Saturday, March 3, 2012

Tomorrow the Sun Will Rise....Who Knows What the Tide Could Bring

This evening I watched the movie "Castaway" with my family. I had first seen it many years ago, and recall being very moved by Tom Hanks' performance as the type A Fed-Ex employee, Chuck Noland, who survives a plane crash and is marooned on a deserted island somewhere in the South Pacific. The struggle of Hanks' character to survive the harsh natural elements of a tropical island - to create fire, find food and water, build shelter, and finally craft a raft allowing him to overcome the huge waves of the ocean - are a testament to the will and determination of humankind, and in many ways parallel the incredible progress of humankind over the past millenia.

The movie expresses many important life themes, human values and philosophies - the power of love, our need for companionship, our taking for granted the incredible advances of our civilization (eg. bottled water), and the negative repercussions of leading crazily busy lives which prevent us from stopping to really appreciate all those things and people that we have been blessed to have in our lives.

Towards the end of the film, after Hanks' character returns back to "civilization", having survived four years on the island where he decided to keep fighting for his survival despite moments of wanting to give up and admit defeat in the face of the bleak reality of his desperate situation, he describes to his close friend and colleague the incredible epiphany and the realization that emerged from those dark moments:

"We both had done the math. Kelly added it all up and... knew she had to let me go. I added it up, and knew that I had... lost her. 'cos I was never gonna get off that island. I was gonna die there, totally alone. I was gonna get sick, or get injured or something. The only choice I had, the only thing I could control was when, and how, and where it was going to happen. So... I made a rope and I went up to the summit, to hang myself. I had to test it, you know? Of course. You know me. And the weight of the log, snapped the limb of the tree, so I-I - , I couldn't even kill myself the way I wanted to. I had power over *nothing*. And that's when this feeling came over me like a warm blanket. I knew, somehow, that I had to stay alive. Somehow. I had to keep breathing. Even though there was no reason to hope. And all my logic said that I would never see this place again. So that's what I did. I stayed alive. I kept breathing. And one day my logic was proven all wrong because the tide came in, and gave me a sail. And now, here I am. I'm back. In Memphis, talking to you. I have ice in my glass... And I've lost her all over again. I'm so sad that I don't have Kelly. But I'm so grateful that she was with me on that island. And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?"

Yes....who knows what the tide could bring. It is during our dark and desperate moments, when there seems to be no hope and no chance of things turning around, having the faith that the universe will throw us a "life preserver" and help pull us out of the turmoil of the ocean. All we must do is "keep breathing", keep fighting, keep putting our best efforts and skills forward....with the faith that things will turn around, and that not only will we overcome the current struggle, but also that this current obstacle will lead us towards greater fulfillment, appreciation and happiness.