You Don't Have The Luxury Of Giving Up

I remember reading 'The Power of Others' whilst I was in London towards the end of 2014, and there were a few things that I made a note of. In the chapter that I was reading at this time, the author touched upon how it is easier for someone to be curious when they are not caught up in trying to make ends meet and he spoke about something that Mark Beaumont had said.

This is someone who is a record breaking long-distance British cyclist, and the quote that is mentioned in this book must have been something that mark came about with when he was talking about this area of his life. Mark said, "You don't have the luxury of giving up", and this was something I resonated with.

No Choice

Mark could have been talking about how, when he was cycling, he just had to keep going. Throwing in the towel and just stopping wasn't something that he could do, for whatever reason.

When I had heard this quote I was working through my own pain, and I giving up wasn't an option that was on the table, so to speak. If I had taken my foot of the gas and just accepted how I felt, I wouldn't have had a very fulfilling existence.

Up Or Down

If I wasn't in such pain, I might have been able to simply tolerate what was going on and to carry on with my life. But, as I was in a very bad place emotionally, I couldn't just put this part of me to one side and carry on as normal.

Now, I could have given up; it wasn't as if someone was holding a gun to my head. However, a big part of me was aware of how far I had come, and, no matter how I felt, I had to keep going until I was able to transform myself.

A Common Theme

It is clear that it is due to this way of responding to difficult circumstances that certain people have been able to go from the bottom to the very top. Instead of allowing the pain they were in to define their life, they channelled it into making their life worth living.

When people hear about how someone like this is living their life, it can seem as though they got lucky, or that they had a good start to life. What they won't be aware of is how someone like this will have used the pain of being at one end of the spectrum to propel them towards to other the end of it.

Final Thoughts

Taking this into account, it is easy to see how having a life that 'isn't too bad' is not ideal if someone wants to live a life that is deeply fulfilling. And, this is also going to be the case if one area of their life is this way.
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Other areas of their life might be going very well, but this area might not be too bad, thereby taking away their desire to do anything about it. What this shows is how important pain is when it comes to living a life that is worth living.

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Incredible True Story Behind Sylvester Stallone’s Success Will Inspire You To Never Give Up

Sylvester Stallone has been a household name for decades after the monster success of the Rocky franchise that began in the 1970’s. Not only did he star in these movies as Rocky but he also directed, produced, and wrote a majority of the films. Rocky was his first big hit that made him a certified movie star and would go on film in countless action films.

Today, at age 71, he is still acting, writing, and directing feature films. While he makes success look easy, that was not always the case. Here is the unbelievable inspiring story of Sylvester Stallone — a true rags to riches story.

Sylvester Stallone Inspirational Story

Like many actors, Stallone struggled at the beginning of his Hollywood career. But his struggles were more than most. He was so broke that he became homeless, sold his wife’s jewellery and even sold his dog for $25 as he had no money to feed him anymore. He said that was the lowest moments of his entire life and walked away crying.

A few weeks after the tragic event he watched a Mohammed Ali boxing match that inspired him to write Rocky. He was so inspired that he wrote the entire script in less than a day! Studios loved the script but didn’t love Sylvester Stallone’s one request — to be the main lead in the movie.

He was offered over $300,000 for the script but still said no — despite being dead broke! He knew that this movie was his ticket to success. After enough time a studio agreed to let him star and only gave him $35,000 for the script. Several things happened.

First, he went back to the place he sold his dog, waited around long enough, and was able to buy him back…. for $15,000! But it wasn’t a problem as Rocky went on to make history. With a small budget of one million dollars, it went on to gross 225 million, be nominated for several Oscars, and yield six sequels.

What You Can Learn From Sylvester Stallone 

The best part of this inspirational story is that you can learn two main principles to help you succeed:

Always Believe in Yourself

If Sylvester Stallone had given his script for $350,000 without acting in the film he probably wouldn’t be the worldwide movie star he is today. He believed in himself with absolute conviction and didn’t let money deter him, despite being broke. 

Don’t take the short-term gain if it sacrifices your long-term potential.

Life Can Be Hard Before It’s Easy

Sylvester Stallone went from being dead broke, sleeping on a bus station to being worth 400 million dollars today! If he would have given up on his dream of being an actor it’s almost guaranteed he would never have made that kind of money.

Don’t give up on your dreams just because things are tough right now. When it’s bad and you feel scared, tired and think about quitting keep moving forward!

