Power

I watched (most of) the movie Rocky Balboa again last night.  The final (to date) installment in the well-loved, often ridiculed, Rocky movie series.  Despite the jokes and commentary on whether the series of films have been well written or well acted, the messages hold true and strong.  They endure.  How else can you account for the fame of it all?  For the fact that Sylvester Stallone created his big break and his lifelong career in the writing of this everyman character.

Rocky’s message has always been clear.  You keep fighting no matter what….even when the world has not handed you “sunshine and rainbows”…you keep going when you feel so beaten down that all you want to do is lie on that mat and give up.  You stand strong and face whatever you have to face with humility and courage – even when you’re scared to do so.  And it also reminds us that the little guy, the under-dog, can beat the odds if he works hard and believes in himself.  It’s the message our country was built on, in my opinion…the message that I learned as a little girl…that we could accomplish anything if we believed.

Rocky (talking to his son):  “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 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 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!”

Isn’t that a powerful message?  That it’s not how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can GET hit, and KEEP MOVING FORWARD.  That’s the true test isn’t it?  Because at one time or another, all of us, every single person alive, will get hit…some more than others…but we all suffer.  It is in the suffering, the pain, the punches that show us who we are…that force us to dig down deep, and stand up and keep fighting.  It is a sentiment that goes to the very heart of what it is to be human…this glorious existence of ours, with all its beauty and hard knocks, that we can manage to keep getting in that ring to prove what we are made of.
 
Thank you Sly…thank you Rocky for being our everyday hero.