Last night I re-watched the movie Groundhog Day. If you have not seen it, or have not seen it in a while, I recommend watching it. Seeing it from the newly spiritual, more healed version of myself, I noticed so many more lessons from that movie which completely resonated with my current journey. What I once thought of as a strange love story – one that I couldn’t quite understand the how behind it, I now see as a lesson in living from your heart, being genuine with your purpose, and the universe helping you in ways that seem unimaginable once you are on your true path. Groundhog Day is about being in line with your purpose and the magic that comes from it.
In the movie, Bill Murray’s character is a weathercaster on location to report on the annual groundhog tradition, to see whether there will be more chilly winter days ahead, or if springtime is near. His character was on location for the fourth time in a row, reporting on the groundhog tradition, absolutely in a spin cycle on repeat in his life. He was operating from his ego, not centered or grounded, not genuinely kind or caring about others around him, consumed in his own world, and appeared quite stuck. He was most definitely in his own way and causing his own blocks in life, and the universe was about to give him his hard lesson. As the saying goes, you keep getting the lesson, until you get the lesson.
The movie continued with Bill Murray’s character waking up each day at 6:00am on Groundhog Day, to everything being the same. The same radio announcement, people, stepping in the same puddle, living from his ego and far from being heart centered. He continued to repeat the same day, doing it wrong, operating insincerely, very disconnected from his heart and others. Until one day he did it correctly. He was kind, he helped others, he looked out for others, he saved people, he learned all about them, he was living from his heart, and from there he was able to fall in love. From that moment when they woke up it was no longer Groundhog Day – he got the lesson.
When I first watched the movie it was hard to completely grasp, but I saw it as the universe ensuring that he ended up with Andie McDowell’s character. I now see so much more in that movie. It is not only about returning to and operating from one’s heart, but it is about finding what absolutely lights you up in life and going after just that. It is about pursuing your passion and the universe helping you achieve that goal. It is about being interconnected with others, being kind, sharing your light, and shining brightly. When he had to replay that day repeatedly, he started hobbies such as the piano and learned French. He did not let the days go by, he had inspired action, and the universe rewards inspired action.
When I was in my daily grind, going to an office each day, sitting in the commute, racing with my coffee, to spend the entire gorgeous day in an office pushing around papers of rules I did not necessarily align with, I felt my soul leaving my body. It was out on the mountain on that gorgeous day. I started to really contemplate why I was doing what I was doing. I was working hard 5-6 days of the week to pay for a mortgage of a home near the job, just to do the same thing repeatedly. I was quite literally scraping by just to go to work and do it all over again. There was no savings occurring, limited growth, limited joy, far removed from my heart center and internal compass, and instead missing a connection to nature, joy, passion, and life satisfaction. I was completely stuck, living life the way I was told to live, putting a smile on each day, but miserable deep down. I was living Groundhog Day myself, until I finally got the lesson.
I did not want to live life the same way any longer. I had become so miserable that an illness kept resurfacing and my fears about finances and everything under the sun at that point were rampant in my body; at one point fainting from fears and hyperventilating from stress. Those were my wakeup signs that I finally noticed, but looking back they were always there, just more subtle. My body wanted out of there too.
I proceeded to change everything in my life, much to my friends and family’s dismay and shock. But it wasn’t there life to live. I had just gotten the lesson and I was changing. I sold my home, moved states, quit the job, and found my calling and purposes with all those shifts and witnessing my body heal with every change. From as long as I could remember I had wanted to be a writer, and I had always wanted to help people, but I never could have imagined that all the things that had lit me up since childhood would come together following my own ten-year healing journey. The universe works in magical and mysterious ways, but I am so grateful I listened and acted.
When I am following my passion and building from my heart, steadfast in knowing that it is my calling, I am no longer living Groundhog Day. I am moving forward in life. I am creating. I am manifesting. I am not letting my dreams fall to the side. I am going after everything I have ever wanted in life, and doing it from a heart-centered, balanced, healed, place. I know my purpose is to serve others and that is what lights me up. I no longer dim my shine with fear-based moves, I follow what absolutely lights me up.
In the end of the move Bill Murray’s and Andie McDowell’s characters decide to move to the town that he once dreaded visiting. He had love pouring from him and saw the beauty in the quaint town and had gotten to know all the people in town. Operating from your heart is just like that. You see things from a new perspective. You choose your own path. You say hello to strangers and get to know people. You bring love and kindness wherever you go. If you send out love you receive that love in return. You see the good and more goodness comes back to you. And the universe sees you in your light and helps you on that path, helping you achieve your dreams.