MOVIE REVIEW: Through Night and Day

As hopeless romantics, we have been yearning for a love that would last a lifetime, one that would go on through days and nights of romance with the one you love. 

"Through Night and Day" promotional poster for Netflix streaming from Twitter.com

Filipino movie, "Through Night and Day", gave us a love story so watchable you could finish it in one sitting. It won't take you a whole day and night to satisfyingly finish the movie, with the tearjerking romance of Ben and Jen.

The film started off smoothly, a typical opening scene for a love story. Ben asked for Jen's hand in marriage after serenading her in front of a huge local bar crowd. Jen gladly accepted the proposal and the marriage planning was on.

Part of the marriage planning was them going to Iceland for both a vacation and a chance for their prenup photo ops. During this stretch of the film, the struggles of dealing with your significant other were shown effectively. There was Ben's annoyance of Jen's indecisiveness, while for Jen, there was Ben's short temper. The film proved to be prophetic when it said that you would really get to know someone when you're just by yourselves, like when you're traveling.

However, the tragedy of the film was only beginning by then. The persistent misunderstandings of the two led to a break up while they were about to head home, during Jen's favorite time of the day on her favorite place.

Years went on and they were apart with new lives. It was revealed that Ben's got a new fiancée, while Jen's got a new problem to deal with - a disease that would eventually get the better of her by the end of the film.

The events of the third part of the film weren't about resolutions but about redemptions instead. Upon knowing about Jen's sickness, Ben reached out to her by making time to make up for lost chances they should've had, had they not broken up. Ultimately, Jen's exit was ushered through a sunset moment with Ben - a much better sunset moment that would take the place of the tragic sunset moment they had back in Iceland. 

The best bit of the film for me was when they were both lectured about love and long-term relationships from their parents. Compromise, patience, and respect should always be important elements of a relationship. Love alone couldn't do the trick. 

Do you feel like LETTING GO?

Let me share with you my latest experience in a grocery store. This ain't your typical grocery wish list story, hauling, or checking of the recent update on the price of goods. On the contrary, this is a story related to the first word that you read in this entry - "LET". 

*Before we go further, I will just say that the photos posted here are not mine and are taken from this website: https://www.pexels.com and I do not mean to plagiarize anyone.

Yes, this is a story about letting go. No, there is no scandalous happening here in this story, but just my own thoughts as I make my way out of that grocery store.

Yes again, I walked into a grocery store and planned to buy something but left empty-handed.

The night was just starting to cave in and capture the entire sky when I reached the grocery store. I went in, grabbed the cart and started checking off things on my grocery list. 

As I was in the crackers section, I saw an unfamiliar brand of a wafer. I immediately had the thought of buying that unfamiliar brand of a wafer for me to eat and savor during my leisure time even though I knew that it would not be wise to spend on such food.

Eventually, I listened to my urges and put it onto my cart. However, as I was making my way into the cashier, I could see that there ware already long lines of people waiting for their turn at each counter. I instantly went on to find which line seemed the best for me.

This was when letting go became the issue. Everything that I had put on my cart could be found in the nearby drugstore, except for that unfamiliar brand of wafer I spent time thinking about whether it should be bought or not. The question hanging in my mind was that should I choose to buy that unfamiliar brand of a wafer and sacrifice a little more time due to the long line waiting for me at the cashier, or should I just move on to the nearby drugstore and skip buying that unfamiliar wafer brand.



Which virtue should be at play here? Should it be the virtue of patience or the virtue of letting go?

This was what I did. Whenever I was put at the dilemma of choosing between multiple options, I weigh in the pros and the cons and I eliminate options. During that time, it was already night and I want to be home in time for dinner with my family. Moreover, I was really not in the mood to be in the presence of a lot of people. 

I was never fond of having a lot of people around me, even if they would be plain strangers. (Not into socializing, folks.)

So what I did was I took my mind away from that unfamiliar wafer brand and headed my way onto the nearby drugstore. Within 10 minutes, I was able to pick everything that was on my list. There was no line at all in the counter. Thus, I made it home just in time for dinner.

What am I really saying here, you don't really have to live in the moment at all times. You don't really have to say "YOLO". Sometimes, it can be really better to say "Live today, fight tomorrow" because you can't win your battles with just one blow. You can't win in life with just one stroke. There has been a lot of times in my life wherein I chose to play it safe so I can do more on the next day. Imagine if I had not switched stores and chose to wait in that long line to the cashier, I might not have gotten home in time, or I might have been stuck in traffic. 

Remember that there is always the best answer out of the multiple options that you have, however, there are also times when it is best to pick out the better option rather than the best. Your fate will still be determined by the actions that you will do with your decisions.

Is something bothering you right now? Know that you will have to make a decision eventually. You will not able to escape it.

So I ask you, will you let go? Will you live and heal today, so you can fight tomorrow?

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