The Cooler…


If you have not seen “The Cooler”, and you would like a visual of applied metaphysics at work, I recommend this movie. “The Cooler” stars William H. Macy, Maria Bello and Academy Award Nominee, Alec Baldwin. In short, it’s a Las Vegas love story. Bernie Lootz, played by Macy, is “The Cooler”.



Bernie Lootz is a loser. Even his name says loser. He lost so much to the Shangri-La Casino that he becomes an indentured employee to cover his marker. Bernie’s job? Well, he’s the guy that goes to a hot table and cools it off for the casino. In the movie, the early scenes clearly depict many examples of how metaphysics can express an influence in a game.



Everything about Bernie exudes a losing energy from his low life self-esteem, to the thin walled dump he calls home, and even to never having cream for his coffee. Every time Bernie gets the call to cool a game, after he shows up, the game breaks down like magic. The winning streak comes to an abrupt end. The winner continues to play until becoming a loser. Bernie calmly walks back to the bar to finish his cold coffee less the cream. And so it goes for Bernie, his role in life is cooling off hot games for the Shangri-La casino until his debt is paid .



I cannot say that I have ever been in a game with a house cooler. However, I have been in loads of great games, craps and twenty-one, when the casino personal interceded to do whatever they could to break up the game, like changing out the dice or cards, a chip fill or count up in the middle of a hand, or to bring in a house dealer on the twenty-one table that pitched cards with the speed of a train in the night.



So, how did Bernie "The Cooler" do his work? His appearance in the game caused a shift in the energy. With his presence, he interrupted winning energy with his loser’s energy. Bernie held a belief that he was a loser. His poor self image was so strong, it was over whelming. Even other players seemed to notice it. Losing and cooling a game was Bernie’s ill fated talent. His belief in his losing ways was so strong, when he entered a game, there was no way the casino could lose.



Innocently enough, some players are coolers. These individuals may come into your winning game, and end a good thing. How is this possible? It is like viewing a reflection in a still pool. Suddenly someone comes along and rudely splashes a stone into the pool. The reflection is destroyed. The game falls apart with the confusion of ripples distorting the reflection. It is not caused by an intention to wreck the game. It really is more like a disruption in the energy, just like a still pool is “splashed” by a stone. There seems to be a delicate balance to any game. All it takes is the Cooler to come a long to have it all slide away.



This is why you need the awareness to “pick your playmates”. Not everyone playing the game is a knowledgeable and a skilled player. Not everyone playing has a positive attitude for winning. So, some players are like Bernie Lootz, they simply can’t help but lose and bring down a game. They expect to lose. It is their own self image creating their losing reality.



It is not about a person’s luck, good or bad. It has to do with the energy resonating within the belief system of that person. Some people have an expanding energy and consistently succeed in their life. Others live life in energy of contraction and scarcity, and they consistently fail. When you change your energy, you change reality. Changing your energy has to do with how you view life, your beliefs, your dogma or your paradigm for living. See how it works out for Bernie in "The Cooler". This is just one of the reasons my classroom for teaching spirituality and metaphysics happens in the glitzy atmosphere of a casino. When it comes to learning about energy, emotion and life lessons, it’s all happening in a casino 24/7.



Copyright © 2004 Michael Vernon

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In the casino, everyone thinks they're an expert. An expert is a guy who knows 47 ways to make love, but can't find a girlfriend. - From Wit & Wisdom To Help You Win, by John Gollehon -