Keep Your Head Above Water

A few months back, I watched this Netflix Original Movie, “Extraction,” starring Chris Hemsworth. It was an immensely forgettable movie save for one memorable scene and dialogue that sparked a metaphoric connection in my head.

Chris Hemsworth is a bleakly nihilistic mercenary sent to extract a kid from the clutches of some kidnappers. In the midst of some brutal action sequences, there is this one non-action beat where someone in a wry tone wisely tells the hero, ” You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it.”

Everything else about this movie is a blur except for this one dialogue that has stayed with me. There is an excellent little lesson that we can all take from it.

The river is a metaphor for all the challenges and difficulties we encounter. In life, we don’t lose because of problems. We lose because we mentally give up and allow the challenges to overwhelm us and smother us.

We will make mistakes, and we will fall into the lap of problems and challenges every so often. Unfortunately, that is the way of life, and we cannot avoid it. But, all we need to do is keep our head above water and not let the issues overwhelm us.