Rocky Balboa: A Big Shadow

From the movie Rocky Balboa:

Rocky’s son is frustrated from living his life in his dad’s big shadow after a heated rebuke from his son Rocky gives this little speech.

"You ain’t gonna believe this, but you used to fit right here. I’d hold you up, to say to your mother, this kid is gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid is gonna be somebody better than anybody ever knew. And you grew up good and wonderful and it was great just to watch you everyday - it was like a privilege. Then the time come to be your own man, and take on the world, and you did! But somewhere along the line, you changed, you stopped bein’ you, you let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you’re no good, and when things got hard, you started lookin’ for something to blame, like a big shadow.

Lemme tell you something you already know: the world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean, and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep ya there permanently if you let it.

You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life, but it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about hard you can GET hit, and keep moving forward, how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winnin’ is done!

Now if you know what you’re worth, now go out there and get what you’re worth, but you gotta be willin’ to take the hits! And not pointing fingers sayin "you ain’t where you wanna be because of him or her or anybody!"

Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!

I’m always gonna love you, no matter what, no matter what happens, you’re my son, you’re my blood you’re the best thing in my life, but until you start believing in yourself you ain’t gonna have a life."

You’re not the husband/wife you should be, you aren’t involved in ministry or outreach, you don’t pray or read your bible, you don’t know your kids, you stay stuck in a dead end job, you can’t change because… because why?

It’s time to stop making excuses!