“Not dying isn’t the same thing as living”

Eve Crood

My 9-year old daughter and I, watched the movie, “The Croods”, together for our date night, this past weekend.  What a great movie.  Even if you don’t have kids, rent it! The story is about a cave-man aged family that is stuck in survival mode.  The teenage daughter, “Eve”,  meets a teenaged guy named, “Guy”, who is innovative and forward thinking.

Guy, teaches the Crood family how to live outside the rules of the day.  The rules were written on the cave walls to ensure survival.  Here are a few:

1) Stay in the cave, at all times, unless hunting for food.

2) Always be afraid, of everything, all the time.

3) Hate anything new, and when you come across anything new, reference the above rule about being afraid.

4) You don’t need ideas, especially new ideas, you have physical strength.

The family begins to realize, new ideas not only contributed to their survival, but experiencing life outside the dark confines and “safety” of the cave was pretty darn cool, too.  Eve says, “We changed the rules, the ones that kept us in the dark.”

Fast forward, 10,000 years, and guess what? Look around, maybe even in the mirror, our modern day world is populated by the Croods, or folks like them, prior to their epiphany.  We still want to stay where its safe, unless we are forced outside that safety (read “comfort”) zone, in order to survive.  Most of us are afraid, all the time, and especially of anything new, which would take us outside our “cave”.  Most of us are trying to “muscle” through life, trading our backs, and physical time and energy, in exchange for a miniscule amount of income.

Not Dying and Living are completely different animals. Don’t get the two confused.  Today, let’s each of us, take an honest assessment:

What am I afraid of? Losing my job, my house, the car, health insurance?

What new idea have I discarded because it might take me out of my comfort zone?

Do I only venture out of safety when my survival depends on it?

What awesome experiences am I missing out on by staying in my cave?

Boo yah!!