Groundhog Days

Every February 2nd, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, a ritual is held in which a groundhog named "Punxsutawney Phil" emerges from his lair and predicts the weather for the coming weeks. According to legend, if Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If he does not, there will be an early spring. Apparently, this ritual dates back to the 1800's. Today, of course, it is a media extravaganza.

The 1993 movie, "Groundhog Day," starred Bill Murray as one of those media folk - a disgruntled Pittsburgh weatherman who is assigned to cover the festivities. When he and his crew get snowed in and have to stay overnight (a snowstorm that he failed to predict, by the way), Murray awakens the next day to find that it is still February 2nd, and he has to live the day over again. This continues throughout the entire movie, and no matter what he does to break the time loop, he continues to awaken on Groundhog Day.

All of us have wished that we could make time stand still, or wished that things would stop changing. Change, however, is inevitable. If something has a beginning, it will have an end. Imagine for a moment how things would be if everything remained just as it is from now on. You would never get up from your computer, the world would be frozen in whatever state it is in right now, and it would mean an end to your growth and evolution. Sounds a lot like death, to me.

Eventually, in the movie, Murray's character learns how to utilize the countless repetition of the same day to grow, evolve, and eventually help others. And he even gets the girl. He learned to accept the situation, rather than continuing to fight against it. He allowed it to continue for as long as necessary, until finally, when he had learned what he needed to learn, the time loop was broken and it was February 3rd, at last.

Turn toward the change in your own life. It may be pleasant or unpleasant, it may be what we want or what we don't want, but it is a fact, and putting resistance against change will only bring more resistance back to you.

Oh, and in case you're interested, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today, and says there will be six more weeks of winter, ending just in time for the Spring Equinox.

Blessings,
Roger