Groundhog Day

Yeah, I was totally excited for this day to come.  As I mentioned previously, this season I'm sick of winter and ready for spring.  So you can imagine my extreme disappointment when Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow and predicted 6 more weeks of winter.  It's not that bad because Phil doesn't have a great track record for correct predictions, although that depends on who you ask.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration claims that Phil's prediction record is no better than 21% since 1988.

I desperately wanted an early spring, but just in case I would be daunted I made plans to salvage the day.  And it's a good thing I did because that good-for-nothing groundhog didn't follow through on the bribe I sent.  Not to worry, because I made the best out of a bad situation by watching Groundhog Day.

Yes, the classic 1993 film with Bill Murray is still a classic.  What surprised me were two items: (1) Having not seen it in years, I had forgotten how good this film really is, and (2) I didn't own a copy in my library.  How could I not own a copy?  Good thing I saw this ahead of time.  I ordered it on Amazon for $5 (a real steal for a classic film) and got it here just last night.  As soon as I finished with my classes and other work for today, I popped the disc in and enjoyed myself.  I had forgotten just how good Bill Murray was in this film.  His dry-wit brand of humor was the perfect antidote to a really disappointing day.

I also appreciated the new insights that seeing the film again gave me.  What a great metaphor for the lives of so many people!  I can remember times when I felt like I was trapped in a never-ending cycle of failure or at best mediocrity and that nothing I could do would break that cycle.  The truth is that we usually can do something but don't know what it is.  Only by trying different approaches the way the weatherman Phil did in the film are we able to find the way out of that cycle.  There's also humor in the film.  And that provides another life lesson: Find the humor along the way.

So while I am incredibly disappointed to hear about six more weeks of winter, I am taking it in stride.  And who knows?  Maybe I'll get lucky and Phil will be wrong!

---