Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Thrills, Spills and Other Adventures


"There is no terror in the bang - only in the anticipation of it"... Alfred Hitchcock

I really enjoy a good thriller - not so much the bloody horror stuff, but the real thriller...
Double Jeopardy
Kiss the Girls
Along Came a Spider
Red Eye
The Forgotten
Seven
Rear Window
Psycho
The Prestige
Fracture
The Departed
The Green Mile
Sixth Sense
The Village
Unbreakable
Fight Club
The Matrix
X-Men
Secret Window
The Game
Presumed Innocent
Needful Things
Body Double
Don't Say a Word
Hide and Seek
Sleeping With the Enemy
Enough
Twisted
Collateral
Flight Plan
Taking Lives
Richchet
The Recruit
The Hunted
The Hitcher (ok, almost over the top on that one)...

and so many more....

I love the intensity and the not knowing.... the twistier the better - not so much scenes like the one in Man On Fire where Denzel Washington cuts off the guys fingers or where he blows the other guy up - it was the suspense and shock leading up... I love movies that keep you on the edge of your seat - sure I am exhausted afterwards, but it is a real adrenaline rush, and the feeling of being so alive and so on edge and completely alert and attentive...

and it got me to thinking...

Just as much as I enjoy those thrills and shocks, I find that in my life, the fears and worries are much more damaging and exhausting than the actual events and outcomes. Same with anticipation of wanting and waiting to see an outcome... once it arrives, the suspense is gone. I enjoy the adventure of it more than the desitination, but I also feel the compressing, life-sapping exhaustion of the worries and fears sometimes, too....
How can I maximize my enjoyment of the adventure and the positive energy of that side of life, and minimize my worry of the negative things that I have worried about... What a difference it could make to focus and harness the positive energy and not give time, thought or effort to the negative. Sometimes hard to do in our current circumstances, but hey, I am gonna give it a run for the money...

Journeying on, and launching into my next adventure, and loving it!

J/

14 comments:

gerbmom said...

I don't know Jeff, but I have been giving this a lot of thought also. I have challenged myself this school year to be in the moment. Live in the present. Not be wallowing in the past, or wishing my life away in anticipation of the future, but in enjoying every moment of every day. Today has enough worries of it's own,I don't need to add "what if's" to it either. I'm practicing being a Rhino - as Erwin Raphael McManus shares in The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within
Be a rhino? Huh?! Rhino's can run at 30 mph. That's actually faster than a squirrel can run. BUT, a rhino can only see thirty feet in front of them. Imagine something as large as a Rhino running full tilt ahead with no idea what is 31 feet ahead of them. Full steam ahead with NO apprehension. Totally in the moment. Whatever is 31 feet ahead better look out! I don't know the future-I can only see so far. But I need to stop worrying about what I do not know, and stop asking "what if" and be content in this day because of where I am and what I know now. God can take care of the apprehension, stress - my worrying won't change a thing. And God can make me patient in my anticipation of big things so I don't wish my life away. And when God says go, I'll say how fast? And if I crash (that's what a herd of rhinos are called - for good reason apparently) so be it. I don't have to know. Or worry, or anticipate. God knows. Be IN the moment!

OK - obviously, I don't have this all figured out. But it's a goal. And it doesn't mean I never plan anything. But it's a start. Let me know if you have any helpful thoughts and ideas!

Karen

you da mom! said...

what i can't stand is all the classic horror/thriller movies being remade! ugh! next is invasion of the bodysnatchers. why mess with a good thing? the remakes almost always SUCK!

GoteeMan said...

Karen -

Thanks for the thoughts and transparency... I have that book, too, by McManus, and enjoyed it...

One of my other favorites is Wild at Heart by John Eldredge...

Now, I am on to Love Poems From God, translated by Daniel Ladinsky... purely incredible and awesome.

Anyway, Rhino's unite!
God bless -
Jeff

GoteeMan said...

You da mom -

yeap, most of em suck... although a few, like The Fugitive are wonderful.

Thanks for stoppin' by...
and you are always welcome here...

Jeff

Babz Rawls Ivy said...

I love a good thriller, but not with all the visula gore and violence. I love the psychological thrillers where you have to think your way through--like Silence of the Lambs or any Hitchcock film. My exception would be any James Bond--I love them all, and all the Indiana Jones flicks. Now about worrying--it give you nothing, it only saps your energy and ages you. Learn to quiet your mind---yoga meditation, prayer. I am learning to be still and let God do God's handiwork. Learn to be still.

Babz Rawls Ivy said...

Hey Goateeman,
Tagged your it! I think your interesting and I hope you visit my site for the rules for the MEME--7 interesting and quirky facts about you!
www.lovebabz.blogspot.com

Kim from Kansas said...

As I am reading your blog I'm watching "North by Northwest" and just watched "Rear Window" this week.

--Hopefully with more practice, I'll be better about the "not worrying" in 10 years.

? said...

I love a good thriller!

Fear and anticipation wear me out too, Goteeman. But I've been trying to live one day at a time lately. It's easier said than done, but it's certainly possible.

GoteeMan said...

Lovebabz -
Thanks for dropping in.

Kim -
Those are two of my all-time favorites. I'm with ya - I find myself worrying less and appreciating more year after year.

Heidi -
yep, I do believe it's possible, and you have the right approach - day by day - maybe even second by second!

J/.

little things said...

Hi Goteeman, thanks for dropping in at my blog and causing me to drop in over here!
I've recently been told that I am addicted to intensity.
I will say no more about it, but challenge you to consider what 'addicted to intensity' might mean to you.
I find it endlessly fascinating.
And oh, how I love a good thriller too, as long as we're not talking serial killers.
:)

ADW said...

Do you like James Patterson? He wrote the books that some of those movies were based on and the books are wayyyyy better.

GoteeMan said...

It's the Little Things -
Thanks for dropping in. Welcome anytime. Yeah, not much on serial killers myself (except I kinda want to see Hannibal, just to see what it's like...probably pretty sickening, though)...

ADW -
Yep, LOVE James Patterson & Robert Ludlum - 2 of my favorite authors...

Jeff

dudette77 said...

I'm not much for gory movies either, but the 'stay-on-the-edge-of-your-seat' types are good ones!

As for life's adventures, thanks for being there this week for one of ours...I couldn't have changed that tire on my own! BLESS YOU for bailing me out!!! The spare made it through the day, and Dave is getting the tires replaced tomorrow.
Thanks!!!!!

GoteeMan said...

Margy -

You are very welcome!

J