Getting Past Groundhog Day

Yesterday was Groundhog Day.  And, since I now reside in Pennsylvania the frenzied attention paid to the appearance of ‪Punxsutawney Phil (not to mention attention to the myriad of lesser groundhogs touted by any number of townships here in the Commonwealth) was pretty “in my face.” 

All of the Groundhog Day hoopla reminded me of the 1993 movie by the same name.  In the movie, Bill Murray is a weatherman who relives February second over and over.  The novelty in his reliving experience is that Murray alone is aware that he is stuck in a do-loop (everyone else is simply living the day).  In one provocative piece of dialogue Murray’s character, Phil, poses the question, “What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?” 

Luckily today advanced on my calendar to February third, yet Phil’s question still was on my mind when I awoke this morning.

Phil’s simple-on-the-surface question really gave me pause.  How many times have any of us sat down at the end of a day and thought, “What did I do today that really mattered?” 

While I accept that what matters may occur serendipitously, I believe that what matters more often happens when we set an intention for how we will move forward into a new day.  The trick of it is in knowing what matters to us.  In actuality, any day may become Groundhog Day (a la the movie) if we are “stuck in one place.”  Getting unstuck can be hard work.  Defining what matters is part of that work.  Once we know what matters, setting an intention for doing what matters forwards action.

So, yesterday Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.  Six more weeks of winter – each day of which I plan to live intentionally – doing stuff that I know matters.  How about you?

You may have a wellness intention around healthy eating.  Perhaps you have a leadership intention around delegation.  Whatever it is, if it really matters to you, give it voice.  Say it aloud.  Write it down.  Be clear and actionable in stating your intention.  Then do what matters.  

Groundhog Day should really come around only once a year.

Thought for the day: “There was a power outage at a department store yesterday. Twenty people were trapped on the escalators.” ~Steven Wright