Movies can be great teachers…
More than most people give them credit for.
Personally my first movie was Star Wars at the tender age of 4. I don’t remember it at all, but my parents told me I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was jumping up and down on the seat in the movie theater making all sorts of noise…thankfully the people around me thought it was cute.
The first movie I clearly remember watching was Jaws, and for good reason. I literally jumped a foot in the air at one point and remember my mother shouting at my Dad for letting me watch it. I still hear the music in my head when I’m swimming in the ocean.
But it wasn’t till we moved overseas that I really got into movies.
I remember getting my first Betamax way back when. It was one of our first purchases when we moved into our house in the Philippines.
From that day forth, I was hooked.
In high school I was officially put in charge of organizing movies for the family. Each Saturday morning I would wake up early to ensure that I could get to our video store before the traffic got too bad.
I can’t tell you how many movies I’ve seen over the years, but I would put the number somewhere around 5,000. But that’s just a guess.
These days I don’t have the time I used to have what with running three businesses, raising my son, doing Karate, and swimming. However, with my son able to actually watch movies now, if a good movie comes out we make sure to head to the movie theater.
Yesterday was one such day.
Some of you might remember from previous posts that I’m also a big superhero geek so when I watched the trailers of Man Of Steel and heard good things about it from friends, I could hardly wait.
I was not disappointed.
In many ways it was so much more than a superhero movie.
An excellent cast, fabulous music, good story, great action scenes, touching moments are all things that make for a winning movie and Man of Steel has all them.
But it has something more.
After all, we’re talking about probably the most famous superhero ever, Superman.
Courage, trust, hope.
Three words that encompass what Superman stands for and things we should all strive to have.
We may not be super, but within all of us we have the ability to better ourselves. However not all of us choose to do so.
We are the only being on this planet given the power of choice. A tree doesn’t get a choice in how high it grows. It will grow as high as it possibly can.
Since you’re reading this post, I think it’s safe to say you’re someone who believes in going after your dreams.
But the road to success is not an easy one. There are always ups and downs.
Superman throughout his comics and shown in Man of Steel, constantly faces dilemmas.
He is faced with impossible decisions. And yet, he somehow, in the end, makes the right choice by simply sticking to his principles.
Personally I am a father, an educator, a husband, a coach, a friend. Each comes with their own set of challenges but I believe the key to my success in each is sticking to a few simple concepts, fundamentals if you will, regardless of my role:
- I keep my word (I am careful in what I promise because I know that people will hold me to it)
- I care (if there is one thing I want to be remembered for, it’s this — that I cared)
- I go the extra mile (I am willing to do what I can to help people if I can)
- I study (I know I can always be better and learn from as many sources as I can)
- I take action (I might not always be right, but I keep at it. Luck favors those who take action, not those who wait)
- I take risks (there are times when we should be willing to take chances if the pros outweigh the cons)
They might not make me a superman…I’m just like everyone else; dealing with the trials and tribulations of life. I have made mistakes. I have fallen.
But watching The Man of Steel reminded me that we must never give up hope.
There will always be challenges.
But if we try hard enough, long enough…somehow, things do work out.
I hope you’ll join me in the great challenge of life.
Maybe one day we, too, will be super.
Adrian Shepherd