It's a Wonderful Life . . . a Movie and an Idea

Today I am grateful for old movies with timeless messages. 

Darcy likes to watch old holiday movies in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I don't always join him in the viewing, but when he chose "It's a Wonderful Life" yesterday afternoon I did. The movie is from 1946, stars Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, and was directed by Frank Capra.

Here is the movie's description:

After George Bailey (James Stewart) wishes he had never been born, an angel (Henry Travers) is sent to earth to make George's wish come true. George starts to realize how many lives he has changed and impacted, and how they would be different if he was never there.

Life sidetracks George from his dreams, but also leads him to love, family, and opportunities to live by the values that mean the most to him. Many of us can relate to that. One path ends up a detour, we are sent down a new one, and we end up finding fulfillment and meaning.

The pandemic has been a real sidetrack for us all this year hasn't it?  There is sadness, despair, fear, loss, frustration, limitations. It doesn't feel very wonderful at all.

Yet when I consider what I do have, the lives that have intersected with mine and the love and connections that have come from that, it warms my heart. Like Clarence in the movie, guardian angels have shown up in various ways and guided me. It is indeed a wonderful life.