August 26, 2008

Is Your Life Like The Truman Show?

I have always enjoyed the movie The Truman Show. First of all, because Jim Carrey just really cracks me up. The scene in the bathroom when he is pretending to be a spaceman by using a bar of soap on the mirror is a classic.

But I also love some of the more serious messages behind it. Here is a man who somehow "knows" there is something more out there. That the monotonous life he is living day in and day out just isn't cutting it anymore. And at first it seems that no matter what he tries he can't seem to break free. Someone or something continually seems to thwart him, trying to drag him back to his old ways -- immediate traffic jams to keep him from leaving the town, friends trying to tell him his life is fine the way it is -- but he knows better. He knows there has to be more, and he is determined to find his way out.

So how about you? Does it seem to sometimes that your life is like The Truman Show? Do you live the same thing day in and day out with the same comfortable cast of characters? Pretty much existing on the same "sets" day after day? Never making the "trip" over that bridge or across that ocean?

One of my favorite parts of the movie is at the end when Truman's boat finally hits the "wall" of the set. When you feel both fear and excitement for him wondering what he is going to find on the other side of that wall.

When the entire world is cheering him on as they watch him find the hidden staircase and the hidden door that is going to lead to his new life.

Will he do it? Will he take the final step out? We realize how scared he must be. How terrified. But we also know the wonders he is going to find on the other side. The love of his life… the adventures he has always sought…most of all, his freedom!.

Then comes the voice of the "director" (like an ego perhaps?). The one that tries to scare him into turning back. The voice that tells him he is safe right where he is. That he doesn't know what's out there, that if continues to stays in that "safe little world" he won't ever have to worry.

Do you remember feeling as if you wanted to punch that "director" in the head?
Tell him to shut up already! Do you remember knowing that the only reason the director wanted Truman to stay behind was for his own selfish reasons? That he only wanted him to stay behind so he could maintain control over Truman's life? (Sound strangely like an ego again?)

So how about you? Do you have that same eerie voice trying to tell you the same thing? Stay behind where you are nice and safe? That's its scary "out there" stay here where you are comfortable, even if you are unhappy? Can you see with some clarity that your ego is acting the same way as that director? That it is saying these things to you for its own selfish reasons? Simply because it wants to maintain control over your life?

If so, then it is time to be like Truman. It is time to ignore that voice and walk out that door anyway. It is time to quit daydreaming your whole life away and to start taking some real actions towards your goals. It is time to get into that boat even though you have always been afraid of the water because it is the only way you are going to find that hidden door. The door that contains the life that you have always wished for on the other side.

If it makes you feel better, imagine that you too have an entire world audience cheering you on.

Even though it might be a little scary there is something so wonderful on the others side that it will be completely worth it!

Happy Creating!

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