The Groundhog Day Guide to Life, Love, Happiness, and Living In The Now

8/22/2019 The Groundhog Day Guide to Life, Love, Happiness, and Living In The Now

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The Groundhog Day Guide To Life, Love,

Happiness, and Living In The Now

(editors note: this is a long post, but it has some important insights, please take the time to go slow

and contemplate it over)

Good Morning Its Groundhog Day!We can become blind by seeing each day as a similarone Paulo Coelho

I recently watched the classic Bill Murray movie Ground Hog Day. I realized that this movie is truly

enlightening and offers deep insights into life, love,happiness, and living in the now.

This post will explore the meanings I derived from this awesome movie, and how we can apply them

in our daily lives. The films main messages parallel many of the harsh realitys that humanity is

currently experiencing, and its time we do something about it.

Plot: Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, an egocentric Pittsburgh TV weatherman who, during a hated

assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, finds himself repeating the

same day over and over again. After indulging in hedonism and numerous suicide attempts, he

begins to reexamine his life and priorities.

The Wisdom of Groundhog Day

Stage 1 Attitude Is Everything:Nothingis good or bad, but thinking makes itso.William Shakespeare
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The beginning of the movie starts by highlighting Phils pessimistic attitude towards everything. On

the first day of covering the groundhog story, the producer asks him why he was late to the set, she

mentions that he we was missing all the fun.

All the towns people where dancing, laughing, and celebrating. They where all eagerly anticipating

the groundhogs weather prediction. Phil simply responds,Yeah they are hicks Rita. Phils ego

keeps him fromenjoying a little fun, all because he feels he that he is above the townspeoples

traditions.

Remember that the best things in life are free, its all about the simple things. Neverforget to dance

and laugh. A pessimistic attitude will close you off to life and all its glory. Learn to be open and playful .

L ife reallyisnt that ser ious.

Stage 2 Wake Up This Is Not a MovieAfterwaking upon the same day at exactly 6 am, Phil finally realizes that he is not crazy, that he

really is living the same day over and over again.

This is your first step in awakening andliving a conscious life. You first need to realize you are asleep

before you can begin to do anything about it. You need to deeply see that this is not just a movie,

this is real life. Deeply inquire into your life, you will see that you are basically living the same day

every day.

We keep repeating the same dramas over and over again. Einstein said that the definition of insanity

is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Using this as a criterion

its safe to say that many of us on a certain level can be considered crazy.

Even though Phil realizes that he is reliving every day, he still commits the same mistakes. Every

day for a while he continues to step in the same water puddle on his way to report the news story.

This illustrates how in life we are all deeply influenced by ourunconscious habits. Being guided by our

habits our conscious presence is not needed. Not being consciously present means that life just

happens to us, we are organic machines, we are not participating in life.

Many times we know exactly what situations we are getting into, but once these unconscious

tendencies take over, there is nothing we can do. We become lost in a world that is a predominately

a product of our imagination.

This is why its so hard to change, we may think we only have a few key things to change, but in

reality there are hundreds of things that we need to do, in order to really change our lives.
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We need to become aware of all the unconscious little habits that are the undercurrent of our reality.

This is why you need tremendous energy and disciplineto change, its not easy to all of sudden

change the momentum of hundreds of unconscious tendencies.

Once you realize that the most important thing is that you wake up and live your life, you will identify

your essential needs and begin towork on yourself. If you keep at it and dont give up, you will start

feeling a new power and energy rise up within you. This energy if properly channeled will be your

ally in changing your life.

Every time life knocks me down, I channel this energy and make things happen.

Live Your Life Change Your LifeOne of the important lessons that Phil learns early on, is that once you begin to awaken and take

control of your life, people will no longer be able relate to you. People can only understand according

to their own level, and not to the actual meaning of things. So if you start awakening to your life, how

can someone understand you when they are asleep?

Phil trys to explain his situation to his producer, she simply thinks he is crazy. For a person to

understand it needs to become his experience. So if people dont get you, there is no need to lose

any sleep over it. Unless they experience certain things, they will not be able to relate to you. This is

why it is important that you seek out people who are on your level and higher.

You will notice that when you decide to change your life, you may encounterresistance from your

friends and family. No one changes, so when you change, everyone is thrown off by it. It gets them

thinkingwellif he is changing his lifeIshould probably change my life,but they still wont, unless

it is intrinsically coming from them. Then they may even resent you for your efforts.

All my aunts and uncles were raised on a tiny farming community in Mexico, and have since

immigrated to America to pursue the American Dream. I am sure that most of my extended family

thinks I am crazy for living how I do.

