What I Learned from Rocky Balboa

I saw Rocky Balboa yesterday with my son Chris. It is a typical Rocky movie and worth the time and money for all you underdog fans, especially you older folks who need a bit of inspiration to get out of that easy chair. (Sylvester Stallone is 60!) By the way, he is working on Rambo IV to be released in 2008!

I won't tell you about the movie but there were three lines I heard that we can all learn something from. As close as I can remember they are:

"Life is hard and it will knock you down, but it is not about how hard you get knocked down, its about how far you keep going forward after you get knocked down that matters."

From the minute we are born life is a struggle, it always was and always will be. We start by struggling to breath, roll over and then crawl. We try to stand up but fall down time and time again until we learn to balance ourselves. Then comes that task of walking and running that is accompanied with cuts scraps and bruises. Do we stop? No we press on in spite of the pain, in spite of the struggles, in spite of the falls. Then for most, we tackle a bicycle, roller-skates, and baseball, with more falls, cuts and scrapes. We fight to get good grades in school, we fight for friendships and we fight for love. We fight to keep a marriage together and we fight for our children and when we are old, we fight off sickness, pain and hurt from the aging process just to stay alive. Good fighters not only have to train themselves, they also need to be able to take a hit and keep going. If they get knocked down, they have to get up and press on until the final bell rings.

Folks, life is going to knock you down, it will deliver you some disastrous blows that will not only knock the wind out of your sails, but it will drive you to your knees. Be it through disappointments, health issues, death of a loved one, or loss of a job. You can rest assure you will encounter one of life's deadly blows. Everyone does. But it is the ones who get up before they are counted out who have a chance at seeing victory. These people look toward the prize. They know that failure is not about getting hit and knocked down; that is to be expected when you are in a fight. Failure is when you stay down.

One day the final bell will ring for everyone, it is then when our battle will be over and not until then. If you are still breathing, you should still be fighting. Don't ever give up, be it in your faith, relationships, finances or health. If you have encountered one of life's deadly blows, take a moment to catch your breath and renew your strength and then get up and press on toward your goal and remember; all around you are people who are fighting too, you are not alone so if you need help getting up, reach out and ask for it.

"You are a fighter, that's what fighters do, they fight."

When you know what you are, it is much easier to do what you need to do. Me? I am a preacher, motivator, and part time writer, that is what I am and what I do. Auto mechanics work on cars, plumbers plumb, Carpenters build and writers write. If you don't accept what you are and the gifts God gave you, you will never be satisfied with your life and you will always be running after something else. I know because I struggled with it for years and it wasn't until I gave up running after everything I wasn't and focused on becoming what I was, did I even begin to be satisfied. I love to sing, but if you have ever sat in front of me in church you will know that I can't; Oh I got the noise part down pat, but the joyful part, well that is one gift God hasn't given me and no matter how many CDs I cut, I will never be successful at it. Folks God has given gifts to men, we all can do certain things that other people cannot do. I cannot handle the things nurses have to handle, my stomach will not tolerate it, so I cannot make it as a nurse. But praise God for the ones who can! Some people cannot stand before a crowd and speak, I have no problem with that.

What is it that God has gifted you with? What comes natural to you? If you want to live a full and satisfying life, you must find out what that gift is, be it raising and teaching children, cooking, writing, serving, driving a truck or running a company. Whatever gifts God gave you, focus on becoming the best at them and be satisfied. If it is a struggle to do what you do, maybe your doing something you shouldn't.

"Who has the right to tell someone they can't do something when they pass all the requirements."

This is one area where we have to be careful. Sometimes in man's desire to make sure things are done right, they often discard those who are gifted simply because they haven't met the requirements that man put in place.

I have met many gifted and talented musicians that have never had a lesson in their life, yet if anyone asked us what we would have to do to play a certain instrument we would tell them they would have to find a teacher and take lessons. To which I would respond, yes that is the typical way but not always the only way. Some people have been gifted and qualified by God to do certain things and who are we to say they cannot or should not do them just because they didn't go through our way of doing the them. Just look at every person God used in the bible and show me one whom man would have chosen for the task. Look to see if the person is gifted for the task in spite of his ability to prove it on paper.

How many pastors are there that have all kinds of degrees but can't seem to hold a church together? Yet man still puts them in place only because of some piece of paper they have. You can take this same question and apply it in the work force; we have all kinds of trained and qualified people in positions yet how many times do we run across people who are lousy at their job?

Gifted people do not need to be forced to practice, study or improve themselves. My oldest son plays the piano and my youngest the drums, they both can play fairly well, yet have never had a lesson and I never had to tell them to practice, to learn or buy music books. They did it all on their own. No one has ever had to tell me to keep learning how to be a better pastor, or to do research on something that I am gifted in. It is a part of me, it is a pleasure and I want to do it and will do it regardless if anyone tells me to or not.

Bottom line; When you are looking for someone to fill a task, look for the gifted BEFORE you look for the ones who have been qualified by man. It will make all the difference in the world.

And you thought Rock Balboa was just a movie about some old has-been getting back into the ring?