One of history’s best movie scenes: seek adventure
It’s one of history’s best movie scenes. And not a word is spoken. It’s even a children’s movie.
In the animated Pixar film Up (98% on RottenTomatoes.com), an adventurous but financially strapped young couple has dreams of someday going to a mythical Paradise Falls in South America. Inspired by a childhood hero whose catch-phrase is “Adventure is out there!” they begin saving coins in a jar – but then comes a heartbreaking montage in which they break the jar over the years for the flat tire, the broken leg, the fallen tree on the house – and ultimately, they grow old and she dies, having never taken that dream trip.
Don’t we all risk that tragic fate if we fail to look beyond the everyday and to plan and execute our dreams? If we fail to follow the lead of one of history’s best movie scenes?
When we were first married, my wife and I each wrote down the top places we’d like to visit. I think in 35 years of marriage we’ve looked at those lists twice, yet have never really put them into action. It’s very much like that scene in the movie Up – except that we’re blessed to still be going strong.
Growing up in Kansas there wasn’t much you’d call exotic, and not many natural wonders unless you love steak. So, my dream-but-doable vacation list included southern California, Crater Lake in Oregon, Seattle, New England, Orlando and Fort Worth/Dallas. My wife’s list was topped by the Oregon coast, Seattle, Boston and Canada.
We haven’t made it to but a few of them, and in some cases did so without each other.
What’s stopping you from living your bucket list? Everyday life, of course. The flat tire, the broken leg, the falling tree. Life gets in the way.
We’re blessed, of course, to have a life at all. But if our dreams aren’t part and parcel of our lives, what good are they? Do our dreams even exist if we don’t draw them into existence?
The key, of course, is commitment: Commit those dreams to writing, then commit to them in some way every day. I once had the privilege of sharing one of my dreams with legendary One Minute Manager author Ken Blanchard and his wife Margie. They asked me: “What have you done about it today?”
Henry David Thoreau said, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
Take Thoreau’s sage advice to heart. Plan for some uncommon hours. Move confidently in the direction of your dreams and endeavor to live the life you have imagined.
And always remember the lesson of the film Up. In that sweet, beautiful movie, the man finally makes the journey – in the most imaginative way possible.
What’s stopping you? Only your imagination.
One of history’s best movie scenes proves it. Adventure is out there. Live it.
