What You Can Learn From Movies.

As a movie fan, I take away some movie lines that mean something to me. Movie lines sometimes capture a way that I like to live my life. I am going to share some with you and explain why they speak to me. Even bad movies can sometimes hold a nugget of wisdom in them.

"Turns out, the short and very simple definition of a gentleman or a lady is: someone who always attempts to make the people around him or her feel as comfortable as possible. That's it! If you don't do that, nothing else matters. “- Troy (Blast From The Past)

Making people comfortable is the best way to connect with people. I think that a lot of the problems we have today could be eliminated if we applied to this our way of interacting with people.

"Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, 'In this world, Elwood, you must be ... oh so smart or oh so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. And you may quote me." - Elwood P. Dowd (Harvey)

This one is very much like the first one. I do need to clarify that being pleasant doesn’t me you are passive. It means that you keep others thoughts and feelings in mind when I am working with them.

"Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking." - The Scarecrow (The Wizard of OZ)

I think about this line when I start to find myself talking, and talking and talking. It helps me shut up.

“With great power, comes great responsibility” – Uncle Ben (TheAmazing Spider-Man)

This one helps me think about how I can help others and give back to my community. I am comfortable and I have been fortunate enough to not be in a place where I struggled. I use this line to remind myself that if I have a way to help someone, do it. But I do wish I had Spider-man’s powers.

“Don't be mean; we don't have to be mean, cuz, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.” – Buckaroo Banzai (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension)

This is a very Zen remark for me. I have used this line to remind myself that I can’t run for myself and also to help me remember to not be a nuisance or rude where I am.

“Attitude reflects leadership, captain.” – Big Ju (Rememberthe Titans)

I had this on my wall when I was a team manager. It reminds me to keep my team first in my planning and using them as a barometer to see how I am doing. I would sometimes not have good news but I let my team know why the news was bad and how we were going to work together to get past it.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris (Ferris Bueller’s day Off)

You have to appreciate the journey you are on.

“Candy doesn’t have to have a point. That’s why it’s candy.” – Charlie Bucket (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

Sometimes the fun we have is just for the purpose of having fun. Embrace that distraction and don’t try and make every second of your life productive in different ways. Give yourself a break every now and again.

P.S I am going to go back and redo yesterday’s post but the wound still smarts so I am going to do it later.