They think I am selfish and dont care about my family, because I am off exploring the world instead

of working hard for my future. But I dont worry one bit about it, b ecause I know that for them

tounderstand, they would need to have seen and done the things I have. Since they have not, I dont

waste any energy in explaining myself.

Just be a shining example ofsomeone who takes his ideas and runs with them, and dont worry

about other people. If they are ready one day, they will come to you and you can point them in the

right direction.
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Stage 3- Living for TodayWhen it deeply hits Phil that this is his reality, he begins to contemplate what it all means, what does

he do now?

On a late night at the bar with his buddies, he poses this important question.Whatwould you do if

you where stuck in one place, and every day was exactly the same, and nothing you didmattered?

A guy just looks over at Phil and takes a shot of alcohol and says, Thatpretty much sums it up forme.

This shows that when lifebecomes too overwhelming, when we see no way out, we choose to escape

by becoming temporarily unconscious to life and our reality. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll are some

of our favorite ways to escape.

Dont escape, take responsibility. Being responsible means yourespond to life with all the

intelligenceyou have. Escaping is reacting to life. When you respond you are in control, when you

react you are in the control of external influences.

What if there was no tomorrow?Phil then goes on to ask, What if there was no tomorrow?. His drinking buddies say, wellthat means

there would be no consequences, no hangovers, we could do whatever we wanted.

This was a major turning point for Phil. He starts doing whatever he feels because he realizes there

is no tomorrow. He starts going againstall his social conditionings and beliefs. This was a step in the

right direction, but quickly discovers some new challenges.

Iam not going to live by their rules anymore, Phil announces to his drunk buddies as they ensue on a

frantic police chase. He discovers how foolish it was to accept authority so blindly.

Take the time to see how many things in your life you accept just because they tell you it is so, that

you dont even question whether it has any basis of truth? Whats the higher agenda behind it?

There Really Is No TomorrowLet me ask you an important question, when have you ever been out of this moment? The only thing

that never changes is your witnessing presence, it has always been in the here and now. But how

much of your attention is actually focused on it in your day to day life?

Here is one of the main lessons: there really is no tomorrow, this is a concept that only exists in our

minds. We experience life by observing how our future is instantaneously turning into the past.
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Our brains cant perceive theeternal present moment, it always slips through our fingers, we cant

put our finger on it. The eternal moment contains all the past, present, and future.

Our brains job is keeping them separate so we can function and live in this reality. As Einstein said,

reality is merely an illusion albeit a persistent one, and that the only purpose of time is so that all

things dont happen at once.

Our minds then become extremely clever and then figure out how to keep us comfortable by

postponing many of the things that we really want to do.

Meditationis your key in merging you with reality, with the eternal moment. It gradually brings you to

it, it lessens the shock. If someone where to all of a sudden become unidentified with their mind,

effectively letting go of their past, the shock may be too great. Because without the past, the future

falls as well.

Your future is simply your past projecting itself forward in time. If in this instant you dropped your

past, you would not understand whats going on. You would lose all the concepts you had of yourself.

This is like sending 1000 watts of electricity through 200 watt wiring. Meditation is a gradual

unfolding, it eases you into your true nature, so that you will be able to handle it.

Society has also made us forward thinking, it made us ambitious, it nourished us to become

something. Becoming is always in the future. They convinced us thathappiness is not now, but in the

future, a day when we finally become what we envisioned ourselves to be.

Its the only way society could function in its present form. You need to reclaim your freedom, you

can still be in society, you just choose now not to be part of it, be influenced by it. You see the

absurdity of it all. Its all one huge game, as William Shakespeare once said. When you step out of

the madness you see how everyone plays their role.

What would happen if society quit competing with one another, quit being ambitious?

Once Phil starts smarting up and learning from his new-found knowledge, he begins to respond to

life instead of just reacting. Responding you are in control, reacting you are controlled by external

circumstances.

Phils producer is deeply puzzled by Phils new carefree attitude. She asks him whats going on with

him, he saysIdontworry about anythinganymorethats what makes me special.

When Phil realizes how foolish it is to think about a future that doesnt exist, he begins to live

intensely in the now.
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Living in the moment how can you worry about things? Right now as you are reading this, is there

anything to worry about?are you silently thinking of mental concepts that are not part of this

moment? Relax there is nothing to worry about.

Recently I was on a date and during our conversation she says to me, You always seem so relaxed, so

mellow, do you worry about anything? Are you trying to be perfect?

