Groundhog Day

At last we’ve reached midwinter and now that Groundhog Day has come and gone, we know we’re on the home stretch towards spring. It’s a perfect time to use the last dark hours of winter to curl up on the couch and watch a movie that’s not only great but has a message. For me, the first choice for a laugh and a lesson would always be Groundhog Day.

Lost in Translation was a great showcase for Bill Murray’s alienation schtick, but Groundhog Day is his comic meisterwork. As the film critic, Roger Ebert, describes it “The Murray persona has become familiar without becoming tiring: The world is too much with him, he is a little smarter than everyone else, he has a detached melancholy, he is deeply suspicious of joy, he sees sincerity as a weapon that can be used against him, and yet he conceals emotional needs. He is Hamlet in a sitcom world.” As the perennially grouchy TV weatherman, Phil, he is condemned to relive the same day over and over until he begins to learn from his experience and become a kinder, more authentic person.

As he becomes less cynical, more thoughtful and closer to his true self rather then his adopted persona, his world finally opens up and he is released from the bondage of an eternal Groundhog Day. It’s a wickedly funny film that reminds us how we are doomed to repeat patterns in our lives until we are willing to take a deeper look at ourselves. In one scene, a depressed Phil is propping up the bar in that one-horse town, musing to himself “What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same and nothing that you did mattered?” A clearly disillusioned local barfly overhears him and adds “That about sums it up for me”.

Groundhog Day reminds us, with the lightest of touches, that the biggest changes in our lives come from within and not from outer circumstances. The key to unlocking our own recurring patterns is found in self-knowledge. Dr Robert Holden, author of Success Intelligence, says “Your self-knowledge is your central reference system for every other type of intelligence and wisdom. The better you know yourself, the better your can live and work with authenticity and authority. Your self-knowledge is what helps you discern between true purpose and pointless goals. Self-knowledge also teaches you about your inner strengths and true values. The better you know yourself, the better you can trust your wisdom, follow your joy and liberate your talent.”

Take some inspiration from Groundhog Day to ask yourself where the recurring patterns are in your life. Does the same scenario keep cropping up again and again? Is it in your working life or your personal relationships? Are you blaming external factors when it just might be your own self-image that needs updating to make the changes you want? What is it about that situation that you might not have seen before?

We are so often confronted by issues that look different, but in essence are the same problem. A lack of self-worth can manifest in myriad ways – anything from people-pleasing to not speaking up for yourself or not being well-paid for your work – but is at heart the same core issue. Unless you get to the underlying issue, no real healing can take place. One problem may disappear, only to reappear in a different guise. Self-knowledge is the first step in finding what really lies beneath and sometimes it won’t be the answer you would prefer to have. As Robert Holden often says, “The truth will set you free – but first it will piss you off”.

There may be some discomfort on the road to self-revelation, but it’s not all tough going, though. In Groundhog Day, Phil gets a life, finds some good friends and gets the girl in the end. The payoff for honest self-enquiry and a commitment to acting in a way that honours who you are is a deeper and richer experience of life. It’s a small price to pay, really.

So, get a little food for thought from the travails of Phil, the world’s most miserable TV presenter, and his furry little groundhog friend. What could be more fab than having a good giggle while you’re learning something about life? The best films show us something true about ourselves, an experience that we all share, and nothing shows us more about the human condition than comedy. When we’re willing to laugh at ourselves, we’re well and truly on the road to fabulousness.

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All material © 2006 Alison Porter. No article may be reproduced in full or in part without the express permission of the author. (Originally posted 6 Feb 06)