Thats Entertainment!

This past Sunday was full of Entertainment and Thought! Entertainment and completely Entertaining as well. I was planning on going to see the new movie “American Sniper” as I had heard the ratings were great and it would be a cool afternoon choice for a slow Sunday. I had a relaxed start to the day and worked out before getting ready to go and then looked up movie times that were available. 

After checking “fandango” I realized that I had a few hours before the movie was going to be playing so I decided to watch a documentary on apple TV at home before leaving. I often check out new documentaries to look for a way to relax watching tv and grow my thoughts at the same time ( better than law and order ;-0). The one I chose Sunday created some really enjoyable thought processes about the ability to live on one dollar a day.  In fact the actual title of the film was “Living on One Dollar”. It was a film created by two guys who were sophomores in college and economic majors. In studying the worlds economy they were both bewildered to realize that a large portion of the planets population lived on one dollar a day. In fact over 1/ 7th of people living on this planet, that is over 1 billion, live on this amount of money or less. 

This was intriguing to me on several levels; travel, different cultures, personal perspective on money, willingness to recognize the fate of others, just to name a few! 

My own perspective on money, I was just sharing with a friend recently, I have been very fortunate in both opportunities and in ability to create my own comfort from those opportunities. It still amazes me that no matter how much comfort we may have or create for ourselves we often still see whats missing. In my last blog post I advocated for everyone to build their goals from their appreciations but it is the battle with “whats missing" that we must often overcome. I would say that this is probably what interested me in the title of this film to begin with. As I often look around at my home, my cars, my investments it is often a challenge to remember what I do have instead of slipping into “what I don’t have". The biggest conflict I have found with a negative focus (glass is half full) is that it prevents me from being free enough to make the next “Best” choice. Every day in life we are presented with opportunities to build our values and ethics and our decisions are often based upon what we think will be best for each of us personally. 

What do I think I should be doing with my life?

What choices will help me reach my goals faster?

What direction is the best one for my needs?

I think it depends upon your chosen goals, needs and values. If I have found my mind often slipping to whats missing then I find my values being focused in that same negative direction which influences my ethics/values of choice. For example NEED creates a chosen plan to correct your needs. The decisions to get to that chosen destination which fulfills need may sometimes go against your internal compass and then we get exhausted from our “CHOSEN” conflict. If I truly understand what I appreciate in my life then I can choose goals based upon my chosen values and from those thoughts the goals I work toward bring more energy in order to complete them. 

Real life example; I work in healthcare and a friend of mine, who is a very successful Doctor of Chiropractic, recently told me he has only ever met two types of Doctors. Those who make their decisions for goals based upon giving greater care to their patients which they get paid for and those who make their decisions on how to get paid based on giving care to their patients. Every person must make their choices on their values but often choosing the result of the work as the focus on money will be a great source of conflict. We all need cash-flow to live and give to those we care for but to focus our energy on the cash first will likely always allow our minds to see whats missing as opposed to what exists. 

If 2+2 = 4…

Then our desire to see the sum of the equation (4) become larger is simply based upon changing the equation. Money is now and has always been the sum of the equation and it is what we do with our energy and life that creates it. My goal is to understand my values in such way that I set goals around them and build an income attached to what I truly love doing.

The impressive things I found in this movie were many but one of them was how I awesome I felt for sophomores in college who were chasing their interest freely and taking this chance!

So back to the story line of “Living on one Dollar”…..

These two young sophomores decide to cruise to Guatemala and bring along two of their buddies to film a documentary on people living in poverty. The two originators, Zach and Chris, both spoke spanish which was close to the dialect of the local community they were in. The two other guys ran the cameras and helped in the creation of the documentary. One of the things they realized after they landed in this remote village was that many of the people who live there were day laborers and not always sure of their daily incomes to provide for themselves. The students decide to live as close to the reality of the local community as possible. They found shelter that was a very impoverished house and they decided to only bring enough money with them to live on one dollar per person for each day. 

They were doing this film during their summer break and had made arrangements to live in the village for 2 months. Since there were four of them for about 60 days, they brought approximately $240 in total. They then wrote out numbers to represent dollars indicating zero through nine on little pieces of paper and put them all in a hat. At the beginning of each day they would pull out a number and whatever number they pulled it would represent the amount of money they had to live on for that day. It was very similar to the way the people of the local community had to live, not knowing whether they would be able to work and make money on a specific day or just have to go without. There were some days where they felt that they were almost living as royalty when they pulled out a nine but there were many day’s when they pulled out a zero or a one and they were not sure how to get by on such  small amount for all four people. 

They eventually learned that they could buy enough rice and beans to create about 3200 calories in food that the four of them would be able to share each day. Imagine sophomores in college approximately 20 years old each surviving on about 800 cal per person. It was not long until one of them was very sick and had been infected with some parasites from the poor nutrition. He went to the local doctor and found out that he needed to take some drugs to kill the parasites but the cost of those drugs was about $25 which he did not have in their budget. In preparation for the trip they had created a safety kit which included some antibiotics in case they got into just this situation but the realization of what people have to do when faced with these types of choices was a huge impact on all four of the boys. 

One of the things they soon learned from the local villagers was that in order to increase their income they needed to grow something they could “trade” with others in the community. They started growing a crop of radishes that when the crop came in would be an additional source of economic buying power. They also soon learned that they needed to create refried beans by buying lard and frying their meals each day. This additional source of fat, which cost only 30cents, was enough to almost double their caloric intake per day. As the film went on in each situation it created great compassion inside each of the boys documenting and in me as a member of the audience also.  

I found it amazing to watch the way that the people of the village supported each other and worked together as one group to overcome the obstacles they found in their daily lives. I thought it was eye-opening to see the way that each member of the village worked to help the other members reach their personal respective goals and take care of their individual needs by sharing.

I wondered what their goal list would look like if they were building it right now? I guess my take away from watching this film was to understand how much I have been given and how often I become insulated from the real challenges that exist. I have a friend who is currently on a mission trip in Africa where he is faced with some of these same thoughts in what he is experiencing. Building my own goals and using my talents to make change in my life depends first on what I value and how I respect those values within my choices.

These boys chose to spend their summer break searching out something that was valued within them. They did not go spend the summer at the lake, partying etc.. but instead decided to be “abnormal” and chase a value they saw and recognized. At that age in life to have this type of experience makes me excited for them! Where do they get to go with starting their impact from being free to value others and valuing their ability to help make change with what they see. Economics majors? I would say they have made great choices to become majors in life and a brighter future as a result. I am not sure where they will end up but I read up on them after the film and saw that they have now traveled the world showing their independent film and bringing awareness to the rural life in Gautemala. Their life’s choices are being based upon their values to give and create and their second film is coming out soon about a refugee camp in Afghanistan. I am certain that the sum of their equation in life will be just fine because they focused on the right things first. Valuing their internal compass.

I encourage you to take a few moments and Google this film, sit down and watch it for an hour and expand your own awareness. Choosing our values, choosing how to use our lives and learning to become what we are destined to become is based upon each of us as individuals and not a picture of “success” sold by someone else. I will not say there is a right or wrong in anyone else’s choices I just know there is right and wrong inside my own choices. I think we are all smart enough if we are trying to learn and listen to recognize the voice inside of us that helps decide our values and appreciations.

Cool film that created some cool thoughts that made me a little more conscious today. I hope that me taking a few minutes to share it does the same for you. Know your values, choose your direction and create your impact from appreciation. The sum of the equation will take care of itself if you do those three things well!

My American Sniper thoughts on a different day but great reflection on living life as well. 

Enjoy the Search,

Brian Dugger