Inception

If you haven't seen "Inception" yet, don't read this post.

It contains spoilers that will ruin the movie if you haven't seen it.

But, if you don't want to see, go ahead and read it.

What do I care?

Just don't get mad at me when you realize it sounds like an awesome movie and you want to watch it, only to have the whole movie ruined by my post.

That being said, here we go...

It doesn't take me long to figure things out. When I watch any of the CSIs, etc., I usually have it all figured out. If' I'm wrong about the motive, I'm right about the suspect, or vice versa.

So, it's no surprise that I had "Inception" figured out about 25 minutes into it. What I had to figure out was all of the levels of dreams they were in. It was a complex movie at times.

Here's what I knew (the vague version):

They needed information planted into someone's subconscious.

In order to do that, they needed to go into their dreams (everyone is asleep and share one dream), and create levels. The levels allow them to go further into the subconscious.

So, we have a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream happening all at once.

Confusing, right?

At times, yes.

But what was so fascinating, for me, was that even though I had this movie figured out so quickly, I still had to figure out the significance of each dream level.

That is not always easy.

So, just how exactly am I going to relate this to my life? (You know I always do!)

In a way, I know the big picture. It's the same for everyone, really. There's a promised end result that is inevitable. We are going to die. But if we accept Christ and obey the Word, we are promised a place in Heaven. If we don't, we go to Hell. It's as simple is as that. The big picture: Living for Christ, obeying the Word, eternal reward.

However...

there is so much more to life than that.

Even though we are living for Him, we still have to go through crap to get there.

Also known as "His blessings in disguise"

We get so caught up in complaining about these trials that we don't realize how they fit into this big picture. Cliche, I know, but hear me out. I know what I'm trying to say here, even though it may take a while.

I went through a dark period (well, a couple of them actually) and I couldn't understand why my life had to be like that, especially when I was a faithful church goer, I prayed, I was thankful...I just didn't understand.

Little did I know, it was just a level. The older I got, the deeper the levels got.

During these times (and even now sometimes) I would get this feeling.

It's like I'm walking around in someone's dream. At any moment they could wake up and I'd be gone forever.

Ever have that feeling?

It's a horrible feeling.

But, it's only a level.

The cool thing about these levels (and those in the movies) is they are all connected.

Let me break it down. For example:

Level One: High school drama, figuring out college plans, growing up

Level Two : You're in college, getting a job, establishing career.

Level Three: You're engaged, getting married, thinking about kids.

Etc. etc. etc.

You get the point.

All of these separate levels are all continuations. They don't really change. You'll always have petty high school drama ("High school never ends, whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh-oh"), you'll never truly know exactly what you want to do with your life, you'll never grow up, you'll always be working on your marriage, you're kids will always be growing up, etc.,

Each level, or milestone is your life.

Your life is the big picture.

Funny how that works, huh?

I wrote a post several months ago about the song "Where Are You Now?"
What an awesome song that is! I still get all kinds of melancholy when I hear it.
But the people that come into your life, even for a moment, make their mark on your life,
whether for the better or the opposite of better.
These people, unbeknownst to them, are not only taking part but impacting your life. Some in greater ways than you immediately recognize.
They're all a part of the different levels of your life.
I think the best part of knowing that all of these people will impact your life in some way,
is that at the same time, you are doing the same thing for them.
Is it for the better? Or the opposite of better?

So, I don't think this post has made any sense at all.
It was much more epic in my mind.
That happens a lot, though.
:)