This is not like any regular movie, this is an exceptional film for one particular reason, it is based on reality. If you haven’t watched it yet, I urge you to do so because it captures the life and story of Stephen Hawking and all the challenges he had to overcome, only to share his theories with the masses. Hawking was a brilliant man, pure genius, and you can undoubtedly learn a lot of things from him.

Disclaimer: I have to note that these are my opinions, that I took from the movie, but I advise you to watch it yourself, maybe you will feel differently or pick up on something I missed.

Perspective

Life is not and will never be easy, you will always have to fight for what you desire, regardless of what that is, you will always have to struggle but, it is nevertheless still beautiful. Life was not easy for Stephen Hawking either, he had to struggle with things most people don’t even think of, he had to figure out how to communicate and how to live first, before taking on the world.

But, even so, even if he was diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age of 21, with all the issues he had to face, his life was still good, not because he was famous but because he made it good because he had a healthy perspective on life. Hawking understood one thing, the fact that he’s the one in control, that he’s the one who decides how good and how bad his life is since, often, the problem is not quite the problem but, your reaction concerning the problem.

If you let yourself in the hands of chance, circumstances, you will live a reactive life. If something even remotely bad happens to you, your mood will change, you will react negatively to the situation, and that way you are not in control of your life anymore. If you live a reactive life then, you can’t be the one to decide how good and how bad your life is, you don’t get to make that choice; thus, you have to change everything, you have to take the control back.

Doing so is not easy because you were conditioned since your birth into living reactively but, by being aware of your surroundings and taking conscious decisions each time something good or bad happens to you, is the best way to free yourself from living reactively. It takes time because you have to train yourself into being aware at all times but, the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it.

If you take control over your reactions and you’re shifting your whole perspective on life, you will be able to easily decide the quality of your life because then it will mostly be dependent on you and not your environment. And, the truth is that your life is way better than you think; yeah, you might not have some things you think you need but, you’re still doing great. Next time you think your life is bad, just try to think how bad the person that’s ranked 7th billion in the world has it.

Passion

Hawking surely didn’t have an easy life but, against all disadvantages he had to face, he still managed to be a huge success and a big part of that could very well be attributed to the fact that he was highly passionate about what he was doing. His condition was ruthless, and even if most would not just give up on their work but maybe even give up on hope and life in general in a similar situation, he never did so, he never stopped from pursuing his ideal.

Even if Hawking was a brilliant man, he wasn’t making that much money in the beginning but, that didn’t stop him since money never played a significant factor into his work; he kept on doing what he was doing because he was passionate about this world, about knowledge in general.

Your circumstances might not be the best, nor your financial situation but, if you are genuinely passionate about something you can never give up on it. You might never get to a point where you’ll be able to make money from your passion, nothing is certain but, it is nevertheless a goal worth pursuing. If there’s even the slightest possibility that your passion will free you, then you have to follow it because in the worst case scenario, you’re still doing what you love, even if you’re doing it for free.

Curiosity

One of Hawking’s main traits was curiosity, he was always eager to learn more about the world that surrounds him, more about himself, and that can be very well reflected into the kind of work he picked. He spent hours contemplating about the world around us mostly because he was genuinely curious.

“I am just a child who has never grown up. I still keep asking these ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions. Occasionally, I find an answer.”

This is one fundamental lesson anybody can take from him, especially in our society where most people act as if they know the answers to everything when, in fact, we’re all living in complete uncertainty. You will probably never find all the answers you’re looking for, only because this world is way too vast but, you might just find the answers you need to live a satisfying life so stay curious at all times and never stop from learning because you can take a lesson from anything and anybody.

Lessons Learned

Even if Hawking’s condition didn’t allow him to have a life most of us would consider normal, he still managed to enjoy his life as much as possible and be satisfied with it. His empowering perspective allowed him to overcome his disadvantages, stay curious and pursue his passion as much as possible while inspiring a whole world.

You might not be passionate about the same things as he was but, if you keep a healthy perspective on the world, a constant state of curiosity and you never give up on what you like doing, your chances of getting to where you want to get multiply exponentially. And, these are the lessons I have learned from this movie and more importantly from Stephen Hawking.

Make sure to suggest below, in the comment section, what movie you would like to see featured in this series since I’m building a list.

Authored by @GuyFawkes4-20