Find Your One Thing

“I am appalled at the aimlessness of most people’s lives. Fifty percent don’t pay attention to where they are going; forty percent are undecided and will go in any direction. Only ten percent know what they want, and even all of them don’t go toward it.”

Katherine Anne Porter
Pulitzer Prize Winner

I’ve Been Thinking. . . about movies and direction in life. Stay with me on this one.

The first movie is a scary one. What if? What if I could watch a movie today that will be played for me when I reach my eternal destination and it is entitled: The Life, Adventures and Accomplishments of Glenn Van Ekeren --- As They Could Have Been. I have a feeling this could be a horror movie with a bad ending.

If only I had understood early on that every choice I made contributed to the overall quality of my life. If only I had understood that there was a purpose in every action. If only I had realized that there was meaning in everything I attempted and achieved. If only. . . If only. . .

Enough of that scene. It’s depressing. Let’s leave my life and explore a couple commercial movies with a message. If you’ve seen the movie City Slickers, you probably recall a memorable scene involving Billy Crystal, who played a city slicker enduring a dude ranch vacation, and Jack Palance, who played a crusty old trail boss.

Here’s the scenario. Palance and Crystal are riding slowly across the terrain on horseback, discussing life and love. Crystal is amazed at Palance’s apparent ability to enjoy his seemingly questionable, less than exciting life and have his act together while Crystal is struggling to find direction and meaning. Here’s their conversation:

Palance: “How old are you? Thirty-eight?”Crystal: “Thirty-nine.”

Palance: “Yeah. You all come out here about the same age. Same problems. Spend fifty weeks a year getting knots in your rope -- then you think two weeks up here will untie them for you. None of you get it. [Long pause] Do you know what the secret of life is?”

Crystal: “No, what?”

Palance: “It’s this.” [Holds up his index finger]

Crystal: “Your finger?”

Palance: "One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean nothing.”

Crystal: “That’s great, but what’s the one thing?”

Palance: “That’s what you’ve got to figure out.”

The weather-beaten, crusty old cattle driver nailed it. He wasn’t verbally elegant but he was profound and well-seasoned on life’s necessities. That one thing is what you’ve got to figure out.

Don’t make this too philosophical. Simply, what is your reason for living? What is your ultimate aim? Why are you here? What is that “one thing” you want to be the driving force for everything you do? If you’ve never thought about such questions before, you will find the process stimulating and enlightening.

Someday, your movie will be played back to you as well. These are the very questions that might come back for you to answer. Have you found that “one thing?” Have you figured it out? Are your actions consistent with achieving your “one thing?”

Movie number three. Recently my wife and I decided to attend a movie we previously determined to forego. A combination of newspaper reviews and a heart tug led us to the theater Saturday evening.

A 9-year old boy, the central character of the movie, lost his father in the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11. I wanted to avoid reliving the potential sadness, emotions and reality of loss related to this horrific tragedy. Instead, director Stephen Daldry filled Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close with hope, honor and intense purpose.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is attempting to cope with the aftermath of his father’s death by pursuing the purpose of a mystery key. He believes the key will lead him to a message from his father and thereby keep him connected to the man he fervently admired. His borderline Asperger’s syndrome fuels his obsession to do whatever it takes to solve the mystery key.

Oskar’s quest ultimately reveals that the purpose of the key actually has an enormous message for someone else’s life. Facing his strongest fears, engaging others in his search and pursuing answers with unquenchable determination leads Oskar to the realization that the answers weren’t as important as the journey.

Isn’t that just the case of our lives? Purpose in hand, it’s the journey that really matters. But, it’s the purpose that directs the journey. They’re Siamese twins. Purpose and journey.

Find your one thing. Understand that the journey is worthwhile because of the one thing and someday your movie will receive a standing ovation.

“How different our lives are when we really know what is deeply important to us, and, keeping that picture in mind, we manage ourselves each day to be and to know what really matters most.”

Stephen Covey