Writings Tagged with ‘Life Lessons’

The Fine Line Between Persistence and Stubbornness

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

 

Forrest Gump lived life persistently

Forrest Gump lived life persistently

The past four years I’ve been steadfast in my goal to transform myself from a pure entertainer/marketer into a speaker/facilitator/consultant. I’m not fully there, but I’m well on my way.

 

So, have I been persistent or stubborn? The answer is yes. I’ve been both.

 

I’ve persisted in spite of opposition.

I’ve endured tenaciously.

I’ve insisted on reaching my goal.

 

That is persistence.

 

I’ve been stubborn in not listening to reasons – I’m unreasonable.

I’ve been unmoving and fixed in my purpose – I’m fixed.

I’ve been difficult to manage and refused to take no – Don’t tell me, “No!”

 

That is stubbornness.

 

As a society, we admire persistence.

Individually, we loathe stubbornness.

 

So consider this …

 

Stubbornness that meets a goal is called persistence.

Persistence that falls short of a goal is called stubbornness.

 

Maybe the fine line between persistence and stubbornness is knowing how to bend.

Maybe the persistent are better able to adjust.

Maybe the stubborn just miss the mark.

 

 

Next Blog Title: Advice to Heed and Advice to Ignore

Next Blog Date: October 6, 2011

 

Steve Weber is a speaker, Forrest Gump tribute artist, facilitator, blogger, and author. The three principles of Gumption are specifically designed to get you (and your team) to Function with Gumption. Steve uses the simple, yet powerful, life lessons from the movie Forrest Gump to bring positivity back into the workplace. Learn more at SpeakingGump.com.

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I’m Not a Smart Man … But I Know What Urgent Is

Monday, September 26th, 2011

 

Forrest many not have been a smart man, but he knew what love is.

Forrest many not have been a smart man, but he knew what love is.

 

As Jenny ascended the stairs at the Gump house, Forrest proposed marriage. She turned him down, saying, “You don’t want to marry me.”

 

Forrest was clearly disappointed and asks her, “Why don’t you love me, Jenny?” Then without waiting for her reply, he states, “I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.” He walked out the front door to the porch to stand alone with his thoughts.

 

I love that line. “I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.”

 

It demonstrates the confidence Forrest had in his abilities and shows an awareness of his own limitations.

 

Forrest knew his limitations – but he also knew what he knew.

 

He knew his ability to love.

He knew who he was as person.

He knew what he valued.

He knew what he wanted in life.

 

Sometimes I feel like Forrest Gump myself … not very smart … or at least a little slow to catch on. It takes me longer to figure some things out. For example:

 

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Stories of Gumption – My Father, the Family House, and Another New Chapter

Monday, September 12th, 2011

 

stories-of-gumption
Stories of Gumption is a regular column that profiles individuals who admirably demonstrate Gumption as we define it. These are the stories of real people who exhibit gumption in overcoming personal challenges, and validate the spirit of Gumption during their journey. Let’s take inspiration from those who seize 100% personal responsibility and show us how to live a life that exhibits Gump-like character traits worthy of applause!

 

Historically, the elderly would stay in their homes until they died – at least the fortunate ones. Oftentimes, they were forced to leave the family house and live out their remaining days with either caring relatives or in a nursing home. This unpleasant relocation became necessary when they reached the stage of life where caring for themselves was simply no longer possible.

 

The family home of 58 years sold as Dad moves to retirement community

The family home of 58 years sold as Dad moves to retirement community

 

The old house was filled with 40, 50, 60, or even 70 years of memories, antiques, memorabilia, and lots and lots of junk. Wading through all of the stuff, giving mementos to family members, finding charities to benefit from still usable items, and filling a dumpster with everything else was a job left to the survivors. That process, while potentially therapeutic for the memories, was a task more necessary than fun.

 

Thank you, Dad!

 

Thank you for doing today what we won’t have to do tomorrow … or in five, ten, or in seventeen years, three months, and twenty-one days when you celebrate your 100th birthday. God willing, that is what we will do on your 100th birthday – celebrate all together!

 

This week, my father will complete the sale of the family house of fifty-eight years and move into a retirement community.

 

Today, I salute my father as a man who is still living his life with Gumption. At age eighty-two, he is making a bold move. Any time one starts a new chapter in life, it takes courage. Starting the closing chapters takes foresight and shows great compassion.

 

Thanks, Dad, for doing today what will make your next five, ten, or seventeen-plus years more comfortable for you, Amy, me, and my siblings. You are a man of Gumption. You are my hero.

 

Here are a few more of my personal thoughts about Dad, the family house, traditional elder care, and a new way for the elderly to care for themselves.

 

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Stories of Gumption – Gary’s World Trade Center Story

Friday, September 9th, 2011

 

stories-of-gumption
Stories of Gumption is a regular column that profiles individuals who admirably demonstrate Gumption as we define it. These are the stories of real people who exhibit gumption in overcoming personal challenges, and validate the spirit of Gumption during their journey. Let’s take inspiration from those who seize 100% personal responsibility and show us how to live a life that exhibits Gump-like character traits worthy of applause!

 

On September 11, 2001, my cousin, Gary, was working in lower Manhattan when our world changed. Reprinted here is his first-hand account from that day … 10 years ago.

 

Gary’s Scary But Lucky World Trade Center Story

 

This was similar to what Gary was seeing just before the dust cloud overtook everyone on the street. Photo Credit Unknown.

