Hug your Doubts FEARLESSLY

I watched the film “Fearless” starring Jeff Bridges (playing Max) and Rosie Perez (as Carla), years ago, but despite its running time, it stayed in my memory for all these years. Max and Carla survive a plane crash, which obviously changed their lives forever and linked them with a strong friendship. Unfortunately, Carla lost her little child in that catastrophic event, and she is unable to find peace. She blames herself, as she was holding her child on her lap at the moment of impact and her baby slipped from her tight grip… she survived – her child didn’t. Carla can’t forgive herself and she is convinced it’s her fault. Max, at the same time, comes out from the accident stronger, with the unshakable belief that he is almost immortal and can do anything, achieve anything. He tries to help but is unable to convince her that she couldn’t control every event in her life and there are always circumstance which are beyond our comprehension and influence, which cause unfortunate events for occur.

The plot of Max and Carla ‘s friendship leads them to a dramatic, but very liberating moment, when Max finally manages to prove to Carla that she couldn’t save her child. He puts her through a strange experiment in an industrial suburb. He takes Carla to his car, asks her to sit in the back seat with fastened belt, and gives her a big toolbox to hold tight on her lap. He speeds up his car to almost 80 km/h and hits a brick wall …the impact force means Carla can’t hold onto the toolbox and it’s thrown through the front window with huge force. Carla finally understands that the death of her child wasn’t her fault. This story shows how we can be trapped by our imagination, vision, memory. Most of the time we don’t remember details of dramatic events. The mind likes to create an alternative “reality” which is as convincing as actuality. Thanks to Max, Carla had a chance to come closer to the events which took place on that fatal day.

If there is an event from your life which keeps you anxious, and nothing brings relief, I suggest the same game. What if you invite Max to the dispute over this event with you. Let him sit with you and call into question everything you claim as a fact. Let him question everything that you think and remember about that tough event. I bet doubts about details what really happened and what your direct interpretation is, will appear quickly.

Watch that film, that might make it easier for you to imagine Max’s conversation with you ;)

Redeem yourself, accept that you don’t know everything, you don’t remember everything well and misinterpret that what’s going on around you especially under high stress. You don’t control your life 100% and thank goodness for that!