Do you believe that things just happen by coincidence? Or that there is Divine intervention? At any rate I felt compelled to read the local paper today and came across the syndicated column of Ronda Rich. I've read her many times before. She is printed weekly on Wednesdays in the SouthView section of my newspaper. It had quite an impact on me.
Ronda Rich is always uplifting, offering her life experiences, advice and practical examples of people, places and things. Today's article is titled, "Living a dream is the true reward". She writes, "The key, I have decided, is to grow up brave enough and bold enough to follow our dreams, regardless of how crazy they may seem to others."
Her first example is of Sylvester Stallone. Did you know that he actually wrote the movie script for "Rocky"? And in 1975 as an unknown actor, starving and down on his luck, he convinced 2 producers to take a look at it. At first United Artists liked the script and offered Stallone $250,000 for it, but Stallone said, "No". So they took a chance, offered a small budget and gave in to Stallone's insistence that he star in the movie instead of somebody hot like Burt Reynolds. "Critics panned it, and the producers, standing outside the theater on opening day and bemoaning their luck, thought it was all over. Actor Peter Falk, of "Columbo" fame, walked up and said, "Go inside. The audience is standing and cheering."
Ronda Rich also writes:
"The public bought what the critics hated and the studio had been wary of. "Rocky" went on to win Best Picture and two other Academy Awards. Stallone had refused to settle. He saw it through to the end to get exactly what he dreamed. And that's another thing I believe -- you get what you settle for."
I love that line..."you get what you settle for." How true is that?? To dare to follow your dream and see it through. That is so inspiring to me. I have dreams. Dreams for today, tomorrow and into the future. Things I'd like to accomplish on my bucket list someday. I'm sure you do, too.
I'll share one dream I have for now. That is to get strong enough to get back to driving. I HATE NOT DRIVING! It's something I've been unable to do for close to 2 years now due to an illness that left me too weak to do it. So from this day forward, I vow to get stronger, with God's help and willingness, to stop just talking about getting stronger and to start doing something about it. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Now what's your dream? Please feel free to post a comment.
Editted on April 6, 2013:
Ronda Rich is the best-selling author of "There's A Better Day A-Comin". Visit www.rondarich.com to sign up for her weekly newsletter.
What a great outlook to have in life! Being from Philly, I love the Rocky movies and know the Sly Stallone story well. I am looking forward to seeing you driving again soon! It will be awesome to hear you saying - "YO, I DID IT!" The mind is a powerful thing and can do whatever we set it up to do. The mind reveals dreams to us that we never could've imagined on our own. Without dreams we lose direction, man would not have walked on the moon or gone to depths of the oceans or mapped DNA strands without dreaming of it first. There's an old saying that goes "What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." It's true! Stay positive, keep dreaming big and see what you can achieve. You will be surprised how far you go in making your dreams a reality.
ReplyDeleteRay, I love your motivation and encouragement! Thanks for posting such a thoughtful comment! I can't wait for the day I can say to you, "Yo, Ray, I did it!" It will be a beautiful thing to make my dream a reality. Best wishes to you in all you endeavor to make your reality, too!!
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