Some life lessons from the movie The Greatest Showman

The film tells, in the form of a musical, the life of Phineas Taylor Barnum (Hugh Jackman), the person who invented the concept of the circus as we know it today.

Barnum meets Charity Barnum (Michelle Williams), the love of his life, at an early age. Even though he is poor he marries her and promises her a better life full of luxuries in a big house. He doesn't have the money but he has a dream and the attitude to fight for it.

In the process of developing his show, Barnum meets people like Anne Wheeler (Zendaya), the rapper; Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle), the bearded lady and Jenny Lindt (Rebbeca Ferguson), a European performer with an enviable voice. Each character has a story of his/her own in which he/she gets to know each other and faces a New York that is not very tolerant.

In this film one of the central themes is being yourself in front of others and how the opinion of others affects the way we see ourselves. The film also deals with issues such as work, family and how it is necessary to have clear priorities when deciding things. These are the points that I feel can be discussed after enjoying this amazing musical.

The movie gives us some life lessons through its musicals:

1. This is me

If you're not mainstream, you don't belong. It's amazing how we think a particular brand of shoes or clothing defines you in front of others. Appearances are everything. And that's very dangerous, because, in order to maintain them, we can find ourselves in situations where we ask ourselves: "What am I doing here? This is not me. Lettie, the bearded woman, plants her face after Barnum slams the door in her face for being so particular, because if she showed up in high society, the appearances Barnum was trying to build would fall apart. There are the two pictures: Lettie and P. T. Barnum. Lettie says enough is enough and declares that this is who she is. Barnum has to touch the bottom of the well to realize the lie he was living.

2. From now on

A devastating fire, a family that left him and a business that seems to have no future, Barnum is at his lowest point. It is in that darkness that surrounds him that he turns his gaze back to the initial light, to that which brought him to the top: his family. "If all is lost, it's more what I gained, because it led me back to you," Jackman's character says. "From now on, these eyes will not be blinded by the light. From now on, what waited for tomorrow begins tonight at night. Let this promise begin in me, like a hymn in my heart," he adds. This is what we should do when we stumble and fall and it is applicable to our life. As Lope de Vega wrote, stop promising to open the door tomorrow, but today. Today is the time when things happen. Yesterday already was and tomorrow is not yet. May your day to day be a choice to be a better person. And when you discover that you made a mistake, stand up again in that instant with God's help, and a promise to give the best of you again, that is engraved in your heart.

3. Come alive

If your life is a heavy routine, it is because there is no love in it. "You stagger through your days, head down. Your sky has a gray tinge. Like a zombie in a maze, you're asleep inside, but you can wake up." For Barnum, that awakening is dreaming of doing his show.

4. A million dreams

Dreams are important. Barnum had his driving force in that dream of creating a show, supporting his family, becoming somebody.

And you, what dreams or desires do you have? Do you aim to build a better world?