A Note of Inspiration

The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's 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!"

- Rocky Balboa

I've been thinking about that quote a lot lately, and while it may be from a fictional character in a fictional movie. It's nearly impossible to deny it's wisdom.

We live in a very difficult time, full of challenges and division. Political, educational, social, economical, religious and everything else. We see the discord in the world, we see things that don't occur the way we want it, have things taken from us. Or even worse, have people taken from us. What are we to do? Are we to curl up in a ball and cry "why me" or do we keep moving forward? Do we steel our faces, face our emotions, don't let them consume us and continue to advance? I certainly hope so, because we, whatever we're facing, cannot give up. We cannot simply say, "well that's enough" because then we've admitted we lost, we've admitted failure.

Not all failure is bad, from some failure we learn and grow. A project fails, you pick up and learn, company fails; move on. But to admit defeat and give up? That's the bad kind of failure, that's the kind of failure that defines one as a human being, and one that isn't strong enough. We are all born survivors, we are all born fighters, but many need to be reminded of that.

I've seen strength, seen it in returning veterans and ones fighting injury, I've seen it in doctors that won't give up, seen it in the eyes of a ************* girl fighting leukemia or a young boy fighting brain cancer, and countless other places. That's strength, real strength, real perseverance and that is in all of us! Every single one of us. Don't depend on someone else to build your life for you, fight for it, fight for what you think is right. Do it the right way, do it with hard work and ideas, but do it.

We can never give up, because when we do we're doomed. Simple as that. Another quote comes to mind: "Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion"

Now, what are you going to do??