tries some pretty outrageous things) he cannot break the cycle.  As each dreaded/loathed/hated day ends, he’s once again awakened by, “I Got You, Babe”.

Day after repeated day it goes.  He is angry, frustrated, and on the verge of madness.  When he finally realizes that he is powerless to change the situation, he accepts his fate and chooses to make the best of it (actually, he decides to use the situation to make the moves on his co-star Andie McDowell, but that doesn’t deter me from making my point here).

So each day, he wakes up and begins learning new skills – taking music lessons, he becomes an accomplished jazz pianist; finding a foreign language course, he learns to speak French fluently – and he gets to know the people in the town.  He even discovers all the tragic events that occur that day in the town and ends up preventing accidents and saving people from harm.

He becomes in that one day the town hero, a celebrity, and a best friend to many.  (And yes, eventually he wins the girl, which breaks the cycle – there, if you haven’t seen the movie, I just ruined it for you.)

As I watched the movie, I found myself wishing that I could live a day like that sometime.  A big “time out” where I could just forget about the pressures of tomorrow and work on some little things – the ones I’ve always wanted to do – just for me.  You know, that book I’ve been wanting to read, that skill I’ve wanted to learn, that adventure I never have time for.

Then it hit me:  Life didn’t stop for Bill Murray in the movie.  He still had to make it through the day.  But he found time to work on himself – a little bit every day – and become a friend to those around him. 

I realized I can do the same thing – each and every day.  The calendar will change, but each day I can learn a little bit more, grow a little bit more skilled, and become a little bit more friendly to others.  Imagine the successes I can accomplish with a little extra, focused effort.

The great motivational speaker Earl Nightingale once said, “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal”.  This Groundhog Day, choose your “worthy ideal” and then every day, choose to do one little thing that will move you closer to its fulfillment.  Before long, you’ll find yourself thinking,

“Success – I Got You, Babe!” 

Gobbler's Knob photo by Eddie~S

Groudhog photo by slgckgc