Every Friday I post a “here’s the thing” blog. “Here’s the thing” is something my mum (and many other wise people) like to say when they’re about to make a good point. Hopefully these posts are also good points.
Recently, I’ve been listening to some festive tunes. You know, to get me in the spirit. I decided to put together a few playlists for the wonderful businesses taking part in Progress not perfection, and one included the soundtrack from one of my favourite Christmas films: The Holiday.
I love The Holiday. I’ve watched it probably a dozen times. I appreciate the scriptwriting, the humour, the optimism, the beautiful production, and the music.
As I was listening, I remembered on of my favourite moments in the film:
Iris (Kate Winslet) finally challenges Jasper (Rufus Sewell) about his complete inability to be a decent human being, never mind boyfriend. He turns up at her holiday home door and expects to be welcomed unconditionally and, at first, he kind of is. And then he sorts of hints that he’s still engaged to another woman and just wants what he can have. Yes, I’m still angry at him. BUT I’m also super in love with Iris when he says, “What’s got into you?” and she replies, “I’m not sure, but I think it’s something resembling… GUMPTION!”
She kicks him out (hooray! everyone rejoices!) and gets on with being totally awesome and loving Jack Black, aka Miles.
It’s a brilliant moment. There’s even a track on the soundtrack called Gumption.
And gumption is a great word. It encapsulates more than confidence, more than passion, more than energy. It’s kind of a combination of all of those things, with a whole host of self-belief and taking action for what you believe in, and what’s best for you.
Which sounds pretty cool, right?
So I was thinking that this time of year really requires gumption from a lot of us. The gumption to get up in the morning in the dark. To pack the 100th (or 1,000th) order of the day. To face a challenging family situation (because Christmas brings with it many challenging family situations).
There’s gumption in saying ‘no’ to people, activities, orders, situations, that aren’t on your personal priority list. Iris refuses to be led on by Jasper and by her own hope that maybe it’ll be different this time. She knows that, in order to be happy, she has to follow her own priorities. Awesome.
So here’s the thing:
You need gumption. You need, and deserve, enough self-belief to put whatever you need into action.
As you read this, I want you to imagine or play your own theme tune. If you need some inspiration, check out this gumption playlist I made. Allow the music to fill you with the quasi-calm that comes from knowing that you’re capable of doing whatever it is you need to do.
You already know it. It’s already there inside you.
I’m just pointing you towards it.
