We are basically living in a movie. We picked it out. We are watching it. We are also living it. We energetically project a storyline based on what we believe to be true… about ourselves, others, situations, and even life in general.
Have you ever watched a movie and realized you were so engrossed in the movie that you forgot you were just watching a movie? We tend to live our lives the same way. Sometimes we are acting out our situations the best we can from within the script we are reading from (memorized) and the direction we may have received (from our parents as an example) or maybe we are ad-libing. Other times (hopefully) we realize the we are just watching our movie (aka life). Some people are aware of this more often than others. Yet others are unaware of this and we wonder what movie could they be watching based on their behaviors.
I was talking to a friend the other day and based on the conversation, I had this vision that he and the kiddos were watching some sort of family movie and Mom was watching some sort of horror flick. I imagined both of these movies playing simultaneously on the big screen (like an outdoor theater) and the mix was a bit on the disturbing side.
A better description might be … imagine each family member is watching different movies on separate screens in separate rooms, but sitting together and reacting/having conversations based on the movie each one was watching. Meanwhile, the individuals have basically no idea about what the others are watching. Maybe one is watching a chick-flick (tear jerker), one is watching an action-adventure, one is watching a comedy (sci-fi), and one is watching a horror (or perhaps some “reality” TV). Think of the different feelings and reactions that accompany each of those movies (shows). The reactions of another person to one of these movies might make sense if we were watching the same one. But, if we were watching a completely different movie, then the reactions wouldn’t match. We may then make judgements upon those mismatched reactions. Deeming their reaction(s) inappropriate to be nice and down right crazy to the bluntly honest.
Think about your life… the things you’ve experienced or are feeling right now. How does that match what another person is expressing or feeling as you engage with them? Perhaps it’s someone you know well who’s a little on edge because of (pick a topic). You ask a simple question like, “how are you doing?” or state, “good morning!” and you get a not-so-pleasant response. Imagine a similar scenario with a stranger. Perhaps that grumpy store clerk getting your coffee who had a challenging evening/night or the last customer was a total jerk. I’m sure you can think of a few more examples.
Just something to keep in mind as we encounter those who don’t behave quite the way we think they should. It’s the what-the-heck-is-wrong-with-that-person syndrome.