The movie “Fight Club” is not for everyone but there are a few scenes that are extremely memorable for me. Probably the most memorable and applicable is the scene with Raymond K. Hessel, the unfortunate store clerk who meets Tyler Durden. With a gun to his head, Raymond is forced to give an accurate representation of his life. He lives in a small basement apartment and works a meaningless job after dropping out of Community College. During his time in college, he had mainly studied biology in order to become a veterinarian. In that moment, he is given a gun to the head choice. Tyler Durden tells him that in six weeks he’d better have taken steps toward being a veterinarian or he’ll be dead. Then Raymond is told to run home.
The gun to the head choice is an easy one because there are only two options something or nothing. Although completely fictional, I’m pretty sure that (if real) Raymond would have started on the road to being a veterinarian. People find resources that they never knew they had when put face to face with their mortality. In our daily lives, it is easy to distract ourselves from the fact that we are not moving forward only perpetuating our present level of existence.
So with the gun to your head, what is the thing that you’re not doing that you really need to be? Are you twenty pounds over weight? Are you suffering through a bad relationship because you’re afraid to be alone? Are you stuck in a job that you hate but see no way out? Gun to your head moment, feel the barrel against the back of your head, better or nothing, what is your plan to get there? What you’ll most likely find is that all of the limitations holding you back are create by you. You’ve gotten comfortable with being fat, lazy, angry and tired. Your life doesn’t depend doing it, so it’s easier to stay the same. Don’t kid yourself, you are dying right now. SLOWLY. But when you think hard about the possibilities that you’ve not taken hold of, doesn’t it feel like life is slipping away faster than it would if you were on track?
So who is going to put the gun to your head? No one but you. Your friends, family and coworkers will never pressure you to be much more than you already are. Only you know that thing inside that needs to be drawn out with that gun to head choice. Better or nothing? It’s time to choose! Go be a veterinarian!
Huryk Unlimited 