Ever see the movie 50 First Dates?
That movie popped into my mind during meditation this morning. It wasn’t a particular favorite of mine. I'd seen it once a long time ago.
When it came to mind, I decided to follow the breadcrumbs that Spirit was sprinkling for me. I re-watched the movie and was shown parallels between the stories premise and my spiritual journey.
In the movie, the character Lucy, has short term memory loss because of being in a car accident. She lives each day, goes to bed, and wakes the next day forgetting about the day before. She relives the same day again and again without knowing it. Lucy lives with her father and brother. They allow her to keep living that day over and over. On one of those days, she meets a man, Henry, who starts falling for her. When he finds out about her short-term memory loss, he makes it his mission to connect with her every day. As the story continues and his feelings deepen, Henry makes a video and gives it to her in different ways, always with the instructions to watch it. Each time she watches the video, she sees herself, him, and other friends/family, and can connect with him in love more quickly. Rather than view her forgetting as a problem, Henry creates a solution to connect her to their love.
The movie is a great metaphor for being on the Spiritual Path. We come from light and are having experiences in human bodies. Each day we go through life and forget our connection to that light. We get lost in our lives and become comfortable in our cycles and forget that we are more than our stories and beliefs. Our cycles are often cycles of upset, complaint, comparison, or needing to be right. Like Lucy, we can wake each day and forget that a deeper love is waiting for us to experience. Our daily spiritual practices that we commit to are are like Lucy's video tapes. By committing to practicing each day, they remind us, like Lucy to connect to love more quickly.
As I was watching today, a few lines stuck out to me. They were said by Henry who is speaking to Lucy’s father and brother. During this part in the movie, Lucy has just found out, for the first time, that it is really a year later and that her life has been a lie. She has gone down to the dock to let all this information sink in.
Henry is standing with Lucy's dad and brother and says, “When you tell her about the accident, she’s finding out her life is basically a set up. I think that’s what freaks her out the most.”
That reminded me of my own path. When I first found out that I couldn’t blame my misery on anyone else but myself, I felt the same way. I thought, “You mean, I feel bad because I’m making myself feel bad? Not because my mother/father/friend/client/family member or that stranger made me feel that way? I’m the one responsible for the shit show my life has become? You mean, no one else or nothing outside of me can save me and make me feel better? It's up to me to change the way that I'm thinking? Happiness is an inside job?!” Ummm, yep, that's what freaked me out the most.
But all was not lost. Spirit stepped in and became my “Henry” and there’s another scene later in the movie that explains what I mean... Henry and Lucy are at the beach hanging out with friends. One of Lucy’s friends while speaking to Henry, says: “So every day you help her to realize what happened and you wait patiently for her to be OK with it and you get her to fall in love with you again?” To which Henry replies, “Yes ma’am”.
That’s how Spirit is my “Henry”. Each day when I falter, Spirit waits patiently for me to use my Spiritual tools and come back to love. Spirit, like Henry, never falters.
When I forget my true identity is LOVE, my “videos” are my spiritual practices. And no matter how many times I forget, Spirit will send reminders if I am willing to use my tools. The premise of 50 First Dates is that Love is there, I just have to make the effort. My daily spiritual practices help with my temporary memory loss and forget the light that I am.
I’m grateful for following the breadcrumbs Spirit sent my way today!
What breadcrumbs has Spirit sent your way recently?
