RESILIENCE IS THE HEART OF A CHAMPION


 

“Find your rhythm in the grind.”

From the movie ‘Rocky’

 

This year, Silvester Stallone turns 80, and his cult movie – ‘Rocky’ turns 50…

I turn 68…

I haven’t become a legend like Stallone. It’s said, that during his struggling days, he had to sell his dearest dog for a few dollars, to survive in Philadelphia. Once he made millions of dollars when his movie ‘Rocky’ became a super hit, the first thing Stallone did was, that he bought back his favourite dog…

In my struggling days, here in this big city of Bombay, I had to sell my favourite possession –- a Citizen watch (gifted by my elder brother) -- for hundred rupees. But, even though I could afford to buy a nice watch once I started earning, I decided not to wear a watch at all…

Much later, I would learn about another struggler, who had arrived much before I did, here in this city. M. F. Husain’s paintings were sold for crores of rupees. But, to keep the memory of his struggling days alive, he had decided never to wear any footwear at all…

Struggle in life has only made man stronger. As a dialogue in ‘Rocky’ says, “Resilience is the heart of a Champion.”

Tonight, like millions of people around the world, I, too, am waiting to watch the Finals of FIFA World Cup between Argentina and Spain. Only one of them will take home the trophy, despite our respective expectations. Every player in these two teams has struggled hard, just as any struggler had to. They have become stars through resilience -- by not giving up easily. “It’s not how hard you hit,” Rocky Balboa tells his skeptical young son, “but, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”

Is that so?

How hard, and how long, you can get hit and keep moving forward… Yes, that’s resilience. The heart of every Champion!





Long before an Anna and a Sonam Wangchuk fasted for a cause, a Gandhi and a Martin Luther King Jr, had. It’s not easy to make the Government talk…

The brute force Vs Moral force –- what wins in the end?

We just need to rewind the history…

Let me make it clear: This Post is not about Football matches or Rocky movies –- It’s not about Silvester Stallone or Sonam Wangchuk… It’s about, that heart of every champion –- Resilience…

Let the most resilient force win…

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic.:  Brett Sayles

Video: Official Rocky Balboa

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