When predictability is good…and Love wins

I made my husband take me to see “The Lucky One” this weekend.  It’s the new movie with Zac Efron and some girl (what’s her name?) about L-O-V-E!!! Did I mention Zac Efron is in it? Before you go thinking I’m creepy, he is all grown up.  I happened to google him and he is almost 25.  He was born in October of 1987.  Never mind that I graduated high school that year.

Anyway, my husband sat with me in a theater filled with giggling, texting, silly, boy –crazed teenage girls.  I think my husband really loves me.  He must.  Or he must really have wanted the popcorn (and Twizzlers, Goobers, Lemonheads, and Raisinets).  This is not an exaggeration.  I swear the diet has started today.  I’ll be sucking on ice chips all week.   I won’t be going to the movies again for a while because the movies are a “trigger” for me when it comes to candy.  But that’s another blog…

I loved the movie.

There was nothing original or surprising about the plot or the characters really but it was just what I wanted.  That was the whole point!

Sometimes what we want is the thing we already know.

I had an expectation that this movie would be romantic and touching and enjoyable and I would leave the theater feeling uplifted and happy.  (Also maybe a little bloated.) I knew that in the end, love would win!

My expectations were met.  I felt great!

Not many things in life are like that.  Not many things are completely predictable.

Maybe this is why I’m such a fan of routine.  I like to think I’m a “live your life by the seat of your pants gal” but sometimes, I just want to do the predictable thing like go to bed early and read a book.  I like a normal, predictable bedtime routine.  Just like my kids.  I remember being so adamant about keeping to bedtime routines when my kids were little.  I wanted my kids to feel safe, to feel loved, to know they can rely on that book and that kiss and that “tuck in time” every night.  I wanted them to know in their sweet little hearts that some things in the world are predictable and one of those things is their mom and her reliable presence and voice and touch and love.  I knew it was important then and I stick by it to this day.

My 14 year old daughter growls a little and tries to get me out of her room quickly now but I still go in for the good night kiss.  She said she doesn’t need me to come in at night.  I told her that it’s for me now.  I need it.  That’s true for sure but I also remember being a teenager and waiting in bed for my kiss good night.  My dad would come in and “check on me” after he turned off Johnny Carson.  To this day, that theme song gets to me…”Dah, dah, dah, dah, dah”…I was usually drifting into sleep but my heart was waiting for him.  After he would leave I would fall into a deep comfortable sleep.  The kind that only comes after you have been reassured that there are some things you can count on and the world is good and you are safe.  A kiss from Dad can do that.

When I was a teenager and I was out at night, my dad would wait up for me in his recliner.  He would fall asleep but he would never go upstairs to bed without me home.  Even as I got older, he knew the importance of this for him and for me.

Back to the movie…

I can’t stand it when people turn up their noses at movies like “The Lucky One” because they are more into “films”.  (Said in a fake English accent while sipping tea or smoking a pipe.)

Really?

I made my husband go to the movie, “Howard’s End” with me once.  (I know…he should be up for an award.  I don’t mean to brag but he also cooks and is cute too.) He fell asleep.  I was bored.

Why go against who we are?

I like sappy movies.

I can’t stop singing along to One Direction.  “Baby you light up my world like nobody else…”

I watch Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Is there more to me?  Yes.  Do I sometimes like films?  Yes.  Do I sometimes act snooty and talk with a fake English accent?  No.

My point is this.  Find what you like and do it.  Find what brings you joy and then share it.  Kiss your kids, tuck them in every night,  dance in the kitchen, skip.  Whatever you do, don’t try to be so cool that you turn into someone you are not.

Find things in your life that you can count on.  Maybe it’s a husband that will go anywhere with you because he’s good like that.  Maybe it’s a Dad who never missed a good night kiss.  Maybe it’s Nicholas Sparks’ books and movies because you know how they end and love always wins.

Maybe it’s your faith because it makes you feel safe and loved.  I was just thinking this may be why we are so drawn the story of Jesus.  It’s predictable and we know the ending but we return to it again and again because it reminds us that there are some things we can count on and in the end, it’s true… love always wins.

 

©2012 Sue Bidstrup, Great Big Yes™ All Rights Reserved

picture by themovieblog.com