During the recent holiday season, movie theaters around the world were packed with the much anticipated release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” For the first time in history, this science fiction epic grossed $1 billion in just 12 days. That global milestone makes the newest installment of “Star Wars” the fastest movie ever to reach this achievement.
Although this movie has captured the eyes of both old and new Star Wars fans, there was, however, another movie that has also created some recent buzz and excitement. For those wanting to get a better grip on why self-esteem is so essential to living a better life, the American biographical “Joy”, starring Jennifer Lawrence is an absolute must-see film.
In this gripping portrayal of a young mother struggling to survive financially and support her family, Joy Mangano, as played by Lawrence, personifies the necessary ingredients to beat a system that does not want her to succeed. Through the trials of betrayal, disappointment, lies, loss, deceit, and fraud, Joy desperately clings on to her “belief building” memoirs with her grandmother. Throughout her life Grandma “Mimi” had always seen something special, letting Joy know that she was unique, creative, different, and that one day, those characteristics would pay off.
Taking Grandma Mimi’s words to heart, Joy decides to design, patent, and market a new innovative mop, the “Miracle Mop.” Throughout the movie, Joy is skeptically persuaded by her father, stepmother, friends, and sister that her business idea to sell this mop is a flop. Family members plead, pull, and beg that she file for bankruptcy on her $500,000 debt. Joy defiantly opted out of getting suckered into this treacherous trap. Instead, Joy held on, just barely, to her grandmother’s distant, silent, yet so powerful words of who her inner core really was.
The movie’s high moment occurred with Joy, being broke and uncertain of her future, courageously confronted a cunning investor. In a small hotel room in Dallas, Joy has a good old fashion Texas show-down with this unruly character. Watching the scene, Joy does not wince…at all. Her self-esteem is strong. It is powerful. It is potent. She was not going to back down. She was not going to take on an inferior role. And she certainly was not going to allow some big Texas bully rancher shove her into a financial hole she did not create.
The end result was Joy winning that battle. More importantly, though, Joy went on to use that courageous experience to build a financial empire on QVC and Home Shopping Network.
For those who read “Escape,” this movie will complement nicely what I write about in my chapter about developing great self-esteem. Self-esteem is not “fluff”. It is tough. It is resilient. It is tenacious. Your aim in building self-esteem should be to never allow circumstances to define who you are. Challenge yourself daily to live the life of how want to be in the future. Take whatever circumstance you are in and purposefully transform it to develop an inner core of self-respect. Then over time, watch the magic happen as you go through those same exact moments Joy experienced.
