Changing the Stars

Isn't it funny how you can live with yourself for 26 1/2 years and still learn things about who you are?... The other day I was watching a movie with my friendgirl, Mindy. The movie: "A Knight's Tale." The venue: Mindy's basement. A Knight's Tale is one of my all time favorite movies. Mostly because of the "Golden Years" scene and the exchange between Will and his father after being away for 12 years:

"He wanted you to know that he changed his stars after all."
"Has he followed his feet? Has he found his way home at last?"

...It gets me everytime, but that is not what this story is about, this story is about perpetual self discovery.

While we were watching the movie, I laughed (I tend to laugh a lot.) and Mindy asked what was so funny. I thought for a moment and realized that nothing was funny. I then asked myself, "If nothing was funny, than why was I laughing?" It was then that I came to the conclusion that I was laughing not because of something humorous on the movie, but because I was happy. I was happy watching one of my favorite movies with one of my new favorite people. I did a mental evaluation of my life after that and saw evidence of my new discovery over and over again.

It seems that my hypothesis was accurate because within the next week or so, I went to see "How to Train Your Dragon" (which I might add, is an incredible movie. I hate computer animated films and I'm not a big fan of ones with a title like this one, but I loved the story, the flying scenes and Gerard Butler as Hiccup's dad.) I was with my buddy Mark and we were talking before the movie started when he mentioned how I laugh a lot. I agreed and then he said something that surprised me. He said, "Dane, the thing I like about you is, you don't just laugh when things are funny, but you laugh because you are happy." I almost fell out of my seat. What took me 26 and a half years to discover, took my friend roughly three months. I guess that is what friends are for.