Overlooking The Nice Guyl

I fell in love with Luke Skywalker after seeing the original Star Wars movie that was first released in 1977. Near the beginning of the movie, Luke's uncle tells him he can't go to the flight academy because he's needed on the farm. So Luke walks out of the farmhouse, and stands looking pensively at the moon. I think, what a thoughtful beautiful man; he's an intelligent woman's hunk.

Next day, I tell my friend Jill about my new crush. To my surprise, she tells me that she prefers the pirate, Han Solo. I'm perplexed. Jill is smart, beautiful and popular with the men, and can get whomever she wants. Why does she prefer the guy who's more brash than introspective, and therefore (imnsho) less considerate--he makes less of an effort to "consider" you. Granted, not all pirates are wife beaters, at least the imaginary ones that I know. But let's look at the evidence. Doesn't Han argue a lot with Leia?

With this line of questioning, I feel like I'm getting closer to the secret of why all the Jills and Johns in this world step over all the nice guys and gals in their hot pursuit of the more exciting ones.

What do these guys/gals want with the wild side, anyway? I examine more evidence. Han lives outside of the rules—he even makes a living doing it. He disregards authority and questions everyone; hence all the arguments with Leia. Han spends his life freely stepping over the line, or, let's say, stepping out of the boring, proverbial box that everyone else lives in. This seems exciting, and certainly less dreary.

So, I reason, maybe my friend Jill wants to hitch a ride with the Hans of this world, and live vicariously outside the box? Bingo! Jill hates her job and wants more out of life.

So ladies and gentlemen, I say to you, next time you go for the wild man/woman, examine your deep-down motives. Do you really want someone else to do all the stepping outside of the box for you? If so, why? Don't you know how to commandeer your way out of that box you're trapped in?

Think about this: when George Lucas initially dreamed up Star Wars, there was no Han Solo character. Instead, Luke Skywalker had two sides: the nice guy and the adventuresome pirate. So do you.

So how do I get out of my box, you ask. The answers are inside somewhere, depending on how long ago and deeply you buried your inner swashbuckler. Just ask her/him, "what do I need to do to start changing my life so I can get out of this box?" Maybe volunteer, hobby, school, job, read, meditate—find new ways to live your life.

Look at what happened to nice boy Luke Skywalker, who was later highly honored for his heroism in destroying the Death Star. His hobby had already prepared him: "it will be just like shooting womp rats at Beggars Canyon back home."