“Monday 5 Things” ….. Lessons Worth Rewatching …..
December 15, 2025 by D. Paul Graham
Ever curious and always amused by the quirks of life, join D. Paul Graham each Monday for more M5T pondering.
“Classic” Photo by D. Paul Graham
It was a week of travel for me. My laptop running spreadsheets, the TV tilted so I could watch movies from the desk I moved across the room. Shoes kicked off, and dining on take-out from Whole Wallet. The peculiar loneliness of missing LA that my travels bring, was softened by familiar dialogue of these classics that I’ve watched for decades.
And as always happens as I watch these movies each year, I am reminded of who I was, who I am, who I want to be, and what really matters in life, especially when I’m away from home. This morning’s M5T looks at Christmas movies that quietly teach us things we may not notice earlier in the year.
1. CONTROL IS AN ILLUSION, LAUGHTER ISN’T. In ‘Christmas Vacation’, Clark Griswold wants a perfectly planned family Christmas, which of course guarantees disaster. Sparkie reminds us that perfection is wildly overrated and at times can be flammable. The lights won’t work. The turkey will fail. Cousin Eddie will arrive uninvited and stay too long.
And somehow, that’s the whole point. The movie delivers a profound truth. Joy doesn’t come from control. It comes from surviving family chaos with humor intact. The best memories aren’t made from those moments that go according to plan, but from those moments that spectacularly unravel. It speaks to lowering expectations and raising the laughter, because the tighter we grip perfection, the less room joy has to multiply.
Favorite Clarke Quotes: “We’re gonna have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f**ing Kaye.” “It’s a bit nipply out. I mean nippy out.”
2. AWARENESS IS THE REAL MIRACLE. In ‘A Christmas Carol’ (I prefer the 1938 version with Reginald Owen), Ebenezer Scrooge’s awakening reminds us that it’s never too late to wake up, that change is always possible, no matter how old we are. Before redemption arcs were trendy, Scrooge showed us that self-awareness is the most powerful gift under the tree. His transformation doesn’t come from fear alone, but from clarity. It comes from the courage to look honestly at who we have been in the past, who we are in the present, and who we might still become. The lesson is simple and unsettling. Time is short, kindness compounds, and generosity is the only investment with a guaranteed return. Our own ghosts are optional.
Favorite Scrooge Quotes: “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” “Spirit, hear me! I am not the man I was.” And of course, “Bah Humbug.”
3. LOVE REQUIRES ACTION. ‘Die Hard’ has for decades fueled the annual debate of whether it qualifies as a Christmas movie. I land unapologetically on the Yuletide side of the debate. Stripping away the explosions, broken glass, and body count, what’s left is a deeply human story about reconciliation, vulnerability, humility, and showing up. John McClane doesn’t arrive in LA to be a hero. He’s there to try and fix a fractured marriage with his wife Holly. He doesn’t save the day with bravado alone. He does it barefoot, crawling through air ducts of the Nakatomi Plaza Tower, bleeding and limping. The movie posits that relationships are worth the effort, that ego weighs more than luggage, and love often requires a willingness to be extraordinarily uncomfortable. Christmas isn’t merely the backdrop of “Die Hard’. It’s the entire point, reminding us to reconcile, to return to those we love, and to fight for what matters most in our lives.
Favorite John McClane Quotes: “Yippee-Ki-Yay ************” “Come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs.”
4. INGENUITY BEATS FEAR. In ‘Home Alone’, Kevin McCallister shows us that courage often arrives disguised as necessity. Left on his own, underestimated and initially terrified, Kevin is forced into responsibility, and something remarkable happens. Fear doesn’t disappear, but it shrinks as ingenuity takes its place. Being overlooked becomes a strategic advantage. Creativity becomes armor. (And yes, hardware stores become magical places, but I digress.)
The film is a lighthearted reminder that most of us are far more capable than we imagine, especially when we’re cornered and options are limited. Kevin doesn’t become brave because he wants to. He has to, and as he does, fear gives way to problem-solving, imagination, and resolve. Courage is what shows up when fear no longer gets the final word. Sometimes it looks like elaborate booby traps. Sometimes it looks like simply standing your ground and claiming what’s yours.
Favorite Kevin Quotes: “This is my house. I have to defend it.” “Keep the change, ya filthy animal.”
5. MEASURE WEALTH DIFFERENTLY. George Bailey reminds us that the true measure of a life is almost never visible while we’re living it. In ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, the classic and my favorite Christmas movie, George never leaves town, never gets rich, and never believes he’s accomplished anything of consequence. He measures his life by the dreams that didn’t happen, the exits he never took, and the success that always seemed just out of reach.
What George can’t see, until Clarence removes him from the town, is the quiet accumulation of good that his life has created. Only when he is shown a world without his presence does the truth come into focus. The lives destabilized, families unraveled, a town hardened in his absence. Every small choice to stay, to help, and putting others ahead of himself, had been doing far more good than he ever realized.
In that revelation, the film offers a radical redefinition of success. No life is small. No kindness is wasted. Impact is not measured in milestones or money, but in the invisible architecture of community, built one ordinary decision at a time. Wealth, George finally understands, isn’t what you gather over a lifetime. It’s who gathers around you when it matters most. It’s a gentle but piercing reminder that the most meaningful lives are often the least celebrated and perhaps are the most necessary.
Here’s to a week of Christmas movies and the perspectives of waking up, showing up, and remembering that a meaningful life is built quietly, one choice at a time.
© 2025 D. Paul Graham, All Rights Reserved
Paul continues to find perspective from Sparkie, Scrooge, John, Kevin, and George.
Subscribe to “Monday 5 Things” by clicking here: www.Monday5Things.com
Please share this with someone you think would like to step-up their Mondays. Thank you!
You can reach Paul by email at dpg@imagegraham.com
“Monday 5 Things” ™ and M5T™ are trademarks of D. Paul Graham
“Monday 5 Things” is published by imageGRAHAM, llc