“When things got hard you started looking for someone else to blame” - Rocky Balboa
This is one of my all-time favourite scenes from one of the most under-appreciated screenwriters in Hollywood, Sylvester Stallone. There’s so much instructional wisdom here for all men, young or old, with or without fathers.
I touched on accountability in my last post, a value I believe is severely lacking in today’s technologically-decadent societies. In this scene, Rocky pleads to his son to stop pointing fingers at other people for his own failures, and start looking at himself. To develop resilience against the “hardest punches” life will throw at him, and keep getting up and moving forward.
It’s easy to blame others: parents, the past or misfortune, but hard to look in the mirror and make the necessary change. Yet that is what we must do, to face up to our failures, make the adjustments and take control of our lives. Because no one else will do it for you. Not even your father.
It’s something men without fathers know well, to be self-reliant, but we often forget once things get a bit cosier. This scene is a wake-up call, to stop laying blame and start taking names, beginning with our own.
I hope you enjoyed today’s post and are already looking forward to the next one. Feel free to leave a comment below, share your experience, or even make a suggestion for a future post.
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