The Equaliser (which I watched recently on another longhaul flight) is not necessarily a film I would recommend – the body count is high, the pre-movie warnings about the propensity of adult themes are accurate, and while Denzel Washington plays his part well, one is left rather morally uneasy at the thought that one bad deed deserves another … even if that second bad deed rids the world of an unsavoury character (or several).
However, the first few seconds of the film grabbed my attention and held it. Before any of the storyline unfolded, before the bodies starting piling up, and before even the characters had graced the screen, the audience was presented with a quote by Mark Twain:
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
Real truth lies within this quote: at the risk of stating the obvious, we do not exist and can achieve nothing if we are not born; moreover, unless and until we realise our direction or purpose in life, we are unlikely to make the most of our time on this planet. When we can see and understand our goal, we are far more likely to pursue it and to achieve it. It stands to reason, therefore, that the day on which this goal becomes clear to us is an important one.
Of course, it is not necessarily easy to pinpoint at which moment – on which day – this realisation occurs. Has it, indeed, already occurred? Are we sure? If we aren’t sure, then did we just miss or overlook it? If we are sure, then how can we tell that that was the real thing? Or is our moment of realisation still to come?
Well, maybe we know what we are meant to do in life … or maybe we don’t. In either case, it does us no harm to keep our eyes open to what life brings us every new day, and to keep checking in with ourselves – and others – that what we think we should be doing during our time on this planet is in fact what we should be doing. We may never know for certain, but if we keep vigilant, every day, then we have a far better chance of working it out.
And then, of course – and how reassuring and empowering this is – each new day becomes one of the most important days of our life. Treasure it.
