Groundhog Day
One of the things that happens to you when you walk, day after day, continuously for over a month, is everyday begins to feel the same. Each day had a similar routine and rhythm to it. You wake up, get out as quick as you can before dawn and start walking, follow the yellow arrows all day till you find a place to stay the night, shower, do your wash, eat dinner and journal and fall asleep to do it all over again the next day.
Terri and I have been feeling like we are re-living our Camino days again as we are now about month into social isolation lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. I complain that I do not even know what day of the week it is anymore. They all seem the same.
This made got me thinking recently of the 1993 movie, “Groundhog Day”, starring Bill Murray as Phil Collins, a TV weatherman who, during an assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event, is caught up in a time loop, repeatedly reliving the same day. Day after day, Phil Collins wakes up in the same location at the same time on Groundhog day.
He is confused, disoriented and questions why is this happening to him.
Does that sound familiar to any of you? I know I am experiencing some of these same emotions these days.
Watching “Groundhog Day” again this past week I reflected on this movie and I started to see some deeper meaning and truths that were helpful to me and maybe will be for you as well. You see…
Bill Murray plays this very shallow and self-centered guy. He feels that the whole world revolves around him but now he was face to face with a new reality. Everyday was the same as the day before. He becomes more and more frustrated, confused and disoriented.
This poor guy was praying for a change in his circumstances. Yet…
“The circumstances we ask God to change are often the circumstances God is using to change us.”
I know that, for me, I have been feeling a bit like poor Phil Collins a lot lately. I want long to have return back to all the wonderful connections with family and friends we enjoyed. It seems like every day there is something we had planned that is now cancelled. In fact, looking down the road it seems there will be more ahead.
So, what to do about this? Maybe we need to take our lead from Bill Murray’s character, Phil Collins. He figured out how to get out of his “personal hell” he was experiencing. He decided to change how he was living. He found happiness not by feeling sorry for himself and but by deciding to be a better version of himself. To acquire new skills and looking out of himself to others.
We all are suffering losses, can we use this pain and loss to transform us? It is time to look inside ourselves and see what needs changing. How can I be more generous and thoughtful? Can I develop a new skill that will bring joy to myself and others?
When will these “groundhog days” end? There many things outside our control these days, yet there is one area we can control. Making the decision to change ourselves.
Blessings to all and stay safe and well!
John
Photograph of the Month
I sure can’t wait to get back to hiking again!
Here is an image I took of a unnamed falls somewhere on the trail leading up to Mystic Lake on the North side of Mt Rainier. I took the image back in August of 2006.
One of the ways that Terri and I dealt with the enormous challenge of walking 500 miles was to not focus on how far away we were from the end of our walk. This was really helpful especially in the first week or two of walking. We never really focused on how many more miles of the walk we had left to go till we got within the last 100 miles or so. This little trick really helped. We only allowed ourselves to focus on the day ahead. We just kept our head down and kept walking.
weareallpilgrims 