It’s A Wonderful Life
by Sally ~ December 22nd, 2009. Filed under: Inspiration, Life Lessons.
Have you been disappointed thinking you are not making a difference or that your life isn’t going the way you hoped?
Sometimes we have a vision of how our lives are supposed to go and we end up on a completely different route. For some, that causes a sense of loss for what might have been.
You’ve probably seen the classic 1946 Frank Capra movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart. I’ve watched it countless times and it still touches me and makes me cry at the end.
Jimmy Stewart plays a character named George Bailey, who dreams of traveling the world. Instead, due to several circumstances, he ends up working at his father’s bank and loan Company, gets married, has children, and ends up staying in the small town where he was born.
George doesn’t think that his life is anything special because it’s not what he thought it would be. He’s depressed because he feels he hasn’t made a difference. An unlikely guardian angel, Clarence, comes to visit him and shows him what life in Bedford Falls would have been like without him. He is given a gift by the angel, allowing him to see how many lives he’s touched and what a big difference he made just by being himself.
My point of this story is simply how valuable you are, just being in the world, and being yourself. You’ve most likely touched more people than you know and made a difference in their lives.
A few years ago, I heard a speaker talk of the gifts we leave behind as a legacy to those around us. It wasn’t the tangible things she spoke of but the kinds of things we do in every day life, the examples we set, that are our gifts to the people we meet. It gives you a different perspective of seeing how the little things we take for granted can add up to make a difference. It’s never too late to have a Wonderful Life.
Special note: Another example of how things aren’t always what they first appear. A Wonderful Life was initially considered a box office flop and a major disappointment of Frank Capra’s skills as a director and filmmaker. It was nominated for 5 Oscars but didn’t win any. It is now considered a classic, inspirational Christmas film.
P.S. I took this photograph after one of our magical snows that created a winter wonderland.
