Would You Star In This Movie?

Four Laws In Reshaping Your Way Of Life

“Scene 2020, Take 7”

The stage is set for the filming of “Four Laws In Reshaping Your Way Of Life”, which stars yourself. You ask yourself, “Am I dreaming?”

“Cut” the director shouts! “Run it again, but this time I want to see more emotion given you are reshaping your way of life. The way it used to be, is gone, you have to search within this character to move ahead. Let’s run it from the top. Quite on the set.”

“Scene 2020, take 8 and action!”

You wakeup and open a dresser draw and instead of finding what you previously expected, you find eight face masks!

What? You have a perplexed look on your face and the director shouts, “Keep going, don’t look surprised!”, so you tell your mind its normal and pull one from the draw to wear for the day.

Silently you ask yourself, “Do I work in the healthcare industry?” and quickly you push that thought out, as you remember working for a consumer goods company. You get yourself ready for the day and head out the door to start up the car but you don’t find any vehicles in the garage.”

The director shouts “You don’t own a car, you work from home. You don’t need a car!”

You gather yourself and head upstairs and turn on the computer to see you have several instant messages waiting for you and click the Zoom link and your day officially starts.

“Cut” the directors shouts! Not bad, however, you forgot to wear your mask.” “What you reply?”

“You need to wear the mask, it’s part of your outfit for work every day and you have to wear it while shopping.”

“I have to wear a mask to work?” you say aloud.

“That’s a wrap everyone. I need to sit down with our main actor and discuss the finer points to Reshaping Your Way Of Life”.

The New Way

You grab a cup of coffee and the director slides in a seat at your table and says, “Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life.”  “One of my favorite quotes by John Muir.”

You say nothing, but think to yourself, “Who is John Muir and what does that have to do with anything?”

“The movie you are staring in is about finding that door to your new way of life. What you used to do has been altered not by your own doing, but by unseen circumstances and events.”

Four Laws In Reshaping Your Life 

“In this movie, there are four important Laws in reshaping your life and if you do these four things, you will experience a life of richness and blessing.” You respond back, “So if I do these four things, are telling me I will be rich, leaning forward?”

“No not in the financial sense”, the director responds. “Rich in terms of your  whole-being, your mental state and more.”

You lean back into your chair and think to yourself, “This director has several screws lose, its probably time for retirement.”

Then you think more and replay all of the actors you’ve seen the director work with and all of them have shined in their own way.

You respond, “I want to learn about the four Laws, will you teach them to me?”

Law Of Plot Twists 

You look at the director and notice a smile and eagerness to teach you about the Laws and you acutely tune into every movement the director makes.

“So you want to learn about the Laws?”

“I’ve been teaching them for many years, in fact, decades and there have been some individuals who have applied them and their life has been beyond full and some listen and never apply any of them.”

“Let me ask, which group do you think you’ll fall into?” 

“I think the first group, the ones who listened, applied and implemented in reshaping their way of life.”

“Good, the director replies, I hope!”

“The first Law is about the unexpected and its called the ‘Law Of The Plot Twists’.”

The director expresses, “Life will bring you the unexpected and those who prepare for the unexpected will stay in balance. What you thought would happen doesn’t and it doesn’t get you unnerved.”

You ask, “Have you experienced any plot twists in your life?”

The director fires back, “Of course and every time it allowed me to develop a better attitude and mindset.” You see something being drawn on the coffee napkin and its "M+A = G>U."

“What is that, you ask?”

Increased Mindset + Increased Attitude = Growth > Unexpected 

The director looks you in the eye and says, “With an increased mindset plus an increased attitude, you will experience growth, which is greater than the unexpected.” Still a bit lost, the director tells you, “Do things which will elevate your mindset and your attitude on a consistent basis and you will not be shaken by the unexpected.”

“What are you doing today to elevate your mindset and attitude?”, the director asks.

You think. “Well, I try to take time to read positive things.” “How often?”

Again you think and actually can’t remember the last time you read something positive. “I can’t remember.”

“Ok, after we wrap up the shoot on this movie, you have your first assignment; read something positive to elevate your mindset.”

“I will!”

“Good, but just know some of those who said they will, allow other things to grab their time and focus and never live up to their stated commitment, but I can see you are different.”

“Are you ready for the next Law?”, the director asks.

Law Of Togo

The director asks, “Do you remember when Disney Plus first announced it was coming with online streaming of movies?” “I do.”

“Well, I didn’t like it. Why would I want to stream all the Disney movies?”

“I fought it for several months and then my granddaughter was over for a few days and asked if I had Disney Plus. I knew I couldn’t let her down and so I purchased a subscription.”

“And do you know, my granddaughter and I have watched so many movies together, I’ve developed my favorites.”

