I recently watched the move Cast Away. It was very popular when it came out, but I’d never gotten around to watching it all the way through. I’d seen snippets; enough to know who Wilson is.

*********************** spoilers below ***********************

One of my very first observations of this film was about me.

I’ve learned so much in my nearly 20 years of being a Boy Scout leader. I was watching Chuck Nolans’ early survival efforts on the island and talking to the TV about what he should have done or what he needed to do differently. One of the big mistakes (in my opinion, but then the movie would have been ruined) is that he didn’t build a signal fire for the ships right away. He put the HELP in the sand, but that’s only visible from the air. Again, the movie would have been ruined if he had been rescued quickly.

The true lesson and meaning of the movie comes from what he learned about his survival.

And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?

I remember people wondering about “what was in that box?” that Chuck didn’t open; being tortured by the ending, because you’re left to wonder what Chuck does at the crossroads. But, that’s exactly the point. There isn’t an ending. We’re all surviving, one way or another, with what we have right now. Some of us are fighting to survive in ways others will never see or understand. You don’t have to be a Cast Away on a desert island atoll in the Pacific to be struggling to survive. Keep breathing.

Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?