SC-S31/W2-Movie Magic| Movies that Redefine Success (The Shawshank Redemption).

My initial viewing of The Shawshank Redemption was to get a typical prison movie. Rather I discovered something far more profound. This film has transformed my perception of success.

In the past, I believed that money, fame, or accomplishment of big things that everybody can notice was the measure of success. However, this film made me realize how successfulness also could be silent, personal, and closely related to hope and freedom.

The film narrates a case of a wrongfully convicted man of Andy Dufresne. Although he was deprived of physical freedom, the prison could never take over his mind. The movie starts to redefine success to me there.

In this story success is not about being rich or popular. It is keeping onto hope even in the most dark surrounding. Andy remained patient, cool and focused over many years. He did it to himself, others, and never relinquished his dream of freedom.

What really impressed me was that the film depicts success as an internal thing. Andy not only built a library within the prison but also assisted prisoners in receiving education and introduced a bit of happiness to a very hopeless environment.

These may appear as small things to the outside world. But to the prisoners it was all. This allowed me to see that success does not necessarily mean big things. It is sometimes about changing the lives of people, even in the smaller aspects.

Andy Dufresne was the character that I liked the best. His life was not an easy one at all, but his mind was strong. He never allowed his circumstances to shape him. Rather, he was who he was by what he did and what he believed.

I like the way he remained strong mentally. Andy preferred hope to many giving up or being bitter. He thought that one day he would be free, and he labored silently towards that end.

Red, the character portrayed by Morgan Freeman is another character that caught my attention. Initially, Red had lost hope. In his opinion it was already too late to be in prison and stay as long as you were.

But Andy changed his mind. Red started to view life differently through his friendship. This also demonstrated to me that success can be in changing your mind and influencing others to change as well.

A large lesson I learnt in this movie is that not all success is always at first sight. Andy took years digging a hole in the ground, bit by bit, unnoticed. It was a gradual and silent affair. In the modern society, individuals desire fast success.

We desire quick cash, quick outcomes and quick fame. However, this film made me realize that true success is time-consuming, patient, and regular. Work hard even when no one is looking.

The other lesson I learnt is that of hope. The most known quote of the movie is, Hope is a good thing, perhaps the best of things, and no good thing dies. This remained in me. Regardless of how difficult life may be, the actual failure is to lose hope. As long as you think you are still on your way to success in your own way.

I also came to know that success is freedom. Not only physical liberty, but mental and emotional liberty. Andy was physically imprisoned but he was more free than most people who were not in the prison.

He was master of his thoughts, his dreams and his purpose. That caused me to think about my life. We restrict ourselves sometimes in fear or doubt. However, when we overcome those mental boundaries then we are truly successful.

To sum it all up, The Shawshank Redemption has redefined success in a very strong way to me. Success does not only concern fortune or notoriety. It concerns hope, patience, persistence and being able to remain yourself regardless of circumstances.

I now realize that during the darkest of times I can still develop, I can still make a difference in someone and I can still progress. In my opinion that is true success.

This is the link to the video