Rocky Balboa the Life Coach! :)

There is so much in this short 2 minute clip.

"When things got hard...you started looking for something to blame"
We always want to blame something (for each of us that "something" is different) when life does not go the way we thought it would. If we don't know how to love others or ourselves, its because we were not loved as a child. If we don't have all the "things" we want in life (you know...the nice car, big house with picket fence, and a lot of money in the bank), its because we did not have the opportunities in life like all the other people did (because we all know that rich people just had it handed to them...right).

Rocky said something that I found very interesting. He tells his son that he needs to go out and stop pointing fingers, saying that it is because of certain situations or people that he is not where he wants to be in life. He then yells with love in his voice, "Cowards do that and that ain't you!"

"Life ain't all Sunshine and Rainbow"
Boy that's the truth ain't it! (Sorry, a little Rocky coming out in my writing) We all have something in our life that makes us stand back and say, "This is not what I thought it would be." Someone out there is looking at their financial situation and saying, "How did I get here. This is not where I wanted to be in my life." Someone out there is looking at their physical situation and saying, "How did I get here. This is not where I wanted to be in my life." Someone out there is looking at their family life and saying, "How did I get here. This is not where I wanted to be in my life." Someone out there is looking at their faith and saying, "How did I get here. This is not where I wanted to be in my life."

It is at these moments that the road of life splits and heads in two different directions. We can choose the left, which leads to us listening to the enemy when they tell us that we are not worth anything. It leads us down the path of anger, negativity, cynicism, and blaming. It leads down a path of darkness that seems to engulf our life with no hope to be seen. Or we can choose the right, which leads to an understanding that life is not always easy, but just laying down and letting life kick you around is cowardice, and we are not cowards...that's not us. I love what Rocky said, "It ain't about how hard you hit, its about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward...how much you can take and keep moving forward"

"If you know what you worth, then go get what your worth...but you have to be willing to take the hits."
How many times in life have we failed because we are too afraid to "take the hits." I'm not talking about the kind of failure that comes when we go out and try out best, and give it all we have and still come up short. In my mind that is not failure; that is learning how to do it better the next time. No, I am talking about the kind of failure that comes in not even trying. You know the kind of failure I'm talking about. The kind that keeps you up at night because you wish you had the strength to take a chance. You wish you did not allow fear to dictate the decisions you make. That is the kind of failure that will eat you up from the inside out. But there is a way to keep that kind of failure from happening, be willing to take the hits. I have seen so many people (and I am apart of this group) that miss out on some of the greatest joys in life, just because they are not willing to put themselves out there and take a chance. "I can't open my heart, because it might get stepped on." Have you heard comments such as this one? (Oh, there are so many more, but I will not waste our time) We can not be afraid of taking chances. We have to be willing to take the hits.

Rocky has another very interesting quote that goes along with this point. He tells his son that he is the best thing that ever happened to him and wants the best for him and his life. He then says, "But until you start believing in yourself...you ain't going to have a life" I think that speaks for itself.

Let me wrap this up :)

This post is all about getting up when life knocks us down. But I would be missing the mark if I did not share one thing...to share with you where my strength to do this comes from. I have had many times in my life where I wish I had been able to get up after being kicked around, but did not have the strength to do so. I look back at those moments and think, "What if". But, I have had many times in my life when I have been knocked down and spat upon and have had the strength to stand tall and say that I am going to keep moving forward. And it is looking back on those times in my life, that I realize that the strength did not come from me...it couldn't have. I am not strong enough within myself to make it through the "12 Rounds" of life. My strength comes from Christ. My example comes from Him.

You see, there is no one out there that can ever say that they have been knocked down, kicked around, spat upon, beaten, and hated more than Jesus. When He was kicked, He did not blame. When He hated, He did not hate back. When He was hit, He was willing to take the hits for us...because He knew how much we where worth to God. It was not a coward that hung upon that cross...it was the King of the Ring and He knew "how winning is done!"

God Bless and Keep Looking Up!