I love movies. My movie watching tastes ranges from “Scarface,” “The Incredibles,” and “Primal Fear,” to “Avatar,” “The Notebook,”, “Ghost” and “Money Talks”.  When my guys are involved (yes, I’m the only girl in our brood), Bruce Lee (martial arts anything), “Need for Speed” (car anything), sci-fi and comedy take over. There was a time when we went to the movies pretty much every weekend while raising the boys.

When they were young while living in New Jersey, I loved going to the movies so much I would take them with a foot or two of snow on the ground, or in a state of emergency. This may shock my southern family, but for my northern contingent, we know things rarely shut down, if ever, in a few feet of mother nature’s fluffy white awesomeness. Today, with all the home amenities of technology, comfort, and streaming options like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and Turner Classic Movies (talk about love), movies tend to be more of an inside thing with natural popcorn, real melted butter, and other snacks not sold to the public in theaters.

There are a lot of movie titles on my “favorite” list. However, I have yet to see one that takes the top spot of my all-time favorite, “The Godfather.” Yes, I am a mafia maniac. I will watch the original and “The Godfather Part II” over, and over, and over, again to nauseam. Now, you can have “The Godfather Part III,” but there’s a line in there that’s profound to me. The quote comes when Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino), tries to change his ways and attempts to legitimize his businesses to leave the mafia – something he never actually wanted to be part of anyway.

At a pivotal point in the movie, he’s in his kitchen talking to his family and some business associates, when he realizes that even with all of the good he’s done and efforts he’s made to legitimize his business, the people around him don’t agree with his change of heart and will not let him leave the mafia. Upon this realization, he utters quietly, grits his teeth and bears down from his gut clenching his fists and says, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”

There will be times in your journey to becoming the best version of yourself that you too, will experience this gut-wrenching realization. As you attempt to shed old behaviors, make adjustments to your character, try living true to your values, and live your life to its fullest potential that other people and you (through self-doubt, negative self-talk and old habits) will “pull you back in.”

“They” will tell you why you can’t change, why it won’t work, where you belong, what you used to do, what you still do, and why it’s easier to just stay where you are. Don’t fret! These are normal obstacles on any journey to self-improvement. The road less traveled is always the hardest. To see your way through these tough times, and they will be tough, you have to do a few things:

  1. Keep your vision in mind. Write it down and tape it somewhere you can look at it every day
  2. Know what it is that you want for your life. See that vision and keep the passion for it burning inside. Remind yourself each day how bad you want it
  3. Forgive yourself for the missteps you will make along the way and tap into your faith to ask for forgiveness. Mistakes will never go away because we’re human beings after all. No one is perfect. Keep your eyes on the prize. These are your goals. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else, and focus on realizing the change you are seeking in your life

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