Winning Words 2/2/10
“What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?” (Phil Connors) The movie, Groundhog Day, is one of my favorites. If we were to live life over, we might choose to do some things differently. In the movie, Phil does escape from Feb 2nd and changes his life, but our life ain’t the movies, so we try to do our best with the first take. ;-) Jack

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: I would like to think I would do what Phil did.....try to improve each day...it took him awhile, but he finally realized that point. FROM JACK: Maybe that's why I like the movie...It has a happy and positive ending.

FROM SG IN TAMPA: That is hard to imagine that every day would be the same with all of the books,art, videos plus our own imaginations to make life interesting plus all of the new people that enter our lives. FROM JACK: I try to imagine the weather in Tampa...everyday the same...warm and sunny...heaven on earth. Have you seen the movie, Groundhog Day? Poor Phil...living the same experiences every day. But he was able to learn from that...to his benefit, when he escaped the situation.

FROM GOD DEBT JON: Quit; change scenery. I did Ground Hog Day for 9 years as a youngster at Kroger’s. It’s not worth the money to have to watch the same film every day. FROM JACK: I hadn't thought about that. Maybe, I'm in a time warp, too, watching that movie every year on Feb 2. At least, I'm only watching it once a year....like Christmas Vacation, each year at Christmastime.

FROM PRJS IN MICHIGAN: If that were the case, you might not be aware of it. FROM JACK: The problem for Phil was that he was aware of the situation, but nobody else understood. That's one of the frustrations of life, when we're in out own little world and see things from our point of view, and nobody else seems to understand.

FROM CS IN MICHIGAN: Groundhog Day is one of my favorites too! For a few years in my recent life, I often spoke out loud or to myself "I feel like I'm stuck in Groundhog Day" . It was hard to escape! But I finally did!
FROM JACK: When you were young(er), did you have have games with "do-overs?" There are times in life when we wish that there were do-overs, but it doesn't work that way, does it. Memory allows us to do-over some of the good things, also.

FROM MOLINER CF: Life is not a rehearsal. One "take" is all you get. Mistakes happen. move on. FROM JACK: True. The trick is to learn from your mistakes. Some people do. Others don't.

FROM CJL IN OHIO: One thing I'd do is NOT change my roommate or best man! FROM JACK: Ahhhhhhhhh! Those were the days, my friend.

FROM JK IN MICHIGAN: Good One! This speaks to me directly on an issue I have been praying about. I disagree with the concept of one chance at life. I have found that you can have repeating patterns in your life. If you live negatively (e.g. unforgiveness, pessissism, etc) you will find yourself in the reoccuring situations much the same as in the move 'Ground Hog Day' movie. The risk is if you start to expect the same patterns to occur and then start to think that we are powerless to change then start losing hope. This 'trap' is a very serious one and many people are struggling with this in our city / state at the moment FROM JACK: It was Einstein who said: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

FROM ES IN COLORADO: Enjoy your show! FROM JACK: Bill Murray movies are funny.

FROM CS IN WISCONSIN: No day is ever the same in this house!!!!! Every day becomes an adventure of trying to figure out how to get through it with humor, dignity and wonderment at what God puts before us to handle…one day at a time. Today we are dealing with the possibility of putting my mother-in-law in a nursing home, deciding whether she should receive more blood transfusions. She has wanted to die for years and now months and sometimes days. This morning when we saw in the hospital she said…”See! I’m going to live despite what everyone thinks! God isn’t ready for me yet!” It has been a tough day of reckoning and really coming to grips with a loved one’s Living Will…God will see us through this day too. Amen! It has been a beautiful winter day here – one of many this year! Did you know that Groundhog Day was filmed in Woodstock, IL? I got to watch many take and retakes of scenes in the movie. FROM JACK: God has a way of working things out. It's good that a God and people who care about us. I had forgotten about the movie being filmed in Woodstock. That waitress sorta reminds me of you. Was it you?