What’s Your Big Year Challenge?

Two weeks ago, my husband and I marveled at all the new birds we’d seen in our yard.  Subsequently, I mentioned that there was a movie about birding that we should watch for fun (not the one by Hitchcock). 

Then, last week, by some magic, we noticed the movie playing on HBO, just as it started.  Love when that happens!

The movie is called, The Big Year, and ironically, it’s not about 2020. Or is it?  You decide by the end of this blog….

What’s a Big Year?

This movie is based on a true story, written as a comedy, about 3 men, in different stages of their lives, careers, and aspirations, all doing a big year: an honor-based challenge contest on who sees the most type of birds within one calendar year. 

In it, through the hilarious shenanigans of actors Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black, we learn that a big year requires incredible dedication and intimate knowledge of birds in every way. (Aside:   my favorite scene is about the eagles “falling” in love).

Despite seeing lots and lots of birds in breathtaking scenery, by the end of the movie, we realize it’s a tale about coming of age (no matter what the age), understanding priorities, and appreciating life.

In a way, it speaks to where all of us are today, in 2020.

Inevitably through this experience, we’ve come of age and learned about ourselves, understood our priorities, wrestled with our mortality, and in doing so, appreciated life.

But it’s also a movie about a self-challenge. 

You could argue, “Isn’t that what all of 2020 has already been?” Indeed, globally, we’ve been fighting a pandemic and to say that it’s been challenging, is an understatement.

By living the 2020 movie, we have learned new skills.  But if we could aim higher, couldn’t we take on a personal big year challenge?

Surely, there is something you’ve been wanting to do, wanting to try, or looking to expand in some way?  Six months ago, in my blog, I wrote that due to the cool factor that 2020 offers, it compels us to want to say, “2020 was the year it all changed. It was the year that everything aligned. It was the year that…”

Much has changed in 2020.

The 2020 Legacy

Now more than ever, that legacy must be more than just 2020:  Survived. It must be 2020: Thrived! 

When we look back on it, we want to say…

“Yeah it was back in 2020 that I did that… I started that…. I finished that… I planted that… learned that…received that… dreamt of that… managed that… created that…”

More so, wouldn’t it be nice if in our stories, Covid was a mere chapter footnote, a scene that ends up on the cutting room floor, or is simply an afterthought?

When I was young, I used to wonder, would my life be interesting? 

I’ve found, as I approach a pivotal birthday in less than 6 months, that if you live enough years, one, your life is bound to be interesting, but more importantly, when you challenge yourself, life takes things up a notch. 

Figure out how and get on the road to your own big year challenge. The second half of 2020 is still ahead and our movies are yet to be written!

~ Roopal Badheka