The movie Forrest Gump touched, moved, and inspired people 20+ years ago. The life lessons from the movie are just as relevant today as they were back in 1994. They give the movie it’s timeless nature.
This series is dedicated to listing the many life lessons from the movie that we can incorporate into our daily lives to feel more peace and love … and to live our lives with Gumption.
Walk Past Negatives Situations
“You can’t sit here.”
We get rejected. It hurts. It stings.
When Forrest was a little boy, he got on the bus to attend his first day of school.
As he walked down the bus aisle looking for a seat, this is what he heard.
- “This seat’s taken.”
- “It’s taken!”
- “You can’t sit here.”
Not only did he hear those words, he saw the faces of older kids telling him he wasn’t worthy. So keep moving. Ouch.
But then a miracle happened. Jenny invited him to sit down. He made a new friend.
By walking past the negatives he reached a positive.
Many years later, Forrest walked down the aisle of a bus on his induction day in the Army.
In the words of Yogi Bera it was deja vu all over again.
This time, the other new soldiers said:
- “This seat’s taken.”
- “It’s taken.”
In that moment Forrest wondered, “At first it seemed I made a mistake.”
And then the miracle happened. Bubba invited him to sit down. He made a new friend.
Another positive situation discovered by walking past the negatives.
Recall situations in your own life when you first encountered back-to-back negatives, only to then discover a positive.
It wasn’t that the negative situation itself changed – and turned into something positive – rather, it was a new, positive situation that appeared.
You have to walk past the negatives to find the positive.
We spend a lot of time and energy attempting to turn around negatives.
We try to convince someone to let us sit down.
We want them to change their minds.
We want to fight for our right to sit with them.
There is another option … keep walking until we find an open seat. An invitation. A new friend.
It works like magic.
When you encounter a negative situation, keep walking. Find a positive.