Week 14 At The Movies

Another week and another challenge. We got a break from the webinar due to the Christmas Break. It is always nice for a break, least as a child in school this was well lived for. However as an adult a break, even though refreshing can at times add extra pressure , in keeping focused to the tasks at hand.

So our homework this week is to watch one or all of the following six movies: October Sky/Cool Runings/Door to Door/Rudy/A Good Life and Wild. What better homework could one ask for. Almost like being to;d take the week off and have fun.

Well! After looking up the bios on each movie I selected Wild. Not because it is adult entertainment or one Of Oprah’s firsts in her book club  but more for the story out line.  A woman takes a 1,000 plus mile hike through the wilderness to find herself, by herself. She has to be nuts! A woman all alone in the middle of nowhere, just has to be asking for trouble, right? It has to be good I thought. What could go wrong. LOL

Now before I get all engrossed in the story let me fill you in on our homework. Yes, we where told to watch a movie, however somewhat like a book report we have to focus on the 4 tiny items that make up persistence. They are: DMP , definate  major purpose, PMA-positive mental attitude, POA-plan of action and MMA-master mind alliance.

So with this in mind let the show begin. Cheryl Strayed a pretty much happy child from a broken marriage grows up with her siblings and mother. The usual not so well off family trying to make ends meet yet enjoying life for the most part. I won’t get into who played who, you can look that up yourself.

In short after her mothers passes away from cancer Cheryl’s life hits rock bottom as if you were to have your soul ripped out of you leaving you no direction or purpose to follow. Now while watching this movie I found at time a little hard to follow due to sound quality and a lot of low talking. I in turn ended up looking up the movie online for some needed insight and read a section from her book. Very moving and tear jerking to say the least.

So while Cheryl hit bottom and scrapped her way through various drugs, sex and God knows what else she finally decides she has to find the person she once was according to her mother. This becomes her DMP. To strike out on a self discovery journey across the Pacific Crest Trail to find her way back to being the person she once was before her mother’s passing, and in turn healing all the demons from within. Her journey took her 4 years, 7 months and 3 days. With the flashbacks in her mind of what she has suffered and the positive images of her mother and the good times they shared she was able to keep a Positive Mental Attitude, PMA.Her plan of action, POA, was simple but not well thought out at times. She prepared a backpack of all things she thought she would need to make the journey. Dehydrated food, and water purification pump, tent ,cooking supplies, clothes for all weather and so on. Plus she had several boxes of supplies which she left with a friend who would mail them to her at various checkpoints. Once on the trail it wasn’t long before she found that she may have packed too much making her pack somewhat a real workout to put on each day.

Her ex-husband  kept in touch by sending her packages along with supporting letters giving her praise. This became part of her MMA mastermind alliance for as we are taught, no one makes it without a mastermind. As her days went by she had several master minds at different stages . Some of these are: Her ex-husband Paul, her best friend Lisa who she left her truck and boxed supplies with. At one stop a park ranger helped by lightening her pack by getting rid of what she didn’t and or hadn’t used at that point. Even suggesting she call for new boots as hers where too small and she was losing toe nails by then. There was also a couple of other hikers she shared a night with uplifting spirits. Not to mention all other hikers who got to know her by her notes written in at various way points on the trail. One of what I found the most interesting master mind partner she had, and probably she didn’t know it at the time was a fox.Which showed up from time to time and also at the end.As it came to be Cheryl took this as a sign that her mother was watching over her and stayed with her to the end. Where is my Kleenex?   It’s the yellow emotions coming out again. I recently purchased my complete colour code analyzes and yellow is my secondary colour. I plan to blog about this soon so tune back in then if you wonder what I am talking about. Oh! I almost forgot. One other master mind she encountered though just for a moment was a small boy and his grandmother who misplaced their lama. In chatting the young boy asked about her mother. After telling him she had passed away the boy sang to her a song his mother(also passed) sang to him. The song was The Red River Valley. After they all went on their way Cheryl collapsed to her knees and cried. A world of emotions finally being released. Plus a few more of mind. Will tears hurt my laptop? Wipe  Wipe.

So, I hope I have captured the 4 tiny items, ( actually they are habits) that make up persistence. For without them Cheryl would probably still be at rock bottom and I would be watching tv and or sleeping.

Though I found these tiny habits hard to spot during the movie I feel with a little help from the internet I was able to fill in the blanks.

I like to leave you with this image with a  quote by Abraham Lincoln

Thanks I am grateful you stopped by and wish you all a Happy Safe Joyful New Year.

Mahalo