“I am a good person”, Vis-à-vis “I am not good enough.”
The ultimate battle of emotions! Animation movie, “Inside out 2”
“You went to see an animation movie in theatre?! How silly of you!”
Well! Silly or not, the movie “Inside out” was nothing less than a masterclass for me on how to tackle emotional personas. Things I learned from this mind-blowing movie:
1. Anxiety is not always bad. It can sometimes help you be better or prep for things which seem big in your head. If handled properly, it can enable your transition from good to perfection. Riley was anxious regarding not being able to perform well in the Ice hockey game, this fear of hers acted as a catalyst and encouraged her to practice really hard in the wee hours of the morning and finally become a force to reckon with during the game.
2. If not reigned in properly, anxiety has the capacity to get more lethal than heart disease probably. We might end up destroying things that are going good in our lives if we unnecessarily worry or overthink. As shown in the movie when Riley lies sleepless at night ruminating over imaginative negative outcomes of the match.
3. Every emotion is integral in giving foundation and shape to our lives. The much-demonized sadness can act as a prism at times and help us view things from a different lens altogether. Perspective matters.
4. The desire to fit in with your peer group may rob you off your individuality or uniqueness in life. Riley gets her hair colored to match with her peers in the game, to increase her sense of belongingness. She loses touch not just with her old friends in the process but also with reality, only to regain everything at the end, after she manages to win her sense of self. Sometimes in life too, things seem too convoluted to tackle or out of our zone of influence. But what is well within our control is how we react to the situation. Embrace every emotion, every ambiguity, every hurdle on the path. Because that’s what adds layers or flavors to our individuality.
Moral of the story:
Never be afraid to be different.
All your emotions [Joy, sadness, anger, anxiety, envy, disgust, boredom etc] contribute to your overall personality. Removing one or the other may disturb the balance of your persona and you might end up losing your sense of self. No single emotion in isolation is good or bad. It’s the judicious mix of it, that make you stand out and be UNIQUE in this mundane world which forces you at times to conform, to blend in, to lose your individuality. No wonder, the great Steve Jobs proclaimed once upon a time, “Dare to be different”
So go ahead and watch, “Inside out 2”, not just for the child in you but for the adult as well!