I am not trying to be anything, I am just enjoying being in my own skin. When your not trying to be

anything what is there to worry about? This does not mean I am lazy or dont think about serious

issues.

The only things I worry about is how I can contribute in making the world a little better then it is now.

I do things because I enjoy them, not because I am trying to be perfect or become something.

Be Careful How You Use Your KnowledgePhil in the beginning uses his situation to exploit others. He asks a woman for some intimate details,

because he knows the next day she wont remember him. He will use this knowledge to make her

feel extremely comfortable next time they meet.

He tells the woman, I asked you to prom.dontyou remember?she doesnt remember, it never

happened, but his story convinces her of a reality that is not true.

This shows why society at large is so easily brainwashed. When you are asleep, other people,

government, and the mass media determine your reality.

Phil then basically starts creating his own reality.

If you had one day to live, what would you do?- Phil

Phil learns that toget people to like you, you have to remember the things they like. At first he uses

this in a selfish way, but he quickly realizes that this backfires. You need to genuinely care about

others, you need to figure out what being genuine even means.

Groundhogs New Message To Living In The NowEvery day is groundhog day. Just like Phils it is essentially the same, but if you bring enough

awareness to it, learn from it, the next day(moment in time) can be a little better. As you grow in your

understanding of yourself and the world you are able to handle the same life situations better.
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The more you understand yourself, the more control you have of your life. You discover the courage

to let go of the past and give your full attention to the now.

After a beautiful day between Phil and his Producer she tells him, Iam just amazed how you can start

a day with one expectation, and end up with something totally different, this was a perfect day, could not have

planned a day like this.

Well you can it just takes a lot ofwork Phil says with a slight grin on his face.

When you dont take responsibility for your life, life just happens to you. When you decide to take

responsibility for your life, you start totake control of your day, and things unfold in miraculous ways.

Right when it seems like Phil is going to get the girl, she hesitates because she thinks its too good

to be true. She says no to life. We live so long in the past and future, that the present seems unreal.

She gets a taste for it, and doesnt understand whats going on. When we sta rt living in the moment

the past and future are unreal.

Where would you go, why would you go, we got a perfectfirePhil pleads to Rita in trying to convince

her to spend the night.

Once Phil discovers that you can never truly be fulfilled by getting al l your minds desires, he starts

killing himself. This is one of the fundamental laws of the mind, it never gets enough, it always wants

more.The mind is the disease.

Phil starts being generous when he realizes you cant think of only satisfying your own desires, that

youneed to contribute. He starts to genuinely care about other people.

He starts learning and trying new things and that practice makes perfect. He comes to understand

that problems are inevitable, that they are a part of life, a way to grow.

He learns to find fulfillment by being in the service of others. People remember when you genuinely

help them out. Everything else they forget. Everyone now loves Phil because he cares and

understands them.

Stage 4- Love Conquers All and Gives Meaning To LifeIm happy now, because I love youPhil

Love finally breaks the cycle, Phil wakes up and its not the same day anymore. Selfless service is

key, then every day is beautiful, meaningful.

If you live in the now, but only think about satisfying your own desires, eventually life becomes

meaningless.
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Only love will keep you happy, fulfilled, and in the now. Or if you stay in the now long enough, you

will start to overflow with love.

When I am having a cup of coffee and bring my full attention to it, the quality of the act changes. I try

to maintain my total awareness on my witnessing presence, and then observe the people around me.

I soon feel the boundaries between me and the world melt. I understand the meaning of oneness.

The Ultimate Message Is ThisBeing solely identified with your mind and thoughts, you live an egocentric life, your life is just on the

periphery, very superficial. The moment you realize that this is what stands in your way of growth

and fulfillment, you begin theprocess of your inner journey. You start asking your self what is mind?

What is thought? Who am I? What am I ?

You start tolearn to observeand learn from your self and the world. You learn to use your mind when

its needed and put it aside when its not.

Eventually being in the service of others will give your life meaning, and love will keep you in the now,

because when you truly love you are not identified and dominated by your ego.

The ego serves its purpose in society, it is your reference point, but now you are free from it, you

can use it as you like.

In love you are not what's important, the other is, and that is not even correct, you just are love.

Dont deny your past, nothing is solved by denying, just learn and move on intelligently. Its time we

all wake up and love one another.

I enjoyed writing this for you, it surely was not a waste of my time, so I sincerely hope it is not a

waste of yourswhatare your thoughts on this post?join the conversation belowthank you

and be well.

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The Groundhog Day Guide to Life, Love, Happiness, and Living In The Now