All that's left is stardust ...

"So, if you wake up one morning and it's a particularly beautiful day, you'll know we made it."

That quote is from the movie "Sunshine", an above-average science fiction movie about the spacecraft Icarus II and its crew. The ship and its team are sent on a mission to reignite the sun by detonating a device on the surface of the burnt-out star to save humanity from its current longstanding ice age. The quote is directed at physicist Robert Capa's family. The first part of the line refers to presumed exquisiteness of the sun's resurrection to those living on Earth. The second part refers to the team accomplishing its mission. The movie's most prominent theme is self-sacrifice and weighing a few lives against the fate of humanity. The sense of duty prevails in the end as most of the characters make huge sacrifices in the name of their objective. The quote encapsulates the moral of the movie perfectly, but it has much broader application than to a mere throwaway sci-fi flick. The statement is an acute thought that most of us should consider from time to time.

Self-sacrifice seems to be waning these days. It's unfortunate that a line in a movie can move people more than most of what they witness in daily life. Is self-sacrifice so uncommon and heroic that it can profoundly touch us only through film? Though the magnitude of the actions of the characters in Sunshine is heroic, should they be so unusual? I would even contend that heroic actions of a small magnitude are far too rare. The gaping lacuna between the haves and have-nots widens every day and still it only spurs a few to action. Are we relying on writers and the storytellers to define self-sacrifice for us? Those of us in the upper-echelon of the wealthy (trust me, even with $80,000 in student loans, you're still comparatively wealthy) should be making sacrifices on a regular basis. Hell, to even call donating or volunteering "sacrifices" demonstrates what an appallingly fantastical notion humanitarian duty has become.

I don't want to moralize too much, but people are suffering around the world. Millions are starving. Millions live in abject poverty. Millions are displaced from their homes. What sacrifices are you making to challenge these atrocities? Go to the Oxfam website and donate twenty bucks a few times per year with one less drink every weekend. Dedicate a few hours per week volunteering at a rescue mission (find Boise's right HERE) or become a Big Brother or Big Sister (HERE). Such gestures should always be welcomed with praise and gratitude, but rarely with disbelief and unfamiliarity. Maybe that reaction is because diamond-studded bikinis, and opulence are the status quos. Nearly half of our nation's television programming is dedicated to celebrating astonishing luxury (Cribs, My Super Sweet Sixteen, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous). Or, that is, what was once astonishing luxury. Most of us aren't even shocked by the most outrageous levels of self-indulgence, because those have sadly become the norm.

So, then, why are we so touched when we self-sacrifice play out on the big screen? Because, for most of us, it hardly even exists. Further, we've been desensitized to inexplicable wealth and grandiose spectacle. Yeah, it has come to that point where even the poorest of this nation don't find platinum rims deplorable. I'm not saying life needs to be a 100-year war against injustice, I just think we should all realize as our obligation as beings of humankind.

"So, if you wake up one morning and it's a particularly beautiful day, you'll know we made it."

With the simple efforts of 1% more of US citizens, I can only imagine the morning we would wake up to. I don't even think 3, 4, or 5 percent more would be too much to ask, but maybe I'm overestimating the benevolence of my fellow men and women. I know a lot of good people who could do a lot of good things, but they need a push. I don't know what motivates them, but it's my job as a marketer to find out and see how they and others can make every day particularly beautiful.