You get your popcorn (mix of sweet and sour for me), sit down at the IMAX waiting for that comedy to begin. The full surround from the Dolbi speakers rumbles. The screen grows. Then the movie starts and surprise, it is not a comedy. It is your life.
Not a trailer, either. A full feature film. It jumps between angles, one moment you watch yourself from above. The next through someone else’s perspective. The next moment you see through your own eyes. Then suddenly you are inside someone else’s chest feeling what they felt when they met you. In this experience you get to everyones emotions as well.
Yep, that girlfriend you dumped in a nonchalant way. your grandmas heart pounding when you hugged her. your parents love when they first held you as you were born. The colleague you spilled the coffee on at the office.
Near death experiencers talk about this all the time, and I have always been fascinated by this idea, but never really sat with it. I don’t have much appetite for loads of awkward moments. Still, the thought stays.
What would change in your life if you knew you would watch all of it again. Not from ego, but from truth. How would you behave if you knew you would feel, with absolute fidelity, the impact you had on others.
Some people say the review comes later. I think it probably comes now. Every day is a chance to edit the script.
So I keep returning to a few pillars. They are simple. Not original. But they work.
Body. Take care of it. It is the only vehicle that gets you through this strange trip. Treat it like a well loved bike. Oil it. Rest it. Move it.
Mind. Stay curious. Curiosity is the closest thing we have to a renewable energy source. It keeps you alive from the inside.
Spirit. Believe in something. If not in God, then in people. Most bad actors make the headlines, but most humans are quietly kind. They hold doors. They ask how you are. They remember your birthday. Faith is not limited to the sky. Sometimes it is found on the U-Bahn when a stranger moves their bag so you can sit. My suggestion though, pray. It’s wonderful (or magical if you are still not convinced).
Community. Respects others. Help when possible. How are you moving from Me to We. How are you carrying others the way others once carried you. A life that is only about the self becomes narrow. A life that includes others becomes wide and prosperous.
The review forces you to remember what matters. Compassion. Time with loved ones.
I’m pretty sure this moment will come. To all of us. When it does for me and I get to sit in front of that giant screen, I hope to feel proud, or at least relieved, that I tried. That I lived like someone who knew the movie would play again.
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