Satisfaction with Real Life > Obsession with Secret Life: MOVIE SPOILER ALERT

Last night Andis and I watched 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' and though it had some over the top bizarre day dreaming scenes and silly jokes, overall it made a pretty profound impact on me. Walter Mitty is dissatisfied with his life. His job, his dating life (or lack thereof), himself in general. So dissatisfied in fact that he often 'daydreams' himself into amazing adventures wherein he is naturally the brave, creative, risk taking hero. Whether he is jumping out of helicopters, skateboarding across Greenland or hiking the Himalayas, his dreams are a far cry from the reality of his boring, predictable white washed desk job of a life.

Even though I am 99.9% satisfied and in love with my life I found myself resonating with his restlessness. Who of us hasn't dreamt at one time or another of the vibrant, technicolor life that the unchartered waters of our future has provided? There was a time when I made a million plans to do a million things that all involved adventure, mystery, danger and intrigue. Moving to the Philippines to save AIDS infected abandoned babies in the mountains? Check. Quitting school to become a break dancer? Check. Joining an organization that found the sex trafficked child victims of stateside families? Moving to Mexico City to be a missionary? Becoming an advocate against the Japanese slaughter of dolphins? Biking across the entire U.S, hiking the Appalachian Trail? Check. Check. Check. Check and CHECK.

Which is why I and probably so many others were drawn to this movie. It reminds us. Stirs the adventurous streaks in our spirits. Allows us to revel in the dream of leaving the dishes and the day job behind and doing something crazy big. But there was a bigger lesson to be learned from witnessing the secret life of Walter Mitty.......

A while back I ran into a friend and noticed that she seemed a little down. I asked her what was wrong. She thought for a minute and replied that she 'just wished she were different'. You see, my friend is shy. If I were to guess, she's probably the shyest person I know. And she hates that. She wishes she were more social, more outgoing and talkative. I AM social, outgoing and talkative and I love it so I of course could relate. However, if being outgoing, social and talkative is a gift I've been given (my husband may venture to say it's a bit of a curse from time to time), then being a good listener is NOT a gift I've been given. But guess what?! There is something my shy friend is so good at, that she should probably get an award! LISTENING. She's an AMAZING listener. Hands down probably the best listener I've met! And I would know because I do A LOT of talking. So if being a good listener is a gift that she's been given, then wouldn't being shy, (which has helped her develop into being a good listener), ALSO be a gift that she's been given?

You see we suffer from a 'we can do ANYTHING' mentality. And the things we think we must do well have grown to an insurmountable capacity with social media and the disease of comparison fanning the flames of our feverish drive to do and be different than we are. I'm not saying that growth and horizon spanning, self stretching goals aren't healthy and even necessary, but figuring out what we're good at, and pursuing those things and figuring out what we will just never be good at and letting it go sometimes, seems like it might be worth a little of our time.

Which brings me back to Walter Mitty. More important than breaking out of our own status quo to climb mountains and have adventures is finding the mountains and seeking out the adventure in the lives we are now living. Because if it is truly the life we are meant to live, it's exactly where we should be. Even if it includes day jobs and dishes.

My Pa-Paw Baker said it best when he said, "If you ain't where you are, you ain't NOWHERE."