Lessons from “It’s a Wonderful Life”

Last night I watched the classic Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and it really made me think about my priorities.

I read an article once (and I can’t find it for the life of me) that had a couple exercises for finding your true passion or what you truly wanted out of life.  One of these exercises was to write down all the things you think you might be passionate about, or some of the things you really want to do in life.  Then read through the list, and your true passion is the one that makes you cry.  You cry because you want it so badly and it would mean so much to you to accomplish it.

Now I’m not someone that gets all sentimental and starts crying in any feel-good movie.  But I’ve watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” twice now, and I haven’t been able to keep my eyes dry yet.

Throughout the movie you start to think of George Bailey as an underachiever.  He has grand plans to travel the world, and build things like cities or buildings.  He has the chance to get involved in a very lucrative business opportunity.  He even denies an offer from Mr. Potter to drastically increase his salary.  It seems like he’s stuck in a rut, and he’s not able to advance in his career or achieve some of his lofty goals.

Yet you realize that George is actually living the richest life of anyone in town.  He has a loving family that adores him, and he’s single-handedly helped most of the hardworking folk in town to own a house over their head through his Building and Loan Association.  Because of George, Bedford Falls was a better place and almost everyone who knew George had a better life.  When George was in trouble, everyone came rushing to his aide because they knew George had made a big difference in their life.

I’m moved to try to model my life after George Bailey.  The way he was able to help so many people on an individual basis is exactly what I want to spend my time doing.  Owning a Building and Loan Association is not in my plans, but the two areas that I think I can make a difference in the lives of my friends and neighbors are:

1. Technology and using new web applications

2. Fitness

It’s my New Year’s Resolution to focus on creating a new strategy around these two areas, and devoting a lot more of my time to this than I have been.  Be on the lookout  for some new stuff coming soon!