As I write this post, it is Christmas Day.
I have just returned home from watching one of the best tear jerkers I’ve seen all year, Life of Pi.
If you’re unfamiliar with the movie, Life of Pi is based on a best-selling adventure novel about an Indian boy named Pi who gets stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days with an adult Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
They are the only survivors of the shipwreck that claimed the lives of Pi’s entire family.
Like a story from the television show I Shouldn’t Be Alive, this is an inspiring tale of a boy who embraces his unrelenting faith and hope in God to help him endure his tragic journey of survival.
If you’re thinking this is a movie about religion. It’s far from it.
Neither fluffy nor preachy, the take away is so beautiful and quite simple.
Follow your purpose no matter how turbulent the journey.
It couldn’t have been more timely and relevant.
Reflecting back on 2012, this take away is the greatest punch in the face I’ve had all year… and as far back as I can remember, really.
“Is anyone even reading my blog?”
“Wouldn’t it be so much easier just to get a real job?”
“Someone else can help them, why are you?”
“How long are you going to keep this up?”
All of these bullshit questions (pardon my French).
All of this negative chatter.
From them.
Sometimes from people I actually love and respect.
Other times from people I couldn’t give a shit about.
And the worst… taking blows from my own left hook.
It used to make me sick to the stomach. The initial thought that I would even entertain the idea of answering such destructive questions.
Until recent months.
It would be easier to ignore these questions just like how I used to send collection agencies to my voice mail before I finally filed bankruptcy seven years ago.
But that would only compound my problems and induce my fears.
You and I both know when we delay taking action, our issues end up biting us in the ass even worse in the future.
Knowing I had to confront my problems head-on. I stopped avoiding the inevitable. I started seeing these questions as a bullshit detector.
You know, to help keep me grounded.
No one likes getting their bullshit detector tested. It’s like that annoying high-pitched beep reminding you to switch out the dying battery.
It’s quite funny actually because my fire detector’s change-your-damn-battery-already-alert just went off today before I went to see the movie.
Testing your bullshit detector is a good thing.
Keep it properly functioning and it can save your life.
Neglect it and you’ll never see the fire coming.
Ugh? Why does it have to be so difficult?
Back to Pi.
There’s an epic scene in the movie where Pi and the tiger endure another turbulent storm that nearly claims their lives after having already been stranded in the Pacific Ocean for months.
Pi, starved and at his wit’s end, bellows at the top of his lungs, begging God to take his life:
“You took my entire family. What else do you want from me, God? I surrender.”
It took me back to the other day. I was reading a newsletter written by my new friend Srinivas Rao. In it, five words from his interview with Danielle LaPorte deeply resonated with me as if it was meant to bring me to this moment here with you now.
Those five words I will keep with me forever: “it will be worth it.”
With those simple five words, the movie reel in my mind replayed scenes from my life in fast rewind:
The gut-stabbing labor pains that gave me my beautiful son nearly 19 years ago.
The guilt that I carried with me for 11 years after leaving the oppressive relationship that suppressed my spirit and voice.
The depression that almost took my life after a mysterious medical condition hospitalized me only days after transitioning from a corporate job to start a solo coaching career four years ago.
Follow your purpose no matter how turbulent the journey.
It will be worth it.
Here’s wishing you a happy holiday season for you and your loved ones.
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