MOVIE MANIA
Movies interest me very much since they are an effortless way to know, understand, and pick up culture, customs and orientation of people or countries. I take time to watch all types of movies – family, home, historic, western, bravery, comedy, war and valor, but not horror or sci-fi!
I get inspired by depictions of valor and bravery, team and groups, especially when I watch them move together in disciplined unity and brotherly sacrifice. I am fortunate in that I get to watch these in a variety of languages, being domiciled in a land famous for films made in diverse tongues and ethnicities – the Indian subcontinent!
I find that movies showcasing marines or special ops forces always depicts the leader striving to bring home his team safely after a mission. Their motto is: A leader never leaves behind his team: he would rather give his life to save them than abandon them. The unspoken code of the defense services is: Never leave your wingman behind, something so well portrayed in the recent Top Gun Maverick movie. With the police and other law enforcement, the firefighters or search and rescue teams or other such like, it is: Never leave your partner behind!
From Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book with its story of Mowgli and his wolves comes the captivating slogan: For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack. From famous philosophers we get apt quotes such as: It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light – Aristotle. One that impressed me recently during a down time: Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant – Robert Louis Stevenson.
My all-time favorite quote is by Jim Elliott, martyred missionary to Auca Indians, as recorded by his wife Elisabeth: He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose! My lifestyle convictions and persuasions encapsulated by the Word of God is: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these shall be added unto you (Matt 6:33).
Why do such mottos and slogans and sayings matter or are epic? What role do they play or have a say in our daily living? Is it important to have them and conceive them during the course of our existence?
Motto Mojo
According to Akash Mehrotra “In the heat of the battle, when things aren’t going your way, and when you have that gut-wrenching feeling that there may be no getting out of it; that is when true heroes & true leaders are born. The ones who inspire the troops to go on and fight, sometimes through actions and at other times, just through their words. Words are a great weapon. Use them right and you can turn a group of men into a pack of lion.” That I think sums up the essence of having mottos and watchwords, to inspire and motivate to action or obedience.
This may seem fine for such frontline workers, domestic and foreign, but is it needed for an individual, a family, a community, and a church per se? What good will it to do to sit down and think out such a collection of words?
Motto, by definition, means a short sentence or phrase chosen as encapsulating the beliefs or ideals of an individual, family, or institution. This is then the key for coming up with a slogan or a saying, viz., a way to articulate and make known your inner persuasion and conviction. Not just to others, but to yourself, your people, your community, etc.
Corporate companies, sports teams, religious organizations, schools, even states and nations, all use mottos and slogans to drive home their point or the idea they want to promote.
Mind Matters
Gabi Rupp says that quotes help you achieve your goals and can be used to activate your mind before trying to kick-start your body, just as a quick jolt of caffeine. Motivational slogans or mottos provide an active workout for your mind, providing just the energy kick you need to start the day, even before you begin your physical activities or an exercise regime.
This is an important habit that we must develop and cultivate, especially as we age, since the mind degenerates or tends towards hibernation or lethargy when the physique begins to tone down. A good dose of verbal workout, repeating a short phrase or phrases each morning as soon as you rise, will work wonders in keeping our minds active and pepped up, triggering a similar reaction in our physique. Mind does work and hold sway over matter, and so, it would do good to commit to memory and recite short slogans or mottos of life that you have coined or find appealing.
I believe this is one of the reasons old timers resorted to memorizing scripture, since they act as a means to overcome the lethargy of brain or mind cramp that occur due to doubt or despair. Adopting a scripture verse as your motto works double time, both as a guide for life as well as for direction during inconclusive moments or when your mind is in a fog. When you cannot seem to think right, because of a number of factors clouding your senses, a slogan will set you back on track on your normal tack!
Means of Communication
To form or formulate a motto for yourself or your family, you need identify your value system or, simply put, what holds priority for you. Then penning a string of words would be easy, or if you are challenged for words, search for quotes that showcase your ideals and use them.
The joy of sitting together as a family and writing down a mission statement or purpose statement is unparalleled, with each one in the family, young or old, pitching in with their ideas or helping to refine it. It brings unity and synergy, especially when it comes to choosing between options available to you in the event of a decision. For eg., since my family values reading and books over theme parks, a visit to a book fair trumps over visiting an entertainment area, unless it is Disney Land!
When raising kids, especially teens, the family motto becomes a means of avoiding conflict over certain parental curfews or denials. All you have to do is to point to or recite the slogan, and down will come the defenses! It will also become a way to communicate right traits to children, and in the process, may even be a handle for kids to hold their parents to their words. If you are humble enough to accept your mistake, there will be greater family bonding as well as a means of holding one another accountable, irrespective of age or position!
Motive for Action
A motto will also become the impetus for action or self-denial or generosity, turning words into deed, making sure that we are not just hearers or speakers, but also doers, as the Good Book says, translating impression into expressions in reality.
I know of a family where the kids would buy gifts during Christmas for other children who could not afford them, simply because their family motto was to reach out to community. They learned to sacrifice and save to spend time and effort to travel to other cultures because another one of their value system is global impact.
Values transmitted and articulated as mottos leave lasting effect on children and will influence their course of action even as they mature into adults, which is what King Solomon the Wise declared when he stated: Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Mottos and slogans train and inculcate values seamlessly in the flow of daily family life!
Motto moot relationship and bonding
People bonding happens over mottos and slogans or vice versa, and sayings aid relationship due to a sense of affinity and accord.
Churches every year come up with a word that works as a rallying point for the faithful, a focus point for encouragement through the year. It acts as a means of stirring up one another and a theme to bond together on.
Meg Seilg, a counselling expert, says that while immediate problems tend to distract us in everyday life, mottos increase our productivity, inspire, or help us change a habit. A motto can be more impactful if it is short, emotionally intelligent, and includes a rhyme or alliteration. When a motto combines logic and reason with emotion, it becomes easy to remember for it is colored by feelings.
Get going then to express yourself and your family, or company and team through a motto, and use it or them to rouse your day and life!
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