Groundhog Day (Again)

Some of you may remember me mentioning the movie Groundhog Day in my previous posts and also on my Facebook profile.


Tonight, the movie suddenly occurred to me again and I googled it up while I reflected on what I saw 15 years ago.

Yes, its been that long since I first saw the film. In June 1993, I had just finished my second year uni exams, and was feeling a bit depressed after struggling through some of the papers. It was at Cannon cinema in Belfast, which has since been overtaken by MGM a few streets away.


As I walked out of the cinema that afternoon, I told myself that I must always strive to remember that each day is unique and precious, that I will never be able to go through that day again, and that I have the power to make it a good day or a bad day for everyone that I encounter.

About five thousand days have elapsed since that day, and I felt a bit despondent realizing that more often that not, I have forgotten those thoughts.

The other realization came when I read a blog entry by the scriptwriter of the movie and the comments left by a guy who wrote a self improvement book based on the movie.

That realization was, again sadly, that although in many ways I had changed, there are also many things which have still remained much the same, and some things which have in fact went backwards.

Those of you who know my age will probably say by this point - "Pat's having a mid-life crisis" :)

. . . . . . . . . .

In more ways than we realize, our days do bear more than a passing resemblance to the ones that Phil in the movie went through. We stumble through our busy lives, the days whizzing by in a blur of frantic activities. Try this: can you remember everything you did last Wednesday? Or what you ate for lunch three days ago?


Perhaps if each one of us can take a little time each day to pause and reflect, rather than rush headlong into the day the moment we wake up and collapse into bed at the end of it, then we may achieve a little of what Phil achieved at the end of the movie.

If you have felt a little depressed yourself after reading this, fear not. As Scarlett O'Hara said, after all, tomorrow is another day :) As you wake up tomorrow morning, remember Phil.