This was similar to what Gary was seeing just before the dust cloud overtook everyone on the street. Photo Credit Unknown.

My office was diagonally across the street and one building away from the World Trade Center.

 

The first boom was about 9 AM. People in the office wondered if it was thunder. But sheets of 8½-by-11-inch paper filled the air outside my 16th-floor windows like a ticker tape parade. People on the sidewalks were looking toward the World Trade Center.

 

I took the elevator down. A coworker got off a different elevator car, looking disgusted and upset. Guys in the elevator going down said a plane had hit the WTC. On the street, I could see the whole 80th floor of Tower 1 was ablaze. I walked about a block closer. I saw at least five people jump or fall from the smoke between the 80th and 110th floors. I could not see where they were hitting. The low buildings of the WTC were in the way. I was hoping there was a net at the bottom.

 

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Why do some see talent and others see only a ‘local idiot’?

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

 

Coach-Bryant-Spots-Talent

Some see what they've always seen, while some see talent.

In my last post I suggested that making your own luck is possible. And the chances of creating your own luck increase as you play, attempt, participate, and then attempt time and time again.

 

The example I used was Forrest being discovered as he ran onto the local high school field while the team scrimmaged. The legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant was in the stands and noticed Forrest’s blazing speed. Coach Bryant saw talent, potential, and an opportunity for his team.

 

The Greenbow High team coach only saw Forrest as the local idiot.

 

Is it a coincidence that one of the greatest coaches of all time was able to see talent while a small-town high school coach missed it?

 

Why do some see talent and others see only what they’ve always seen?

Are you wearing blinders to talent (and potential opportunities)?

What opportunities are running by you right now?

 

 

Next Blog Title:  Traditional Gumption Defined 

Next Blog Date:  April 21, 2011

 

 

Steve Weber is a Forrest Gump tribute artist, speaker, event maker, blogger, and aspiring author. He uses the simple, yet powerful, truths of Forrest Gump to turn meetings into events. You can learn more at SpeakingGump.com. 

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Make Your Own Luck

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

 

Bear-Bryant-Scouting-For-Talent

Was it luck that Coach Bear Bryant happened see Forrest run by?

 

The teenage Jenny yells, “Run, Forrest, Run!” as the bad dudes throw rocks and start chasing Forrest in their old pickup truck.

 

With the truck bearing down on Forrest, the hooligans throw more rocks. Forrest veers off into a field, leaps over a five-foot fence and onto another road. The taunting boys yell and hoot and pound on the pursuing truck’s roof. Forrest makes a right turn to safety onto a football field where the high school team is practicing.

 

The legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant is in the stands watching the scrimmage. He wears his trademark plaid hat. A group of assistant coaches sit around him, as is the local high school football coach.

 

Just as the quarterback throws the ball into the air, Forrest runs past the quarterback. The receiver catches the ball. Forrest runs past the receiver while an opposing player tackles the amazed receiver.

 

Coach Bryant stands and asks, “Who in the hell is that?” The high school coach snidely replies, “That there is Forrest Gump, Coach. Just a local idiot.”

 

And of course, Forrest’s legendary football career was born.

 

Was it simply luck? Or did Forrest make his own luck?

 

Here are four reasons why getting on the field of life is necessary if you want to make your own luck.

 

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Accepting Without Complaint

Monday, April 11th, 2011

 

ItWasABulletThatBitYou

"It was a bullet ... That jumped up and bit you.”

 

“It was a bullet, wasn’t it?” asked the man seated on the bench next to Forrest Gump as Forrest recalled the circumstances of Bubba being killed in Vietnam.

 

Forrest questioned the man, “A bullet?”

 

The man clarified, “That jumped up and bit you.”

 

Forrest’s reply, “Oh yes, sir. Bit me directly in the buttocks. They said it was a million dollar wound, but the Army must keep that money, ’cause I still ain’t seen a nickel of that million dollars. The only good thing about being wounded in the buttocks … is the ice cream.”

 

In that simple dialogue, Forrest shows us that accepting without complaint is much more productive (and healthier) than either accepting while complaining or the worst case – complaining and not accepting.

 

Here are five lessons we can learn from Forrest getting bit in the buttocks:

 

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I’ve Worn Lots of Shoes

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

 

ThoseLookLikeComfortableShoes

Forrest wore lots of shoes

 

In the opening dialogue of the movie Forrest Gump, Forrest starts a conversation with a woman in a nurse’s uniform as she exits the bus and sits down on the bench next to Forrest. He is mostly talking to himself, although she pretends to politely listen as she attempts to read her magazine.

 

Forrest says, “Those must be comfortable shoes. I’ll bet you could walk all day in shoes like that and not feel a thing. I wish I had shoes like that.”

 

The nurse retorts, “My feet hurt.”

 

Unflustered by the curt remark, Forrest continues, “Momma always says there’s an awful lot you could tell about a person by their shoes. Where they’re going. Where they’ve been.”

 

The woman stares at Forrest as he looks down at his own shoes.

 

He continues, “I’ve worn lots of shoes. I bet if I think about it real hard I could remember my first pair of shoes.”

 

The brilliance of this opening scene is that shoes are analogous to the different roles we play in life. The scene sets the stage for the many roles Forrest will play in his life. The movie is about to reveal those roles played, and the different shoes worn, by Forrest.

 

How many shoes have you worn in your life?

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