“The Crown” – a Netflix show – has a fascinating episode on the moon landing. It shows Prince Philip’s (Prince Philip = Queen Elizabeth’s husband) obsession with the astronauts’ feats as he confronts a mid-life crisis himself.
The story progressively shows him both at awe at the achievement of the astronauts and simultaneously disappointed at the progress he’s made in his own life. He wonders if looking at the earth from the moon gave them insight into life’s big questions and/or helped them better understand their purpose.
Eventually, he gets the opportunity to engineer a 15 minute meeting with the astronauts when they visit London.
When he asks them about their experience, their response is unanimous – they were obsessed with the safety procedures and protocols. Within minutes, he realizes that they wouldn’t have the answers he was seeking.
And, as his questions stop, they begin peppering him questions about the palace. After their time together, he watches them racing each other up and down the stairs of the palace.
Clearly, they were as awestruck by him and his life as he was by theirs.
Grass. Not always greener.
And, we all have our own paths enroute to our attempts to find and live our purpose.
