Why We Love Action Movies

By “we” I mean us guys.

I was meeting with a very wise client one early morning when something he said hit me like an epiphany.  He was talking about a book he recently read by John Eldredge called Wild at Heart.  In it Eldredge shares the secret to every little boy’s soul.  What he wants and dreams about is a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. There’s more, of course, but you can read about that later.

The epiphany relates back to the night before.

Our family was watching Captain America: Winter Soldier. When the credits were finally rolling, Amy said, “Wow, that was a lot of testosterone!” It was the next morning, when Jason shared his reading of Eldredge’s book, which I had read many years prior, that it hit me. This is why I love action movies! If Eldredge is right, it’s actually God’s fault. He put that spirit within me as a little boy. And everyone knows that men are really just grown boys, at least most of us.  

I want to fight a battle – for my wife, my kids, and myself.  For me, it’s usually in the form of a mud obstacle race or a challenging workout or even professional goal accomplishment.  I crave the adventure to live. Again, that occurs in the trails and obstacles of my beloved mud runs, but also occurs on the professional landscape – working through the daily challenges of workplace successes and failures.  The beauty to win: well, I have her, yet I strive to win her again every day. That’s the P in Amy’s marriage secret – CPR:  Compromise, Pursuit, and Respect.

So give me the battle to win, the adventure to live and the beauty to rescue – I love it. It invigorates me. The more I embrace these three deep inner desires, the more alive I am. 

And if it takes an occasional Captain America movie to live it out every once in a while, so be it. Maybe there’s a little more to it than testosterone. Maybe it’s just how I’m wired. I’m cool with that, and so is Amy.

So, guys, do you have a battle to win? Are you choosing an adventure to live? And, most important, are you rescuing your beauty every day?

Let’s put LIFE back in living!