No, this is not about a branding moment...
We tend to do a lot of couch potato TV watching over weekends --especially if there are no good movies out. And so we ended up late last night watching the original b/w film about Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol". I think Charles titled his books like we title our blogs here on AR...
This juxtaposition of ghastly apparitions and misanthropy against syrupy do-goodness and the Christmas spirit just doesn't seem to mix well at first blush.
But I took great notice at one of the lines in this film that was apropos vis a vis current blog discussions...
The way I remember it Scrooge treats his partner Jacob Marley very poorly and undeservedly. And drove him to his grave. Well, apparently not. Marley had grown to share Scrooge's proclivity towards greed, indifference to the plight of the poor, selfishness, and was equally cold-hearted towards anyone in need.
Marley was equally to blame for these 'sins' and deserved to wander for 7 years since his death, as a ghost in chains.
In Marley's short monologue he says something that tops my 'Apocalypse Now' ah-ha moment.
"And then I realized, like I was shot — like I was shot with a diamond...a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God, the genius of that. The genius!"
This amazing bit of rhetoric comes from a Victorian author's mind in 1843. I have seen at least three renditions of the tale on film. Now I want to read this entire tale by Dickens in print. There is a macabre sense of things in many descriptive moments in this tale:
"every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart"
How could this language be in such a macabre tale with the title chosen??
Each decision Marley made was a link in a chain. A metal link! Think about that. The links added up to yards of a life filled with negativity, greed, and disdain for others!
We also forge our own links one by one and hold onto them. AND WE DO THIS OF OUR OWN FREE WILL~!
But this singular statement by Marley is a confession, too late in life, that would grate on anyone's conscience:
Why did I not do better, why didn't I see the opportunities, why didn't I seize the moment, why didn't I set proper goals and execute, why was I so complacent, why didn't I push myself, why did I blame everyone except myself?
Yes, 'A Christmas Carol' is about redemption. Marley's line is really the entire theme of the tale. He forged his miserable existence link by link, yard by yard, and put it on -- wearing it his entire life.
The great revelatory moment in the story is that even at a very late age, Scrooge is moved to change his ways. He had an unhappy childhood we learn, somewhat abandoned. He is a recluse, his big house empty while the streets are filled with the poor and destitute. He treats his staff very poorly, he shuns his relatives.
But Scrooge sees the error of his way, changes gears, changes course, makes new goals, turns his life around, sees the good, feels hope in his heart, and intends to better himself. He wants to become a new person.
Wow, talk about a great motivational yarn!! 1843...
It is never too late to rethink your business, your life, your goals, your attitude, your relationships, your beliefs...
(and if you've missed my weekend blog on some ways to set goals, strategy and tactics, click here)
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