What I Learned from "Monsters, Inc."

Despite the ribbing of my friends, I went to see the new Disney film, "Monsters, Inc.," this weekend. It's the movie about the monsters who scare children at night. Surprisingly, the monsters are just as afraid of the children as the children are afraid of them. Havoc ensues when a "poisonous" child, Boo, wanders into the monster world through an open closet.

I expected to laugh. I expected to get my $5.50 worth. I expected an enjoyable Saturday afte
oon. I did not, however, expect to learn anything. But I did. In between enjoying the repartee of John Goodman's top screamer Sully and Billy Crystal's Scream Assistant Mike, I came away with a smile and also a couple of life lessons:

1. When you face your fear, you realize that nothing was there to be afraid of in the first place.

Some folks might say that the turning point of the movie was when Sully realized that by scaring children he was actually harming someone. I say it was when the little girl, Boo, gathered enough courage to take on her own scary monster. She literally beat the day lights out of him and smiled afterward.

People talk a lot about fear. About how you just have to stand up to it. The little girl, Boo, didn't have the strength to overcome her fear until Sully, her newfound friend, was in danger. Sometimes that's what it takes. Once you see that fear is about to take something away that you love - your dream or your chance with that special someone - you'll beat it up. And when you do, you'll discover that it was nothing after all.

2. Focus on the good stuff.

The character Mike loves the limelight. He stops just to watch a commercial that he's "featured" in. Problem is, is that he's only featured for one second while Sully gets a full close-up. The "Monsters, Inc." logo even covers Mike's face at the end of the commercial. Does Mike notice this? No. As soon as he possibly can, he's telling everyone about how he's a star.

The skit is funny because so many people (including me) would have been mad or at least jealous. His best friend is getting all that face time and he's only a blip. Mike doesn't see it that way, though. Mike's just happy to be there. Something to remember. Sometimes we need to look at what we have and just be happy to be here.

3. Laugher works better than screams.

The reason the monsters must make children scream is because the scream energy fuels their city. How many of us are fueling ourselves with screams, negativity? Instead of saying how much you hate a job, why not look forward to getting your new job? Instead of thinking about how out of shape you are, why not think of how you're gaining energy each time you go to the gym? Consider focusing on what you do want instead of what you don't want.

It also comments on the effectiveness of fear, scare tactics and threats. In the end, negative energy did not save the city. Laughter (with ten times the power of screams) did.

So now I can go back and tell my friends what I learned at my kiddie movie. And I don't even care if they rib me about it. nnn