Once again it is Christmastime, and that means once again it is time to watch It’s a Wonderful Life. Terrific story about how we’re all in this together and everybody has an impact on everybody else. If you’ve never seen it, you should seek it out. Without George Bailey, the whole world changes: Billy Bailey dies, Old Man Gower goes to prison for accidentally killing somebody with a mis-filled prescription, Mary Hatch becomes a lonely librarian, an entire platoon of soldiers dies, and a Bedford Falls turns into Pottersville.
But there’s another story too. George has goals, and he works hard towards them. He saves money to travel and go to college. He makes plans to build grand things. He knows what he’s going to do with his life! And when things go wrong, he does the right thing. So he saves money all over again to go on a fabulous honeymoon with his wife. And when things go wrong again he does the right thing. As the angel says “You’ve probably guessed that George never makes it out of Bedford Falls.”
You can make all the goals you like. You can work towards them every day. You can overcome adversity. But when all is said and done, remember that reality controls you and not the other way around.