Most of you have probably seen the 2005 movie Cinderella
Man, the story of James Braddock, a supposedly washed-up boxer who came back to
become a champion and an inspiration in the 1930s. He was asked at a point in his life, “What
are you fighting for?” and his answer was something that has lived on for close
to 100 years. People assumed he’d say
pride, or for the love of boxing, or to win the title, or even for fame and
riches, especially in the midst of the 1930’s and the Great Depression. But it was none of those things.
A couple weeks back my friend reached out to me asking for
help. She got some really scary news in
regards to her current state of health and finally wants to make some positive
changes in her life. Her world just got
rattled and knocked her to the ground and instead of just lying their in a pity
party of negativity she picked herself up and took the first step. That first step you take is the longest, the
hardest and the most treacherous. She asked
for help. I’m honored that she would ask
me. Over the years I’ve tried but it
typically would work for a little while and then revert back to old ways
because she didn’t have a cause that meant something to her.
The thing that scared her the most when she was told that
things needed to change, and they needed to change immediately was the picture
of her young child. Images rushed
through her, memories of the past, the present and the future with her
child. And the thoughts of her not being
there for her kid crushed her. But it
motivated her just the same. This was
the spark that relit the fire inside her that used to burn so bright in her
younger years. That old fire you could
feel the heat off of just by being around her and now it’s back. Over the years her smile had lost some of
it’s glow and her laughter had slowly faded off into the distance. But it’s back now. She has a cause and she’s fighting.
Jimmy Braddock was in the deepest depths of poverty as a
washed up ex-prizefighter, broken-down, beaten-up and out-of-luck as much as
the rest of the population at the time who hit rock bottom. Like so many others, he was battling poverty,
despair, and shame. He no longer could pay his bills, which had put his
family in danger. His family was all
that mattered to him and deep inside his warrior spirit was holding on to its
last single flame. His determination to
get out, to turn it all around, is the story of legend. He was driven by love, honor and true
grit. He willed another chance out of
his life and was thrown into an impossible dream back in the ring.
Not everybody gets a second chance these days. Everyone falls into a run of bad luck at some
point. Jimmy knew what he was fighting
for this time around. He had a cause
unlike anyone he was fighting. Simply
put he was "Fighting for Milk". He needed
to feed his family so he fought for milk.
And it was at this point that suddenly the ordinary workingman became
the storybook athlete. Carrying the
hopes and dreams of the disenfranchised on his shoulders. Everyone wanted Jimmy to win. It was not because he was a better boxer, but
because he had a cause that was fueling him, a noble cause that touched so many
people of that era, he was fighting for milk.
My friend now has her second chance, and when I first talked
with her after she got the bad news I heard something in her voice that
changed. She had a purpose now, she had
a cause. She’s going to fight for her
milk. And I couldn’t be any
prouder. I love you, you know who you
are!
So friends all I ask of you is to fight. Don’t stop fighting. Find your cause, find your purpose and fight
like hell for it. Life is short and no
one is guaranteed a second chance. Some
opportunities only come once, go seize them.
Fight for them. Fight for your milk!
"Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune’s control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately." - SENECA
G
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