Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/220320
The Art of Manliness Continued for George. At the end of his rope, George decides to commit suicide so his family can cash his $15,000 life insurance policy and pay off the $8,000 debt. Just before George leaps from a bridge to his icy, watery death, his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, jumps into the river and pretends he's drowning. George, being the big-hearted guy that he is, saves Clarence.While they're drying off, Clarence tries to talk George out of killing himself.When George bitterly wishes that he'd never been born, Clarence sees a way to convince him not to commit suicide.Through angelic powers, Clarence is able to show him what his family and Bedford Falls would have been like if George Bailey had never existed. George's old childhood friend Sam Wainwright (hee haw!) lends George $25,000, and George's war hero brother arrives to declare George "the richest man in Bedford Falls." Among the giant pile of cash, George finds a copy of Tom Sawyer that Clarence carried around with this inscription: "Dear George: Remember no man is a failure who has friends. P.S.Thanks for the wings! Love, Clarence." It's at this moment that George realizes what a wonderful life he really has. By seeing what the world would be like without him, he comes to a greater understanding and appreciation for the true richness of his blessings. It's a hell hole. JOBS for TEAMS George's younger brother dies because George wasn't there to save him, quaint Bedford Falls turns into sleazy Pottersville, his mother is a bitter widow, and people are living in slum apartments instead of the nice homes George's Building and Loan funded. Worst of all, George's wife is an old maid and none of their beautiful kids exist. As you can guess, George sees the light and begs to live again. His wish granted, he runs joyously through the streets yelling "Merry Christmas!" to everybody. He arrives home to find the authorities with a warrant in hand for his arrest, but George doesn't care. He's just happy to hold and kiss his kids. His wife comes in shortly after, followed by what seems like the entire town.The townsfolk all donate enough money to save George and the Building and Loan, The George Bailey Technique in the Real World In It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey experiences what the ancient Greeks called anagnorisis: the sudden realization of truth — of where things really stand and one's true relationship to others.A few curious psychologists wondered if real people could experience the same kind of anagnorisis that George Bailey did when he saw a world in which he didn't | 20 JobsForTeams1213_manliness.indd 3 www.jobsforteams.com 11/4/13 9:33 AM