Challenge Day #1

Pollyanna

Pollyanna (Disney, 1960), staring Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman, Karl Malden, Agnus Moorhead and Richard Egan. Based on the novel Pollyanna (1913) by Eleanor Porter the film was written and directed by David Swift.  Orphaned by the deaths of her missionary parents, Pollyanna comes to an embittered town and confronts its attitude with her determination to see the best in life.

I watch this movie at least once a year. It is one of the first films I remember influencing my belief that you may not be able to control what happens in life but you can control how you process that information.  Through the playing of the Glad Game Pollyanna remains steadfast in looking for the gift in every situation.  When crutches arrive in the mission barrel rather than a doll – be glad you don’t need them. Throughout the film many adults challenge her to find something good in events they have deemed negative.

One of my favorite scenes takes place in a field where the local minister is preparing his weekly fire and brimstone style sermon.  Pollyanna shares a quote in her locket (misattributed to Abraham Lincoln) "If you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." What’s most interesting to me is that I had for years shifted the quote in my mind to be “If you look for the good in people, that’s what you’ll find.” In fact while writing this, I had to look it up again to make sure I had written it correctly. I have throughout my life tried to live this quote – just like trying to find the gift in each situation, I try to find the gift within each person.  Their hidden potential.  My gift to others is to help them see the good in themselves.

I do admit that at times you have to dig deep to find the gift.  Fortunately, the gifts buried most deeply are the biggest gifts we receive in life.