Thankful for movies and books that help me make sense of my life.

At the end of my day,

I began a “loosen up with soothing stretches” activity. The slow mellow moderator’s voice gave me permission to do my stretches lying on my bed.
Perfect “Bedtime bliss”. I clamped on my headphones so I wouldn’t disturb my husband, then I turned on my iPhone and the moderator’s low voice instructed deep breathing from the belly and palms upward. Next with my arms wrapped around my bent knees, I gave myself a hug. The coaching was calming and my eyes were closed. At one point through this exercise, I’m instructed to lift my head and shoulders and get my forehead or nose as close to my bent knees as possible. Every night it was extremely relaxing and then I’d fall into a deep sleep. But then one night, during the program, I opened my eyes and saw the actual distance from my nose to my knees. I was shattered because, in my mind, I was within centimetres of touching nose to knees.

This was not my reality and with this knowledge, I spoiled my bliss.

For the next few days, I thought over my situation. I recalled a line about closing your eyes from The Blindside Movie.

I watched the movie again for the scene where Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) asked Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) how he survived his childhood trauma. He answered, “When I was little and something awful was happening my mama would tell me to close my eyes….And when she was finished or the bad things were over, she’d say, “now when I count to three you open your eyes. The past is gone, the world is a good place and it’s all gonna be okay.”

Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) answered, “You closed your eyes.”

Now I close my eyes and I’m back to my stretching bliss.

Sometimes my imagined world is better than being blindsided by the reality of a situation.

I’m thankful for movies and books that resonate through the years and I can apply to my daily challenges.