Life Lessons from 'It's a Wonderful Life'

Dec 26, 2017

With Christmas behind us, it's all too easy to slip back into the old ways of doing things, kind of like when a movie ends and real life goes on. It shouldn't be this way. Today, Kevin talks about life lesson you can take from a beautiful Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life, and how you can enter into 2018 living your life on purpose.

• This isn't just a typical laundry list of predictable musings on this Christmas classic. Kevin actually has read the book the movie was based on, read the script, written a paper on the movie in grad school, and yes, of course, he watches the movie every year. So many different mediums, but it all comes back to one thing: servant leadership.
• Do you understand what discouragement actually means? How it's different than disappointment and where it takes root? Do you know why it's even worse than being sick? Kevin digs into the life of George Bailey and his discouragement that was so deep, he was ready to throw away his life.
• Don't let dreams get in the way of your destiny. That might turn what you think you know on your ear. George experienced this; he was an explorer who became bound to a small town.
• The ordinary you seek to escape is actually your pathway to purpose if you will embrace it and transform it. It's so easy to be blind to the truth right in front of you, especially when you shut your eyes to purpose. Wouldn't it be wiser to keep them open on purpose?
• A life of significance is a life of service. Significance takes any life, either in the spotlight or in obscurity, and makes it matter forever. Success, on the other hand, is fickle. A life lived for success can be lonely and selfish, and when it's gone, what are you left with?
• None of us are immune to discouragement. It's going to happen, and when it does, we need people around us to help lift us up. If you've lived life for yourself, who will be there to help when you need it most?
• A life of purpose is a relationally rich life. Think about the final scene of the movie when George Bailey was surrounded by his friends and family, and the parting words from the guardian angel.
• Kevin shares the trials and tribulations that almost prevented the book from being written. Even writing the script from a $50,000 Christmas card was a test of rising above discouragement, into the making of the movie. It's the power of perseverance.
• A life of purpose doesn't take rejection personally. Kevin shares a personal reflection and asks you to apply it to your own life.

If you'd like to hear in-depth conversations about purpose, you can go to NavigatingNorthSummit.com to hear a new featured conversation each month, with experts like Dr Rick Rigbsy, Mark Timm, Zach Mercurio and Thom Winninger. That's NavigatingNorthSummit.com