I watched this movie again today, and I still am impressed by it for several reasons. First, I love food. And I really love cheese, ha! And since I don’t get much cheese here in China, it’s nice to remember how wonderful the stuff can be. Also, I like a good red wine. And whenever Anton Ego has poured himself a good ol’ glass of the stuff, well, it makes me think of good times back in Dallas, enjoying a glass or two with good friends. How can I not enjoy that? There are too many “good” things there for me not to thoroughly enjoy it all.
And, despite the fact that the movie does get some things wrong, I also like it because it really gets some things right, too. If you haven’t seen the movie, I’d recommend it. I won’t give away all the plotlines, but one of the main themes explored in the movie is the importance of being yourself and not being ashamed of that and also not trying to become someone else to please everyone else. It’s a simple concept in words, but I think we all know it’s easier said than done.
One of the things Rick and I stress a lot with our students (and anyone who will listen) is to encourage people to be themselves. Since I teach marketing, sometimes I talk about it from a “perfect market economy” perspective. That being a market where everyone produces to their maximum extent, where they have their best competitive advantage. If this were to happen, products would be made with best quality, most efficiency, and lowest cost. Of course, we don’t see this happen in the real world because there are too many barriers to that kind of perfection, not to mention the fact that some people/nations do not have any competitive advantages in any market. But the concept is still helpful.
You see (if you don’t already see), it seems to me that when a person lives powerfully in the midst of their “competitive advantage,” sparks start flying and amazing things show up. Those things may be amazingly good or amazingly evil, but they are amazing nonetheless. And for me, those things have been amazingly good lately because I think I’m starting to really understand my competitive advantage to a greater degree. And it’s great.
In fact, I was just telling my teammate tonight that I’m happy. And not just happy – daily happy. With the exception of my childhood and maybe the last 4 months in Dallas when I didn’t have a job and had time to just explore, create, rest and relax, most all of my young adult and adult life has been “just so-so” as the Chinese would say. I had happy moments, good feelings, and a general sense of well being and purpose. But, all-in-all, life was a pretty dull, unimaginative, and colorless experience for me. People, friends, family, and faith were the only color I had. But my day-to-day life was rather blasé. I’m happy to say that has not been the case since coming to China.
Now, each day is not a perfect experience. I have not entered the land of milk and honey. I haven’t found heaven on earth. My heart and soul still long for eternity. But when I wake up here, I’m glad about it. Really. Darn. Glad.
And I could write a book from there, but I’ll spare ya. Just wanted to share the good news of the day. Write me if you want to know more about any of this. Thanks, Ratatouille, for a good story. And thanks to the One who is behind the ultimate story.
P.S. I had to laugh when I first wrote this post. I had written so many disclaimers, apologies, conditionals, etc. that you almost couldn’t get the meaning of it. Seems I needed a dose of my own beliefs. I know not everyone will understand or agree with my thoughts exactly, and that’s okay. This is where I’m at today, and I’m okay with that.
