Living Life Through Movie Quotes (The Matrix)/Guapo turns 21

Hello once again readers.  This is El Guapo coming at you with another edition of Infinite Wisdom From El Guapo's Brain.  Do you know where I get a good chunk of my wisdom?  (The heavens?)  Nope.  Believe it or not sometimes I look to the cinema for inspiration.  Now I'm not talking about going to see a Tyler Perry movie for relationship advice or an Adam Sandler movie for family advice.  But the right movies can provide you with some gems to take home.  One movie that really inspires me is The Matrix.  The first time I saw it I was probably 6 years old and I saw it with my dad.  At 6 I really loved the action, the kung fu fighting, the gun shooting.  It was later on in my youth that I figured out what the story was and was able to appreciate it more and appreciate Trinity in black leather a lot more.  Now 21, or a grown ass man, I can dive deeper in this movie and pick out some quotes to guide me through life.  Here are some of my favorites.

"Get up, Trinity. Get up!"
This line comes from Trinity herself in the first scene in the movie.  She's running from the cops and the agents and she's jumped through a window and landed on her back with her pistols aimed at the window.  She's almost to the land line, she just needs to get up and get moving.  So she tells herself what she needs to do.  Sometimes we just need to motivate ourselves.  When we fall we just need to tell ourselves to get up.

"The answer is out there, Neo.  It's looking for you.  And it will find you.  If you want it to."
Another gem from Trinity.  This is from the scene where she meets Neo at that weird club where I'm sure people getting whipped for pleasure.  Neo wants to know what the Matrix is and this is Trinity's response.  It makes sense for all our major questions.  Sometimes the best way to find the answer, rather than to go out and search for it, it's best to let the answer come to you.  If you're open to it the answer is going to reach.

"You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he's expecting to wake up."
Morpheus hooks us up with this gem.  Damn.  Just marinate on that for a second.  A little bit longer.  Sometimes you look at a situation, life, work and you just accept it.  Not because you're a sheep like everyone else but because you can sense the truth.  You can see the puppet strings but you're still a puppet.  Likewise, Neo senses there is something off with his world, but it's not until Morpheus frees his mind that Neo can cut the strings.

"I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my own life."
Morpheus asks Neo the simple question.  "Do you believe in fate?"  Neo answers, "No."  This was his reason.  Everybody has their own answer to this question.  Personally I'm on the fence but I might lean towards no.  But whether you believe in fate or not his answer can still resonate with you.  The idea that I am not in control of my life and that I can't dictate one way or another how my life ends up is not one I can get on board with.

"Don't think you are.  Know you are."
Ain't this some real shit.  Morpheus should have been a life coach or at the very least a CYO basketball coach.  Attitude is one of the biggest obstacles in our way.  Sometimes the way we think gets in the way of our success.  And that's the key word: think.  If I think I'm the greatest blogger of this generation then at most it's just a thought.  It's an opinion that may or may not be right.  (It's right.)  There's room for doubt.  When you change the terminology to "know" it's a whole different story.  Because I know how good I am I can deliver A1 quality work to your screen every time I write.  I'm not limited because I know my strengths.

"Come on!  Stop trying to hit me and hit me!"
Morpheus with another gem.  Damn, this guy is like a walking Poor Richard's Almanac.  Again, this really has to do with how our attitude can alter our success.  You ever notice the difference between trying to accomplish a goal and actually accomplishing it?  The difference is you're actually doing it.  Sounds simple, execution is a little harder.  But when you get your head out of your ass and get to changing your thought process, the world just looks different.  So don't try to get that promotion, young grasshopper, go get that shit.

"I can only show you the door.  You're the one who has to walk through it."
Surprise, surprise.  You already know Morpheus blessed us with this one.  We've all had that person (or sometimes people) in our lives that has served as a guide.  That taught us how to be men and women in society.  A person that we could rely on constantly to be a rock and a compass.  But that person can't live our lives for us.  I had a couple mentors in my 21 (great) years of life but my dad is the most notable.  But I know as much as I can ask him for advice and wisdom (which surprisingly surpasses El Guapo's) I still have to make my own decisions and go through with them.  I still have to experience the triumphs and consequences to my actions.

"Why, oh why, didn't I take the blue pill?"
Taking a break from Morpheus, this line comes to use from the traitor Cipher.  Not necessarily advice but it is accurate of our thought process.  Have you ever made a decision in your life and as you were following though you thought about how much easier it would have been if you chose the other plan?  Sometimes the things we want or need are a lot tougher to get to.  The good things in life don't come easy.  But the sacrifice is worth it in the end.  We can still throw ourselves a 2 minute pity party but after that we have to get back on our grind or we'll end up like Cipher who gets killed after betraying the party.  (Spoilers!)

"No one can tell you you're in love.  You just know it."
I feel it.  This one comes from the Oracle herself.  Neo is questioning whether or not he's the One and the Oracle compares it to being in love.  Anyone who is in love or has ever been in love can get on bored with this.  I know I can.  Nobody told me I was in love with my girl.  I just knew.  I couldn't explain the feeling to someone but I know it because I feel it.  (Well, I've never been in love Guaps!)  Well this quote is obviously not for you!  Skip ahead to the next one.

"There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path."
Last quote comes from non other than Morpheus... Again.  I can't even begin to explain how real this is.  As people we are aware of the decisions and the paths we have to take.  Sometimes we are faced with a moral dilemma and it's easier to make the immoral decision but we know the right thing to do is the tough decision.  It's a lot different to know the right thing to to do than to actually do it.  It doesn't just have to do with moral decisions.  This also applies to the paths our lives lead.  Some people have goals but don't make plans for them.  They don't take the actions necessary to get there.  These people know what needs to be done to accomplish their goals but that's it.  They are not walking the path.

So there you have it!  Some wisdom coming from me via The Matrix.  Remember, you can find wisdom anywhere, even movies.  How did you guys like it?  If this is successful I might do the same thing with another movie.  If not I'll just come back with some of my classic shit.  As you can probably tell by the title or by the several hints I dropped I just recently turned 21.  (Happy Birthday Guapo!)  It's too late for that asshole.  But I'll consider you reading this a birthday present.  This birthday is the biggest one I had in a while in the sense of the impact it has on me.  It took a while to sink in but when it did it hit me like a brick hits baby cows.  I'm twenty-fucking-one years old.  There's no place I can't go.  (Except private property.)  I had a great birthday weekend.  Had some of my boys come from the Bay, Garrett and DK.  Also had my boys out here in LA, Hassell and Justice.  And most importantly I had my girlfriend Lily with me.  I've always had the mindset that it didn't matter what I did on my birthday as long as I spent it with the people I love.

 Now that I'm an older Guapo you can expect even wiser and more profound shit from this blog.  So keep on the lookout for new material coming at you.  As usual you can hit me up at the comments section to let me know what you like and/or don't like.  I might actually listen.  Hit me up on Twitter @ELGUAPO3 and Instagram @CAPTAINCRUNCHTIME.  I'm on Tumblr at sirelguapo.tumblr.com.  You can even hit up on LinkedIn!  Don't drink and drive, wear condoms, and most importantly stay Guapo out there!