Hello folks!
I just finished watching one of my favorite movies, though I seem to always forget about it whenever anyone asks about my favorite movies. That movie is Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. I love this movie. The reason I like it so much is because of the development of Murray's character, Phil (I also love how Phil is assigned to cover the groundhog story in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and the groundhog is called Punxsutawney Phil...get it? anyway...). Phil starts off as a jerk. That's the best word to describe him at the beginning of the movie. He's extremely sarcastic all the time, absolutely hates his assignment, loves himself way, way too much, and he hates the town. He ends up getting trapped in time and has to relive February 2 over and over again. While the movie never states exactly how long he relives the one day, the audience can gather that it has to be an exceptional amount of time because of the skills that Phil learns. As the movie progresses, Phil learns to love others more than himself, and he learns to better himself to better serve his fellow man. By the end of the movie, Phil is one of least self-centered men ever, and he really tries to make sure that everyone is happy, all the while finding out how to make himself the best man that he can be. Phil finally gets the girl of his dreams at the end of the movie, and upon waking up and realizing that it's February 3, he asks Rita (MacDowell) this question:
"Is there anything I can do for you today?"
This line is one of my favorite lines of any line in any movie ever. This one line sums up how much Phil has changed, and it really says how much Phil's ability to love others has increased. He has finally realized that the greatest joy in the world is not serving himself but serving others. That sentence makes me so happy, because it's something that I really think we should all ask someone every day. If we asked one person this question, and followed through, every day, just think how much happier we could all be. Each of us would be able to see the joy and thankfulness of that person that we helped, and then we could feel happy because we knew we had helped someone. Even the little things would count. Getting a sibling a drink if they ask would certainly count. Big things would be fantastic. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the person you happened to ask, "Is there anything I can do for you today" was in need of someone to help them get to a job because their car had broken down, and you just so happened to be there to help? Just think of how appreciative that person would be, and how happy you would be knowing that you had been able to be of some real service. Wouldn't that just be amazing?
I also strongly believe that this question is a question that should be asked of everyone in a relationship to their significant other every day. If the happiness can spread to random people, think of the wonders it could do to any relationship! I personally think that I'll start doing this as soon as possible. It could only increase the love between two people, and I honestly can't think of any negative repercussions to doing a good thing for your significant other, or really for doing a good thing for anyone.
"Is there anything I can do for you today?" That is such a beautiful line. I hope that everyone who reads this will at least try to ask this question to one person, even if it's just one day. Who knows, perhaps we could start a perpetual motion kindness machine of sorts? That'd be pretty cool, I'm thinking.
Ciao!
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