Who knew that I would be inspired by the film Hot Tub Time Machine? Usually you can tell how good a film will be based on its title. If a film’s title gives away the entire plot, it’s usually not a good thing.
No Country For Old Men: Good film
Snakes On A Plane: Bad Film
The Hurt Locker: Great Film
Dude Where’s My Car? : Terrible Film
Get my drift? Anyways, Hot Tub Time Machine was actually not that bad of a film, I mean it got a 7.2 out of 10 on IMDB.
The film touches upon an important theme that I didn’t expect: appreciating your friends.
In the film, Adam (John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson), and Lou (Rob Corddry) play three friends that fell out of touch and come back together as a unit thanks to, you guessed it, a Hot Tub Time Machine. The trio relives their glory days and become closer to each other in the process.
Lucky for me, I don’t need a time machine to appreciate friendship.
When I was an Orientation Leader in college, we had week-long training sessions prior to move-in day for new students. At the end of the week, we all filled out pages in a scrapbook. I had so much fun bonding with my new friends that I took up two pages writing “Why I love my Orientation Leaders.” For each OL, I wrote a reason why I loved him or her.
I was showing my appreciation through those scrapbook pages, but could have I taken it a step further? Think about the difference between saying and doing. Forget about saying you appreciate someone, how can you show it?
Social Media has made it easier for us to stay in touch with our friends. Now staying in touch is a simple “Happy Birthday” on their day of birth, or clicking ‘like’ on a funny status message- all actions I support and do myself. Bu,t how can we build upon that?
Sometimes you also need to move the interaction offline as well. That’s why I am always asking my DC friends out to lunch or happy hour- you gotta get the face time in when things get quiet. Sometimes you have to put the social back into Social Media.
It doesn’t matter how you keep in touch. The bottom line is: take a moment to think about your friends and let them know you care.
So, I challenge you to think about the friends in your life right now- I bet you know someone who you haven’t talked to in a while. Take a minute to send them an e-mail, or schedule a lunch, and you won’t need a time machine to roll back the time lost on those you appreciate the most.
Appreciative Revolutionary: Patrick Pho (@dmbosstone)
Bio: Patrick has been blogging before it was called blogging (since age 15). He writes about Gen-Y, Social Media, and how it’s rocking his world. Patrick’s stories, rants, and opinions have been featured in The Washington City Paper and The Washington Express. In 2009, he earned a blogger of the year nomination from Brazen Careerist. Patrick has also been a contributor to sports websites 4 Sport Boston and GoGameFace.
Favorite ice cream flavor: Banana
I appreciate Patrick’s Bostonian roots, his genuine personality, and the determination with which he has taken on the quarter life crisis!