“Do you have Disney Plus?”, the director asks. “No, but sounds like I should.”

“My granddaughter and I watched a movie entitled, "Togo".

“There is this dog who has more energy than the other dogs and who can outrun the other dogs, however the owner doesn’t feel the dog would be a good fit for the sled team.

Eventually the owner locks the dog in a barn and through resiliency, ingenuity and the ability not to quit, the dog breaks out of the barn. The dog actually looks up and sees possibilities.”

LOOK UP AND PUSH AHEAD

“In life, especially during the unexpected you must look up and see opportunities and see what is possible.”

“To push ahead, you must have this internal fire to push forward, which is not resigning to life just because of your circumstances.”

“Let me ask you, have there be times in your life, where you simply wanted to give up?” asked the director.

“Of course and I have regrets today from things I wished I would have done.”

The director smiles and says, “I have also and applying the Law of Togo, the willingness to look up will serve you well into the future. One word of warning, just because you do what the Law says, doesn’t mean you will find that small window just like the dog did to escape out of the barn; but you will learn something in the process.”

There is movement around the sitting area and you can tell things are beginning to start up again on the set. You know time is running out and immediate ask the director, “What’s the next Law?”

Law Of The Cracker

The noise begins to build and the director shouts, “We’ll start up in 15 minutes!” and the noise begins to slowly die down.

“Do you enjoy crackers?”, ask the director? “I don’t eat them often, but sure, I enjoy crackers.”

“I love crackers in soup, its just adds something missing and it also crumbles easily”, the director responds back. 

“The Nabisco cracker is one of the finest types and when you bite down it just crumbles into small pieces. When it crumbles into finite pieces, is it still a cracker?”

You think for a moment and say, “I think so.”

The director looks at you squarely in the eyes and says, “Life is like cracker; it can easily crumble and its your perspective that will allow you to build something using the pieces or your perspective will cause you to toss away the pieces, given they can’t be used.”

Broken Pieces

“Broken pieces of crackers are excellent binders for foods like meatloaf, crab cakes and meatballs. Ever had a good meatloaf?”, the director asked.

“Not recently”, you respond.

“Tiny broken pieces mixed in with the meat provide a great meal. So when things in your life begin to crumble, always remember you can take the pieces and use them to create something. You can always find something to create, while it might feel that way, trust me you can.”

“Will you make another promise?” You don’t say anything and wait for the director to explain more.

“Will you decide to always find a way to utilize the pieces in your life, which appear to be unusable?”

You pause and say, “I will implement the Law of the Cracker and do my best to create something from which others say cannot be used.” Eager to learn the fourth Law, you blurt out, “I want to know the last Law!”

Law of Knock Out Roses

“One of my favorite roses are the ‘knock out roses'”, state the director. You have a puzzled look on your face but you go along with it.

“Oh, I like roses also!”

“Did you know pruning of the roses is necessary for growth?” You respond, “I never really thought about it.”

The director’s face lights up as if a spotlight was being shown and says, “I cut mine back every spring and do you know, they triple in size by the end of the growing season?”

Glowing from ear to ear the director gives you a horticulturist lesson. “You see pruning reduces the amount of wood and the rose bush diverts energy into producing larger flowers and growth, which would not have occurred unless pruning was completed.”

The director says, “Have you ever pruned things in your life?” “Ahhhhh.. I can’t recall off the top of my head.”

“Think about it, where in your life to you desire something to be richer or fuller and you can’t say your wallet!”

“I’d have to say I’d love to have a fuller relationship with my family.”

“Sounds great, what are you willing to prune?” “You want me to get rid of something to increase my relationship with my family?”

“No, I didn’t say eliminate or get rid of. I said prune, cut back. What can you prune in your life, so you can begin to have growth in your family relationships?”

You look around to see if anyone else is listening and lean forward whispering to the director, “I can prune the amount of time, I spend answering work email after dinner and do something with my family instead.”

“I think you are grasping this Law.”

“We begin rolling in two minutes!”, the Director shouts above the whisper.

TIME FOR ACTION

“You now know the four Laws to reshaping your life and knowing them is just the start. It’s time to put them into action.

Your life has been disrupted and you must begin to reshape it. I love the quote by Lewis Cass which says”, “People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do.”

“I feel I’m ready to execute the four Laws in my role and really showcase them in the movie.” “Ok,” says the director.

“Quite on the set!”

You look up and say to yourself before the camera begins rolling, “Time to set the Laws in motion!”

"Scene 2020, take 9 and ACTION!"

ps- Congratulations for reading this entire article. Many people would see the length and not read or merely skim and give up due to the length! Will you implement these four laws as you enter the fourth quarter of 2020 to give yourself a jumpstart to 2021? Appreciate if you'd let me know which Law you found most impactful.