17th April 2024

That One Thing!

The sequel to City Slickers – “The Legend of Curly’s Gold” – is a 1994 American  Western comedy film directed by Paul Weiland. It stars Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, JON LOVITZ (Big),  and Jack Palance.

Most of those undergoing a mid-life crisis buy a sports car, take up golf or sailing, or decide to completely abandon those things in their lives that they feel are weighing them down or holding them back from doing whatever it is they feel they are missing out on!

In the City Slickers original, Mitch, played by the effervescent Billy Crystal, is a tightly wound business executive who needs to unwind from the stress of life, so he and two similarly down-trodden friends go on a supervised cattle drive across southwestern US!

Being fish out of water and making complete arses out of themselves along their way through the American outback, Mitch builds up an unlikely friendship with Cowboy Ranger, Curly.

In a poignant “buddy movement in the film,” Curly turns to Mitch and says, “Do you know what the secret of life is?”

Mitch: “No, what?”

Curly holds up his index finger and says, “This!”

Mitch: “Your finger?”

Curly goes on to explain that he means that ONE thing matters in life.

Mitch: “That’s great, but what’s the one thing?”

Curly: “That’s what you gotta figure out.”

Thirty years later, I’m STILL trying to figure out what that ONE thing is that is most important and which drives me to the exclusion of all else!

I often think that if Curly had been more specific or had given Mitch some multiple choice options, then maybe I wouldn’t have been disillusioned for three decades!

And hereto lies the issue: there IS no specific answer! Only through reflecting upon our OWN journey can we be uniquely qualified to find an answer as profound as 42!

“How do you know when you’ve found this illusive ONE THING?” you ask!

For most of us who have, even an adequate understanding of our emotions, we can pinpoint a time in our lives when we announced to the world, significant other, parent, friend, colleague, counsellor, or whoever, “This is the best day of my life!”

So, is that our “one thing?”

What about the next time we proclaim to be king of the world? Does this then void the previous “best day,” or do we have to rank the relative experiences according to the best of the best of the best!

Or is “that one thing” a culmination of the individual drivers that motivate us to get out of bed in the morning, besides going to work – unless, of course, you live to work.

The question asked most of people over the age of one hundred is, “What’s the secret to a long life,” to which again, there appears no one answer!

One response might be eating the right food, whilst another, getting plenty of exercise, whereas getting enough sleep and not indulging in bad habits is another recurring theme.

“To each his, or her, or their, or it’s own” seems to be a motif running through the myriad of interviews of the oldest generation, though, I hope it doesn’t take me till the final act to finally come up with a reason for living!

“Bart’s Inner Child” (The Simpsons: Season 5, Episode 7) has different advice to offer us in the form of, “Be like the boy” (as opposed to Granddad’s misheard, “Be like Roy!”)

In this episode, and in a bid to alter his rebellious behaviour, Homer and Marge take Bart to see a self-help guru but it backfires when he suggests using Bart as an example of how everyone should behave!

As much as we live in a world filled with such philosophers, advocating we “do what we feel” (as long as we’re not harming anyone else), perhaps there is a middle ground between purging ourselves of all the evils of the world and jumping back into Pandora’s box, and being like unto Bart!

“Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die” is a combination of two passages of Bible scripture:

– Ecclesiastes 8:15, ‘Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry’, and

– Isaiah 22:13, ‘Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die.’

Given this advice is from the teachings of the “Old” Testament, I wonder WWJD or think of this former “Best day” approach to living a long and happy life!

From a purely ecumenical perspective, I am more than willing to give this Biblical principle a whirl, though it still leaves questions unanswered:

“How much food should we eat?”
“What types of food?”
“Should we still brush our teeth?
“What about fortified wines?”
“Is it Casillero Del Diablo safe to drink?”
“Are we talking going to restaurants or raves here,”

So you see, when it comes to traversing life’s rocky roads and Chateau nerf de paps, there is just too much margin for error to be complacent with sticking to just “one thing!”

Perhaps its pursuit is as illustrious as “Curly’s Gold,” and we just have to hope we recognise it when we happen upon it!

Happy hunting!

Nic

15/4: WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?
“I’m your best friend. What’s more important than that, huh?”
(JARED RUSHTON – Bill -“Big”)

17/4: WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?
“It’s a tough galaxy. If you want to survive, you’ve gotta know … …”