Extraordinary Moments

One of my favorite things in life is to curl up on the couch with my wife and watch a good movie. I love action or sports movies and she loves romantic comedies, so obviously.... we watch a ton of romantic comedies. I know this will sound corny but I'm okay with the chick flicks because I enjoy spending time with my wife, being close, holding hands, eating chocolate and sharing a good laugh.

Last night we watched a really interesting movie called "About Time". The premise of the movie was that all the men in this one particular family had a special gift, the power to travel back in time. They could only go to past moments in their own lives, but they could relive those moments and change things if they wanted to. Of course, if they changed things in the past it affected how their life turned out in the future. The father waited until his son was about 20 years old before telling him about the special power he had and how to access it. The son was amazed with his new found power and every time he had a bad day or made a stupid mistake, he would go back in time and relive that day....without making the same mistakes. He even used his special power to correct mistakes he made while dating a beautiful young girl that he fell in love with. Eventually they got married and when they gave birth to their first child, the father explained to his son something really important. Once you have children you can't go back in time before their birth... or it may affect whether they are ever born or not. The son began to learn that he needed to use his power wisely and cautiously.

Near the end of the movie, the father develops terminal cancer. So he took his son aside and told him about the "secret" to enjoying the real magic of their special power. It was to go back and re-live each and every day after it happens, but do it with the right perspective this time, not getting overly upset over problems while enjoying and appreciating the "ordinary moments" as they happen. (I can relate to that because there have been plenty of times when I have gotten overly upset over problems that in the end turned out to be not that important.) So the son took his father's advice and started re-living each day with a new perspective.

At the end of the movie the son has an epiphany that really struck home with me. You don't need special time travel powers to find happiness! You can appreciate the extraordinary moments of an ordinary life, each and every day, if you simply realize how special each moment in life really is. The son decided he no longer needed to travel back in time and it wasn't because he didn't make mistakes, it was because he realized even the mistakes in our ordinary lives are "extraordinary moments" that we need to experience.

Rachel Mcadams and Domnahl Gleeson in "About Time"

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.
~ William James