Few days ago, I finally got to watch the finale to Sylvester Stallone's Rocky franchise. There's no doubt about it that he ended the franchise very well; really bringing the Rocky franchise to a close.
Anyway, this post isn't about the movie. If you need a movie review on Rocky VI, please visit www.imdb.com. This post is about something Stallone's character, Rocky Balboa said to his son in one of the scenes. Something invaluable I learned from the movie.
There was this scene when Rocky's son went to speak to him shortly after Rocky was granted his boxing license. Rocky is old, not as fit as before, slower punches, slower reflexes and to make matters worse, he is about to have a boxing match with the current world champion. And Rocky's son, Robert isn't too happy about it.
Not too happy about the fact that his father might be sending himself on a suicide mission having a boxing match with a formidable foe, not too happy about the fact that his father is no longer the Rocky in Rocky V, not too happy about the fact that he has always been under his father's shadow.
In that scene, Robert tries to discourage Rocky from going on with the fight, claiming that while it's hard enough to live under his father's shadow, this recent publicity will make it even worse. Robert goes so far as to ask whether his father cares about him. A saddened Rocky says he remembers when Robert could fit in the palm of his hand. He says that at some point his son lost his way and started blaming other things and people for his own misfortune. Telling him:
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!"
When I heard what he said, it struck me right in my funny bone and gave me goosebumps. I think replayed that scene over ten times on my DVD player. The amount of truth in what Rocky said, to me, is as close as immeasurable.
I for one have done what Robert in Rocky VI did. Not once, not twice, not trice, but probably a million times! Attaching the blame on someone, something or anything naturally took priority before anything else, when things don't seem to work out.
Somehow, having heard that phrase, something inside me sent me going for my collection of VCDs. In the back of my head, I knew, I heard or seen something along those lines. Days of digging and test playing old VCDs finally yielded the movie Rising Sun, a Michael Crichton novel adaptation by director Philip Kaufman. There was this scene when actor Sean Connery was talking to Wesley Snipes, and he says, "Blame, who's to blame? Fix the problem, not the blame."
If not one, but two movies can talk about the same thing, it can't be wrong.
It is going to be undeniable that you and I will go through a period or sometimes even periods of ups and downs because life ain't all sunshine and rainbows. You and I won't go through happy times all the time and at some point, we are going to make mistakes, put ourselves in a fix, go into an all time low, or even sometimes get on the verge of a relationship breakdown, or whatever other humdrum life can throw at us.
And because what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger, every time we get hit with a reality bite, there's nothing you and I can do but to take the hit and keep moving forward because that's how winning is done. And I don't mean winning against someone but winning against yourself because winning and losing has got nothing to do with another person, it starts with you. Winning is an attitude and that attitude can only come when you set an identity for yourself (see my post on ~changing your identity~)
But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that! Like Rocky said, you and me, we are not cowards who go around fixing the blame. We are not like that because we are special. Twenty four chromosomes contributed by our fathers and mothers respectively made you and me unique from one another............. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth.
I for one have done what Robert in Rocky VI did. Not once, not twice, not trice, but probably a million times! Attaching the blame on someone, something or anything naturally took priority before anything else, when things don't seem to work out.
Somehow, having heard that phrase, something inside me sent me going for my collection of VCDs. In the back of my head, I knew, I heard or seen something along those lines. Days of digging and test playing old VCDs finally yielded the movie Rising Sun, a Michael Crichton novel adaptation by director Philip Kaufman. There was this scene when actor Sean Connery was talking to Wesley Snipes, and he says, "Blame, who's to blame? Fix the problem, not the blame."
If not one, but two movies can talk about the same thing, it can't be wrong.
It is going to be undeniable that you and I will go through a period or sometimes even periods of ups and downs because life ain't all sunshine and rainbows. You and I won't go through happy times all the time and at some point, we are going to make mistakes, put ourselves in a fix, go into an all time low, or even sometimes get on the verge of a relationship breakdown, or whatever other humdrum life can throw at us.
And because what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger, every time we get hit with a reality bite, there's nothing you and I can do but to take the hit and keep moving forward because that's how winning is done. And I don't mean winning against someone but winning against yourself because winning and losing has got nothing to do with another person, it starts with you. Winning is an attitude and that attitude can only come when you set an identity for yourself (see my post on ~changing your identity~)
But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that! Like Rocky said, you and me, we are not cowards who go around fixing the blame. We are not like that because we are special. Twenty four chromosomes contributed by our fathers and mothers respectively made you and me unique from one another............. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth.
~Path of Time~ by Micky Foo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License
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