Movies and Messages

There are so many movies out there -- money spent to see movies to entertain ourselves, to escape for just a little while. Some movies are just that -- an excellent escape and sheer entertainment. They make us laugh -- or for the more adventurous types, catch our breath, hide our faces and jump out of our seats (these are the kind I avoid!) -- Once in a great while you find a movie that entertains, makes you laugh and either teaches you something or reminds of something you knew -- but that is easily forgotten.

This week I saw "Julie & Julia". And I laughed, commiserated, and felt some of the feelings portrayed -- but what I came away with, was the message. Something we are "told", and sometimes believe -- One person CAN make a difference -- and -- that knowing another person's "story" allows us to understand and empathize, extend compassion and learn from that person.

How often have you met a person who seemed gruff and rude when you met them, but when you hear their story you find they are incomprehensibly shy, or something in their life has shaped the way they interact with others -- and in the knowing, your perception changes and you are better able to accept and love that person?

That's what I learned from "Julie and Julia" -- each one of us has the capacity to touch the lives of those around us in such a profound and positive way, that it can change lives......whether we ever know it or not.

So the question becomes, what are we doing with our talents, our laughter, our joy, that is touching the lives of those around us for good? What more can we do? Each one of us makes a difference, each of us is important and needed. Find the joy and passion in your life and live it to the fullest -- you will make a difference! You already have.