The Blind Side

Beth and I borrowed The Blind Side from a friend (Thanks! Tiney) and watched it on Sunday. For those who are not up to speed on the movie scene (like us for example), this was the "true" (spiced with a dash of Hollywood) story of Michael Oher, Offensive Tackle for the Baltimore Ravens - drafted in 2009.

The movie was nominated a Best Picture Oscar and Sandra Bullock won the Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy, the matriarch of a southern family that adopts Michael.

I won't go into too much detail, because I'm not here to give you the Cliff Notes on the movie. I just like to point out the profound things that I see in my life and write about them.

The profound thing that I saw in the movie was characters moving outside of their comfort zones to take a chance. People watching this movie might think that it was the Tuohy family that took the risk of letting an outsider into their car and their home. However, don't underestimate that chance that Michael took. He also took quite a few steps out of his comfort zone to get into the car with the Tuohy family in the first place. How did he know that they didn't have ulterior motives?

Imagine for a moment walking down a street by yourself. You're homeless and it's raining. All you want to do is to get back to a place that you know that is safe and dry. Imagine now that a car pulls over. Somebody gets out of the car and offers you a ride and a place to sleep for the night. Do you get in? Do you trust that this stranger doesn't have ulterior motives? Is this how children/teenagers end up missing?

At some point you have to look to your gut to help you make a decision in that hypothetical situation. Both Michael and the Tuohy family took a chance to step outside of their comfort zones and both were rewarded for taking that chance. The truth is, however, that something could have gone horribly wrong for either party.

I'm happy that it worked out for them all. I admire them for their bravery. It's not easy stepping outside of our comfort zone, but sometimes it's worthwhile to take the chance.