priscillamcintire.com

Tonight I watched the new Charlotte’s Web movie with my family.  This story albeit fiction has some great lessons in personal development.  In fact there are too many to write about in just one article, but a few stood out to me that I would like to discuss here. 

This story starts out with “ordinary” everything (the town, the animals, the people, even the barn) and a runt pig.  This pig would have been killed if it wasn’t for the love of Fern an “ordinary” little girl.  Love will save Wilber’s life a second time, as his friends to work together to keep him from being slaughtered.  Love can take make “ordinary” become “extraordinary”.  Love fills us with light, and gives us passion.  It is what makes life worth living.  Without love life becomes just a series of motions with little, if any emotion.

When the whole family is at the fair Fern’s father looks at her and says “Don’t think I have forgotten.  We are all her because of one determined little girl who made a promise to a pig.”  Through determination we can beat the odds.  When we are determined we are more aware of opportunities.  We are persistent.  We become more assertive, sometimes even aggressive.  When we are determined we do not procrastinate.  We take action.
 
When Wilber was concerned about being cooked for Christmas dinner he asks Charlotte “Should I be worried?”  And she responds “Of course not!  What good would that do?”  Worry is worthless.  It can do no good.  In fact it can actually harm us causing wasted time and high stress levels.  If we worry too much it can lead to serious health problems: high blood pressure, fatigue, migraines, even heart attacks.

There is a lesson on persistence at the end of the movie.  When the other pig at the fair wins first prize, everyone thought they had failed.  Then a boy sees another word written in the spiders web causing the towns people to crowd around.  Success often comes just past the point of failure.  I will write more about this in a future article.

Our subconscious mind can be a powerful tool when used in connection with creative imagination.  I will also write more on this in a future article, but for now I’d like to explain briefly.  You can ask yourself a question, then concentrate and wait for the answer to come from your subconscious mind.  I don’t know if the author was intentionally referring to this but, she hit’s it right on the nose when she says “It’s like a web.  You make it, you wait, and something always comes.” 

Charlotte sadly dies at the end of this movie, but she had touched the lives of her friends.  They were kinder, friendlier, and more caring.  They show this as they take turns caring for Charlotte’s egg sack, and by keeping each other warm through the winter.  Even Templeton the “hardest of hearts” shared in these jesters. 

These lessons may come from a fictional movie, yet they could just as easily come out of real life.  None of the ideas mentioned here (besides the personification of animals) is beyond what could happen in reality.