The Shawshank Redemption is one of my favorite movies, and since it’s the #1 movie on IMDB.COM, I guess others feel the same way!

Okay, if you haven’t seen “The Shawshank Redemption” or if you haven’t read “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” stop here and do yourself a favor and watch the movie (or listen to the audio-book), because the rest of this post could potentially be a spoiler!

The Shawshank Redemption is about Andy Dufresne who was wrongfully incarcerated for a crime that he didn’t commit.  The movie (and book), shows the hardships that he overcame when we was in prison and his triumphs.  The movie is a huge Lemons to Lemonade kind of message, and then some!

I think what makes the movie so fascinating is that fact that Andy never gets broken.  And even though his life looks bleak at the best, he still accomplishes positive things!  Some of the things he accomplishes in the movie is a vast improvement and expansion of the prison library, the High School Equivalency Program (HSEP) program implementation for prisoners, beer on for the roofing crew, and the playing of music for the entire facility once.

A turning point in the movie is when a new transferred prisoner has evidence that could enable Andy to have another trial and clear is name.  The warden ends up killing the transferred prisoner.  This is when Andy is almost broken, but instead he takes this negative and converts it to a positive by escaping through a tunnel he’s been digging out for years.

Personally, I took away from the movie to never give up.  And the same message should be applied to life and finances.  Make the best of things no matter what you are doing!  Some of us only live for the weekend, and that’s a big waste of time and life!  Make everyday count, be creative!

This is one of the reasons I started blogging!  This is a great outlet for me and I get to tell my journey and share my thoughts.

As the character, Andy Dufresne in the movie says: “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”

If you watched it, what did you get out of it or why is it one of your favorites?

-MR

Update:

• Interestingly in the book by Stephen King, Red really was Irish!
• Andy had more options because he communicated and socialized with others!
• Fictional Shawshank was filmed at a prison in Mansfield Ohio.