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Crystal Paine, Jaws, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Andrew Huberman Ph.D., and a Bhagavad Gita Verse

Crystal Paine, Jaws, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Andrew Huberman Ph.D., and a Bhagavad Gita Verse

Published by Drew Alexander Ross on June 30, 2024

Sunday Supplement #164 (June 30th, 2024)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

Please take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Living with intention means saying no to the things that aren’t important so we can say yes to what matters most.”

– Crystal Paine

Book of the Week:

Jaws – Peter Benchley

Most people have seen or at least heard of Stephen Spielberg’s film Jaws, which is often described as the original Summer Blockbuster movie.

That movie was based on Peter Benchley’s horror novel. After watching the film, I was curious to read the book. I was surprised to find the differences between the two.

The story follows the fictional seaside town of Amity as it becomes plagued by the attacks of a great white shark.

Chief Brody leads the attempts to kill the shark, with help from Quint, a shark hunter, and Hooper, an ichthyologist.

Mafia ties, affairs, and who dies are a few differences between the book and the film. I recommend Jaws for summer reading if it piques your interest.

Movie of the Week:

The Bridge on the River Kwai

The 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai is based on the 1952 novel. It follows a group of British POWS who are forced to build a railway bridge for their Japanese captors in Burma.

A standoff ensues between officers and camp commandant Colonel Saito. Neither party knows that a commando raid is planned to destroy the bridge.

Without spoiling too much of the film, the last thing I’ll say is that its leading characters are excellently written. The intentions and ambitions of both dominate the story.

The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Alec Guinness won Best Actor in a Leading Role for Colonel Nicholson, and Sessue Hayakawa was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Colonel Saito.

There’s some great history behind the making of the film, including McCarthy-era reasons for the screenwriters (Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson) not receiving credit.

I love it when old films stand up to modern viewing; some even cast shadows over what’s made today. The Bridge on the River Kwai looms large in Cinema history and deservedly so.

Brainfood of the Week:

The Optimal Morning Routine – Andrew Huberman | After Skool

Andrew Huberman, Ph. D., a neuroscientist and Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, provides examples of practical tools for optimizing your morning routine.

In this video, Huberman discusses how sunlight in the morning affects your circadian rhythm, how caffeine intake can cause crashes depending on when you have your first cup of coffee, and how exercise and cool showers can benefit and kickstart your day.

The video is 16 minutes long and will surely provide a useful tip for you to add to aid your morning routine. If you enjoyed this video, check out my other Sunday Supplement featuring Andrew Huberman.

After Skool animates the background for videos of various life lessons presented by individuals and texts. I’ve featured their channel in a few previous Sunday Supplements.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Free from expectations and the sense of ownership, with the mind and intellect fully controlled, they incur no sin even though performing actions by their body.”

– Bhagavad Gita 4:21

I found this Bhagavad Gita verse an interesting look at intention and how we view the results of our actions.

This verse speaks to the idea that if we do our best and have just intentions, a bad result does not add negative karma to our lives. 

An example would be telling someone a harsh truth. If someone takes this poorly, it is not your fault. However, the delivery of a harsh truth must be done with the best intentions, genuinely seeking to help.

It’s easy to think your intentions are pure while not reflecting on your actions. For me, this verse is a reminder to diligently observe your thoughts and intentions before acting.

Align your thoughts and intentions with your actions, and have a blessed week ahead!

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Napoleon Hill, Lord of the Flies, King Richard, Headspace, and a Buddhist Saying

Napoleon Hill, Lord of the Flies, King Richard, Headspace, and a Buddhist Saying

Published by Drew Alexander Ross on February 20, 2022

Sunday Supplement #41 (February 20th, 2022)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

I hope you take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.”

– Napoleon Hill

Book of the Week:

Lord of the Flies – William Golding

Lord of the Flies is a brilliant story about a stranded group of schoolboys. On the brink of the next world war, a plane crashes, leaving the boys unsupervised on an uncharted island. The boys celebrate their freedom and attempt to build their own society.

Ultimately, their attempts to come together fail, and the fractions of kids that form begin to fight for power. Their society quickly falls into chaos, and the consequences of their actions are a harrowing reflection of the world they left behind.

William Golding’s book is often on reading lists at middle and high schools, but it is an interesting read regardless of age.

Time magazine listed the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1293 to 2005. It also put the book in its 100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time list. 

The novel’s themes of influence, mob mentality, and civilization are excellently explored through the well-written characters and prose. It might not be an uplifting, happy read, but it’s a good book worth checking out.

Movie of the Week:

King Richard

King Richard tells the story of the Williams sisters and the early years on their way to becoming tennis superstars. Venus and Serena were first trained by their father, Richard, and went on to be the best tennis players in the sport’s history.

Will Smith plays Richard, and Aunjanue Ellis plays Richard’s wife, Oracene. Both Oracene and Richard train and raise their kids with a plan for them to succeed. At times, Richard takes the mission to extreme lengths and is checked by Oracene and questioned by many.

The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Smith and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Ellis. The Oscars have yet to be awarded, but King Richard will likely take home at least one or two.

One of the most powerful scenes in the movie comes when Richard intervenes in an interview set up for Venus when the reporter questions her confidence. This scene reminded me how vital it is to lift people up and not put negativity or doubts around them.

There is much to appreciate in King Richard. If you haven’t seen it yet, put it on your list.

Brainfood of the Week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTqforiHL7Q

Headspace | Setting an Intention – (video won’t embed on this page)

Headspace is a content provider that teaches about meditation and has guided meditations for multiple purposes based on eight different techniques. They have over 70 million subscribers to their app and hundreds of hours of content.

This video goes over the benefits of setting intentions and provides a short guided meditation for setting an intention for the coming week.

When you make an intention, it should be something in your control, something you can commit to, and something practical. The clearer your intention is, the more likely it will happen and the more likely you are to experience the benefits.

Intention setting is something I’ve done off and on, and I came across this video at a perfect time to remind me of how much it worked for me. 

I’ve done it for specific situations, like when I got out in a social setting. I’m not always the most extroverted, but when I set the intention to have a good time and connect with others before going out, it’s worked.

Intention setting is something I’ve come across in many different self-improvement/spiritual books. I’m glad I found this video because my goal moving forward is to set intentions each day.

Give this video a watch and see if intention setting is something you’d enjoy!

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Mind your thoughts, as they become your words. Mind your words, as they become your actions. Mind your actions, as they become you.”

– Buddhist Saying

This Buddhist saying reminds me of how powerful our thoughts can be. When we experience emotions, we often react and attach a narrative to the situation to explain and justify how we feel. Often, we don’t take the time to process or decide how we want to view the world.

When I think of minding my thoughts and how they become words, I realize how I have a say in what I put out into the world. Do I choose to focus on the negative, or can I find the positive and move forward from there?

This saying can be reversed engineered to reveal that most of our actions have seeds in our thoughts. When we aren’t conscious of our thoughts and just react to our experiences, we can lose control of our actions and whom we want to be.

I believe control over our thoughts and choosing the narratives we tell ourselves is a helpful tool to create our lives. Sayings like these are excellent reminders of our power over our experiences.

Set good intentions for the coming days, and have a blessed week ahead!

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