An Insight from Predators

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Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love action movies, especially Predator movies! While the first Predator holds a definitive place in my heart that can never be touched, Predators with Adrien Brody was pretty cool! To briefly summarize, a group of people find themselves in a jungle without a clue where they are or how they got there (all woke up in midair, falling with a parachute attached. Such a cool scene!!). They are all strangers. You quickly learn that each of them are highly trained warriors from various backgrounds and parts of the world. The group includes an American black ops soldier, an Israeli sniper, a Russian commando, a Yakuza enforcer, a serial killer and so on.

While knowing very little about their current circumstances, they use their tactical knowledge to decide the next course of action: get to high ground, assess the situation and find their opponent. Makes sense, right?

But when they reach high ground, their reality is turned completely upside down. They are staring at other planets and moons in the sky. They are clearly not on Earth any longer! While the group stands there, speechless, clearly in shock and trying to wrap their brain around what they are seeing, Adrien Brody, with calm acceptance, says, “We’re gonna need a new plan.”

Every time I see that movie (and yes, I realize it’s a movie with fictional characters!), I know that is a quality that resonates with me…especially now. Some people have this incredible ability to accept a new reality and easily roll with it. The ability to let go of how things used to be, how it’s changed, why it happened at all and just flow with the new. Some people even thrive in that setting, loving that unknown space and knowing that when they need to do something, they’ll know exactly what to do. This is the space where they feel alive…awake with excitement…because they have no idea what the future holds. They just do what’s in front of them to do…in real time.

I think that we all have the potential to own that quality. The one that moves past that stage of pointing fingers and getting all wrapped up in the problem, the hows & the whys. The one that realizes that any imagined future is just that…imagined.  Because we can’t possibly know what will happen.  That quality that looks around at what’s going on and thinks, “Well, ok.” And then takes a step. Whether it’s filing for unemployment, working from home while caring for children, or taking a break from the noise on TV for a bit.

Is it easy to stay in that beginning stage, and never move on? Hell, yes! Especially now! And yet at some point in our lives, we’ve all done it…looked around and realized that we have absolutely no idea how something’s going to play out, and then took a step forward anyway.

But...

 How cool would it be if we let go and moved past that first stage altogether? How much lighter would all of this feel? How much easier would we be on ourselves and each other each day as we move forward? How much quieter would our minds be if they were only focused on what’s directly in front of them?

And how much more fun would it be to look around and say, “We’re gonna need a new plan.”