About five or six years ago, I saw that someone on my buddy list had up an away message that said "Why can't real life ever end up like it does in the movies?" Now I know him well enough to know that that meant he was having girl problems, but I decided I wanted to answer that question for him anyway, just for the heck of it. I actually had fun writing it and it turned into a long e-mail. It seems so unreal to me that I actually wrote these words, so I look at it every now and again, because I feel like someone else wrote it, and sometimes it is easier to take other peoples' advice than your own, so I benefit from reading it as well. I can't take full credit for it though, since I got stuck a prayed for words, because I wanted to answer the question. So here it is:
Why Can't Life Ever End Up Like It Does In The Movies? (TR)
Why CAN'T real life ever end up like it does in the movies? We have ALL wondered this before. The reason is because real life is non fiction and movies are fiction. Everyone has problems and frustrations and movies were invented so people can take 90 minutes out of their stressful lives and escape into a life where everything ends perfectly, both the viewers and the actors. Because everyone wants their life to be like the movies. PERFECT. We're so busy fixating on how everything on TV and in movies has a happy ending we fail to see the middle of the plot, where the problems are. People die. People overdose. People lose their jobs. But it always ends up exactly the way it is supposed to, and THAT is what makes it PERFECT.
"Everything is okay in the end. If it's not okay, then it's not the end." God is in control. That's all you need to worry about. People are dumb; they make bad choices. You do it, I do it, everybody does it. And choices have consequences. And some of the consequences we see in life are not necessarily consequences of OUR actions, or actions of people close to us, but those of Adam and Eve. People were meant to live forever. In nature's beauty. Naked. But because of that ONE piece of fruit, we have MORE sinning, death, the realization that we are naked and need to wear clothes. Not your fault, not my fault, but other peoples' actions affect us too, whether we have done anything to deserve the consequences or not. Our World Trade Center was bombed. I don't remember doing anything to make my country look like it wanted to be bombed. I didn't go over to Afghanistan and say "Hey, my country is better than yours, why don't you come try to ruin us?" I didn't do that, and I don't think you did either. And because of the choices that we all make, knowing that our actions affect others, we know that there will always be consequences, both positive and negative, and because of the ups and downs in life, and the fact that it is never up 100% of the time, we need to realize that life will never be perfect. What we think is perfect anyway.
But what is perfect? Everything being fine and dandy 100% of the time. Always getting your way. Nothing bad EVER happening to you or anybody else in your life. We all know that doesn't exist, so why do we keep thinking that it's going to be like that? God has given us life. It is a matter of what we choose to do with it. Are we going to sin or are we going to follow God's rules? We are going to sin, because that is human nature. But we have control over HOW MUCH we sin. Hooray for not doing drugs and waiting for marriage to have sex. People have pain and they want to escape. That's why people act. So they can be someone else. But other people find different ways. Unhealthy ways.
When I was in 8th grade, a bunch of my close friends were cutting themselves and trying drugs. And these were people I went to youth group with. People that BROUGHT me there! And it was hurting me to know that they were doing that to themselves. I didn't understand then, and I still don't now.
Gilda Radner said, "It's not what happens in life, but how you handle it." This is a woman who was obese as a child and was made fun of for it. Her father died of cancer when she was young. Later on in life she became bulimic and started sleeping around. She was part of the original cast of Saturday Night Live, so she did cocaine too. She died of Ovarian Cancer in 1989. She didn't handle pain very well until the end of her life.
Movies usually have happy endings. Yes, this is true. But my high school theatre director always said that when we watch a movie or a play, we're coming into the story in the middle of these peoples' lives, and we're leaving in the middle too. She's right. We don't know what happens to them when the movie is over. We just assume that they live happily ever after. Because that's what we WANT to believe. But the truth is, their lives could go way downhill after the movie ends. We don't know. So we shouldn't assume that just because the movie ends well, that their lives end well. My Big Fat Greek Wedding ended happily. They got married, they moved in next door to her parents, they had a kid. Then they had a TV show. It only lasted a few episodes. Maybe they just didn't want to have My Big Fat Greek Divorce. You never know!
EVERYONE has pain it IS just a matter of how you handle it. We don't need drugs, we don't need sex. What we need is God. And that is ALL we need. He will help us get through ANYTHING. We just need to stick with Him and trust in Him. And we WILL get through everything.
Life may not match our definition of perfect, but it matches God's. He gave us life, it is a gift from Him, and that is why it is perfect.
Job 5:17-27 (New International Version)
17 "Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18 For he wounds, but he also binds up;
he injures, but his hands also heal.
19 From six calamities he will rescue you;
in seven no harm will befall you.
20 In famine he will ransom you from death,
and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,
and need not fear when destruction comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine,
and need not fear the beasts of the earth.
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is secure;
you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
25 You will know that your children will be many,
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor,
like sheaves gathered in season.
27 "We have examined this, and it is true.
So hear it and apply it to yourself."
.
Chatboard (1)