“I’m mad as hell and I’m NOT going to take it anymore!”

Have you ever seen that clip from the 70’s Movie “Network”? If not, you are missing out. It’s one of the very best moments in cinematography there is – besides “the Godfather” of course.

While the movie as a whole is rather forgettable, there is a scene where the main protagonist – television newscaster Howard Beele -gets fed up with the state of affairs in the world and goes on a terrific on-air rant. It’s really a beautiful thing. See for yourself.

I thought of the movie when I was visiting with a friend recently. We were talking about his daughter Clara. She is struggling financially and is generally ticked off at the world. My friend asked me for ideas on how he could help her.

She’s gone from one dead end job to the next. Now, she’s almost 30 years old. She’s in debt, she doesn’t have any skills and she is wandering around aimlessly.

I had the opportunity to meet Clara and I few of her friends recently. I really liked Clara but I came away sad. She seemed unwilling to realistically look at her situation and take action. She wasn’t willing to trade her own self-pity for the hard work she needed to do to have a life.

What was especially frustrating for me was that during that same meeting, there were other young people in the room (who Clara knew) who had less resources than Clara but were making things happen. They were clear on what they wanted to do and were willing to pay the price.

I came to the conclusion that my friend couldn’t help his child on this right now. Sure there are a ton of things Clara can do to improve her situation to get on the right track. But until Clara gets “mad as hell” at her situation, nothing is going to change. She needs a booster shot to get out of the rut she’s dug so expertly. She needs to kick herself in the arse and get going – but nobody is going to motivate her until she motivates herself.

That’s why I thought about the clip from the movie. I love Howard’s rant. It’s powerful. But it occurred to me that we can all use that same energy to harness a powerful change agent in our own lives. Forget about getting mad at others. Get mad at something you can change – you should change – but haven’t.

Are you mad as hell about something in your own life? What is it? Do you need to get out of debt? Make more money? What are you going to do about it? Starting when? What are you willing to give up right now in order to make it happen?

Leave a comment below and pronounce to the world that you are mad as hell and you aren’t going to take it anymore.

photo by OmarRiva, Flikr