Challenge Day #18

The Shift

Dr. Wayne Dyer wrote and stars in the movie, The Shift, about the spiritual shift from ambition to meaning.  The movie focuses on three individuals, a movie director, a wife/mother, and a wealthy business man.  Each is a model of a life of ambition which is ego driven.  Wayne refers to ego as -Edging God Out.

The director represents an individual who defines success in life as what he does.  He continually states “I’m a director – that’s what I am.”  The wife is driven by what others think of her – especially in her role as a wife and mother.  She has put aside her dreams of being an artist to take care of everyone else.  The third character the wealthy business man operates from an “I am what I have.” Sense of self.  None of them are finding what they are seeking.

The first time I watched this movie I found myself relating to the wife/mother the most – not because she was a woman but because much of her sense of self was measured by what she did for others. In our culture this is a role that is often modeled for young girls.  Girls are expected to be warm, nurturing and put the needs of others above their own. To the point that when I was a teenager in school I was forced to take Home Economics both cooking and sewing when what I wanted to do was take shop.  I wanted to work with tools.  I knew how to cook and sew I didn’t know how to use a drill, a saw, and other power tools.  Luckily for girls today this is no longer the case.  But underlying this is still the idea that “what others think of me is important.” If I can become a good cook and housekeeper some day some man will love me. 

Which of these three do you find yourself caught up in – I am what I do, I am what I have, I am what others think of me? Are you living your life based on ego or have you made the shift to living your life based on your soul’s purpose which is a life of meaning?

No matter which of these characters you relate to or bits and pieces of each the deeper concern for me is that each represents a separation.  A separation from others and a separation from spirit.  To live an ego based life I am constantly having to compare myself to others – do they have more, have they achieved more, do others believe they are better than I am. None of these thoughts are healthy.   Especially for someone who believes that we are all connected.

What I took away from this movie was two-fold.  First it provided me with language to ask myself to see if I’m being ego driven.  Secondly it was another reminder that within each of us is a spark of spirit – our soul.  If we pay attention to this spark we will be drawn towards our purpose.  Our path will be clear and easy to follow. It is when we move away from this and try to force the universe to conform to our wishes that we usually have moved away from meaning and back towards ambition.