Hopefully, this Sylvester Stallone inspirational story will help you get closer to reaching your dreams. Remember, never stop believing in yourself and your dream. As Les Brown said, “You have the ability to do more than you could ever begin to imagine.”

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The Power & Presence of Forgiveness: Letting Go

Such a big topic, isn't it? Forgiveness.

I've written about it in various contexts before, and it came up again recently. A subscriber wrote about "a family situation where there has been a lot of hurt," tracing back to growing up without learning how to share feelings or manage conflict well. He asked me for advice on how to practice forgiveness and offer an apology when they might not be reciprocated.

"I know that I've hurt them, too," he said. "But I'm not sure how to forgive when I haven't received an apology. And I don't want to appear to be the one giving in, though I know that's not the most sacred approach."

I was touched by the writer's honesty and grabbed once again by the questions surrounding forgiveness. When I think of forgiving my own difficult people, I have similar questions:

• What's standing in the way?
• Who would I have to be to forgive them?
• What do I need from them to forgive them, and am I likely to get it?
• If I don't get what I need, can I forgive them anyway?
• Where does the power to forgive come from?
• Is this power dependent on external circumstances? If yes, what are they?

It's an inner conflict, isn't it? Like most conflicts, the answers start with a conversation with myself.

My own experience tells me that unless we forgive, we carry a weight around with us that gets heavier with time. If you do an online search for "unforgiveness" you'll find a lot of hits that also include the words anxiety, poison, toxicity, and burden. According to author Anne Lamott: "Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die." Others disagree and say that forgiveness is not a choice but dependent on certain conditions.

Personally, I think that waiting and hoping for someone else to say they're sorry first, and to mean it, is disempowering, as if my happiness depends on an outcome I have no control over. For me it's a choice, and most of the time I can make it.

And maybe I can forgive without saying I'm sorry. Maybe forgiveness is an inside job. When I change my mindset, I lighten up, and who knows what I might be able to say and do, once I've had the conversation with myself.

My dear friend and hugely talented singer/songwriter, Ellen Stapenhorst, says it in her song, One Moment More, also the subject of a former post.

And sometimes I have to forgive myself: for doing something I'd like to take back; for creating unintentional harm; and--perhaps--for not being able to completely forgive someone else, just yet, though I'm working on it. I have to tame the inner critic and let go of the conflict, the subject of this Ki Moments post from 2009.

It all comes back to one of my favorite quotes from the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba:

Opponents confront us continually, but actually there is no opponent there.

And one of my own:

You have more power than you think. When you change, everything changes.

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The Power of Habit - One of the most Motivational Talks Ever

Feeling Defeated? How to Overcome Failure & Power Up Your Confidence

A couple years back, a client was talking about acting. They had performed in plays most of their life.

They told me how much sweat, blood, and tears goes into one single play. The hours and HOURS of learning the material... memorizing their lines... and getting ready for the show. Despite all this preparation, something inevitably happens the day of the show... something you wouldn't expect...

They said, more often than not, someone will forget their lines or make a mistake on stage.

So NOT just a mistake but a VERY PUBLIC mistake. (In some cases in-front of hundreds of people)

What do they do about it?

When it happens, the cast members simply adjust to the mistake.

They flow with it.

They roll with it.

They play along with it.

They even make up lines if they have to.

I had no idea!

Looking back on all the plays I'd seen, I wondered how many had to be adjusted because of mistakes.

Crazy thing is, I didn't notice and neither did the people I was with...

The truth is... most people don't.

I heard something similar from a former Chicago Cubs employee. He told me how one day, they were preparing for the first pitch of the game, when the guy who was supposed to bring out the ball, waltzed out there WITHOUT it...

(Mind you, that's in-front of thousands of people and on LIVE television.)

Once he realized it, he just kept waving to the crowd, casually walks back to the dugout, grabs the ball, and goes back out there.

Besides management, hardly anyone noticed it...

Now think about both of those situations. Hundreds if not thousands of people are watching when these mistakes happen...

Yet hardly anyone notices the mistake.

If a VERY public mistake like that is hardly detected - what are the chances that the little ones in our daily lives are?

Very often though, people beat themselves up about little mistakes they make - and think that EVERYONE is going to notice what happened.

Chances are no one saw it...

And as long as you "mend the fence" or "course correct" you have nothing to worry about.

So instead of pummeling yourself (Which most people are VERY good at!)

Maybe we should take lessons from theater (and the Cubs) when mistakes happen...

Roll with it

Play along with it

Have fun with it

Because the show goes on.

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