Karen and Jay celebrate the spirit of community and share thoughts from the Lakeport Opera House immediately following the exciting ‘kick off’ event to the NH Pumpkin Festival in Laconia.

Home is where the heart is. Where we grow up, the people we know, the community that surrounds us – these are such critical aspects in shaping who we are, who we become, and what we think to be important. In fact, we have a foundational set of relationships and beliefs that we develop at an early age that helps set our priorities, form our loyalties, and establish connections that last a lifetime. Interestingly, we often find ourselves pulled in directions that support our inner values, helping those around us in our communities – and doing so in a way that on the surface, we would appear to be placing the priorities of others ahead of our own. This is where the story of ‘Bedford Falls’ comes in.

I’ve said it before in the Sunshine Report, and I’ll gladly say it again, but one of my favorite movies is the film, It’s a Wonderful Life. Often considered one of the greatest works of American cinema during the 20th century, it’s a wonderful piece of filmmaking that highlights the importance of doing right by others, no matter the circumstances and even when we think we’re not making a positive impact. Though it’s typically thought of as a movie for the holidays, I actually think its message holds true no matter the time of year.

If you haven’t seen the film, just a ‘heads up,’ there may be a spoiler or two ahead. The protagonist in the film, George Bailey, played by the famed Jimmy Stewart, is a businessman from Bedford Falls, NY who continues to take care of others at the expense of his own grand ambitions, so much so he wishes he had never existed and contemplates taking his own life. Yet a divine spirit intervenes and shows George how terrible life would be for so many in Bedford Falls had George not been there to take care of them, including his own family. Shocked and grateful for all that he has in his life after this divine intervention, he returns to Bedford Falls, thankful for all he has.

If you’re an avid reader of the Sunshine Report, you can probably guess why I love this kind of story. While it may be a Hollywood movie with a bit of a Hollywood ending, the underlying theme in It’s a Wonderful Life has a lot to teach us about our own lives and the power of gratitude, taking time to appreciate what is we have, not what we don’t have. As we see in the film, George gets so caught up thinking about what he doesn’t have or feel he hasn’t achieved, he forgets that much of what makes life so wonderful was always right in front of him. Not to mention the incredibly positive impact his sacrifices made in the lives of others!

Oftentimes when we act to serve others or our community, the benefits may go completely unseen to us. Or, when life gets in the way of our ambitions, it’s easy for us to become discouraged, as George did. The unpredictability of life is such that most of what we plan will never be linear, there will in fact always be deviations or setbacks. What’s important is that in these moments, perhaps when we may be feeling a bit like George Bailey, we take a moment for gratitude, take count of our blessings for what he have rather than what we don't. When we make this a regular practice, especially through the most difficult moments, it’s possible to see that this is in fact a wonderful life.

Celebrating the ‘General Store’

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