"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
Every one wants to win and be successful in life. Success comes with obstacles, hard choices, and sometimes letting people down.
But WE have to keep moving forward or else we lose!
In the 2006 version of the film "Rocky Balboa," the hero (Rocky) tells his son a valuable life lesson, "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... but it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.... That's how winning is done!...But ya gotta be willing to take the hits and not point fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that"
Decisions such as which way to turn or whether or not to take the shot or pass to a teammate, will come in all phases of our lives; but one thing we should always do is make the choice that we think is right. We will have to answer for them later in life, trust me.
Answering for the choices we make are not always the easiest thing to do, but I think Bradley Cooper, in the 2014 movie "American Sniper" (about Navy Seal Chris Kyle) said it best when he said, "I was just protecting my guys, they were trying to kill... our soldiers and I... I'm willing to meet my Creator and answer for every shot that I took."
My coach often talked about overcoming obstacles.
I better understand his words because I came across a quote by Michael Jordan which said, "If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."
That quote means a lot to me, especially now that I am getting older and must apply it to my real life and not just sports.
Not giving up in sports is also true though. Just imagine what would have happened if Jackie Robinson had given up on his dreams. Robinson went on to become the first ever African-American to play on a Major League Baseball team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1947. Where would the world of baseball be now without African-American coaches and players or even international players and coaches from Cuba, Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.
Just remember that Nelson Mandela, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of South Africa , once said to his people, "Do not judge me by successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again."
jfondren@blythevillecourier.com