Living the Moment - Deep Lessons from 'Groundhog Day' by Samone Myers Director of CURE (www.earthcure.org) and Circle the Pyramid Event Coordinator Have you ever had a moment that you wish you could re-live? Most of us have at one time or another. Thoughts of “I could have said so much more” or “I wish I could have done this or that” cross our mind, especially at key moments in our life. Mine was what more I could have said or done before my father died. I understand that it is not to be re-lived, but we can experience life in a more enlightened manner by living the moment. What I mean by living the moment came to me in an odd way recently. I was watching a re-run of the movie, “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray. For those that have not seen it, it is about a newscaster traveling to a small town that has a festival each year in honor of the groundhog. What ends up happening is he wakes up every morning and re-lives Groundhog Day. Now the first time I watched this movie years ago, I thought it was funny, but did not really get much out of it. However, watching it recently was a different story. Suddenly very profound thoughts emerged and I took note of these as I watched. At first, the lead character Phil, played by Murray, is in denial and seeks to find answers to how it is that the same day keeps replaying. He is totally self-absorbed and is annoyed with most everyone for not believing him or helping him. He goes out of his way to prove to associates that he knows what is going to happen next, i.e., a car passing, a plate dropped in a diner, what a person is going to say, answers all the questions on Jeopardy, etc. only to find disbelief in their eyes and more frustration for him. Then, he moves into a phase of anger. Again, only thinking of himself, he becomes reckless in his behavior to others and to himself. He even begins to try and kill himself, only to find he is right back in the same hotel room being awakened at 6 a.m. to the song, “I got you, Babe” by Sonny & Cher. He even goes to the extent of taking advantage of his predicament without regard to others’ feelings. He finds out intimate details about women that he wishes to sleep with, only to wake the next morning feeling more empty. Yet, he continues the same tactic on his producer, played by Andie McDowell whom he really loves. At first, she is taken by what “appears” to be things they have in common and those little things women like to hear. Andie’s character, Rita is somewhat fooled to begin with only to realize an uneasiness about the situation and a feeling that “something is not right here.” She even has moments of deja-vu, which Phil denies. Feeling worse about himself, this propels Phil into doing everything he can to win her heart. He learns French poetry, plays the piano and numerous other things to get her to fall for him. This only makes her more adamant that something is not right with the situation. Out of sheer frustration, Phil finally has an epiphany moment that leads to self-discovery. The defining moment comes when he surrenders. In his rejection, he withdraws, walking the streets of the little town bumping into people and feeling blue. When suddenly he realizes that he has walked the same street hundreds of times and passed this homeless man. Each time in the past, he ignored the man’s out stretched hand. But, not this time! He puts a wad of money in the man’s hand and takes him into the diner, buying him as much food as the frail, elderly man wants. Pleased with himself, he is later shocked to discover that the man died that evening. He is so jarred by this after helping the man that he becomes obsessed with changing destiny. In one moving scene, he tries to resuscitate the man in an alley. He holds the man, crying out to God asking “why?” It is at this moment that he stands up, brushes himself off and “gets it.” Each morning thereafter he wakes feeling rejuvenated and excited about what the day will bring. He discovers who needs help in the town and goes out of his way to make each and every person feel better about him or herself. Meanwhile, Rita takes notice and “feels’ the difference in the rawness and truthfulness of his actions. She spends an extraordinary “day” witnessing the changes in him and the effect he has on others. Afterwards, she falls for him when he carves a beautiful ice sculpture of her face. That night they make love and wake in each other’s arms. It is then and only then that it becomes the day after Groundhog’s Day. Recognizing what has occurred, Phil is ecstatic at what each moment will now bring. Reading between the lines, I was astounded at how profound the messages in this movie really are. We learn that there are phases to our spiritual growth and enlightenment that most of us have in common. We struggle with these issues in this lifetime and over many lifetimes. It teaches us that the more self absorbed we are without regard to our environment and others only leads to stuck feelings and loneliness, repeating moments until we “get it.” We also learn that once we surrender to the fact that all is in Divine Order a flow emerges taking us in directions above and beyond anything we imagined. Finally, as Phil demonstrated, unconditional love and compassion for our self and others is the ultimate act that defines us and leads to living the moment. Samone Myers has over twenty-five years in project and risk management for the government and industry. Ms. Myers was nominated for Senior Executive Service in the government, but left to follow aspirations of running her own company, which she did for nine years. She has been instrumental in helping other start-up companies and nonprofit organizations on a volunteer basis, and contributed to the documentary, “Holes in Heaven” about the harmful effects of HAARP. She was host of an international radio program entitled, “Conscious Living” and is an international speaker on business topics and instructor at ESC University in Toulouse, France. Her formal education is in Construction & Environmental Design with an emphasis in energy efficiency as well as a certificate in Government Contract Management from UCLA. Her drive and ability enabled her in 2004 to start www.EarthCURE.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to facilitate a life-long dream of implementing projects that are beneficial to humanity and non invasive to the environment. She is author of Speak Your Truth under a pen name. Recently she took on the role as Event Coordinator for the Circle the Pyramid Event (www.circlethepyramid.com). She also enjoys studying ancient civilizations and has traveled to Egypt, Peru, Mexico, Bolivia, and Europe. She strives to continually live in the now. Ms. Myers may be reached at contact@earthcure.org. Note: Above image was created by Samone specifically for this article. RETURN TO OMPLACE HOME