Choice

Life Lessons from the movie Forrest Gump: 06 – Uncertainty – Making Choices

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.

Uncertainty

?Life is like a box of chocolates ? you never know what you?re gonna get.?

We get to choose. We are free to pick which ever chocolate we want. It?s our choice.

But there are no guarantees. What?s inside is a mystery. It’s a surprise. There is uncertainty up until we take the first bite.

That?s how it works when you make a selection from the chocolate box.

That?s the way it works when you start living your life ? instead of having others choose for you.

You get to choose. No one else gets to decide how you?re gonna live your life.

But the final result of your choice is unknown. Uncertain.

Choosing involves risk. There is no guarantee.

Life is like a box of chocolates ? you don?t know what you?re gonna get.

Mama Gump taught Forrest not to fear the uncertainty of life. She taught him not to fear choosing.

Just do it. Live your life with Gumption.

Randomness

A feather suddenly appears from seemingly nowhere. Artist Credit: Gary Yakima Geyer

Imagine you’re sitting on a park bench. You are minding your own business. Maybe you’re waiting for a bus … or maybe you’re just idly sitting … daydreaming.

Off in the distance, unbeknownst to you, a feather is floating through the air. The feather is very light. Its flight is influenced by greater forces. It is pushed and propelled along its journey by the breezes and winds.

You are completely unaware of the feather’s existence until the last possible moment. That moment occurs when the feather suddenly appears floating in front of you. Gravity gently pulls the feather down. It lands at your feet.

[Read more…] about Randomness

Being Gump-like (Part 10) ? Fearless

Fifteen-plus years ago I started working professionally as a Forrest Gump impersonator/look-alike/tribute artist. I’ve used the expression ‘gump-like’ thousands of times to describe a person, one of their attributes, or to define an interaction that occurred between myself and another.

Forrest was fearless when he stepped up to the microphone in Washington, DC.

Forrest Gump had many admirable and notable character traits. One of those traits was Forrest’s fearlessness. Being gump-like involves bold thinking. Being gump-like means acting gallantly. Being gump-like is interacting with others confidently.

Gump-like behavior is being fearless in the way you think, act, and interact with others.

Check out being gump-like Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8,and 9here.

Choosing Powerfully versus Choosing Carefully

Make your choices like a bulldozer moves dirt ? Powerfully!

To be careful is to be cautious with one?s actions. Guarded. It implies a fear of something unfavorable occurring.

To be powerful is to exert great force and have a great effect. Powerful is convincing, influential, and effective.

A few years ago, I started using the term choose powerfully as a way to show my conviction. I was making changes in my life?s direction. Choosing powerfully spoke to the choices I wanted to make.

Last week my friend Marnie wrote on her Facebook wall about choices she was making in her life. I encouraged her to choose powerfully.

She commented that she was glad that I didn?t say choose carefully.

Words matter.

Five Steps to Function With Gumption

Five Steps to Better Function with Gumption

When you function with Gumption, you take 100% personal responsibility for your thinking, your getting things done, and your interactions with others. You give up excuses and blame. If we said, “Functioning with Gumption is like a box of chocolates,” we’d have to finish the saying, “you get to choose the exact chocolate that you want.”

Here are five steps you can take so that you will not only feel confident in your choice, but so you’ll also be aligning your life to function with Gumption.

Make shrewd Choices

Chocolates ?

About 6 weeks ago, I coined the word gumptionable. Gumptionable is simply defined as being 100 percent personally responsible for all of your actions and interactions. It is a combination of the conventional meaning of gumption, along with the theory of living with Gumption.?

The conventional term gumption has these meanings:

Sound practical judgment, with synonyms including: common sense; ability; intelligence; sagacity; shrewdness; cleverness
Fortitude anddetermination,with synonyms including: guts; moxie; initiative; backbone; grit; spirit; spunk; courage; nerve; daring; enterprise

The theory of Gumption combines Forrest Gump?s three personality traits?integrity, presence, and receptiveness?with these four key areas of daily living: choice, opportunity, adversity, and communication.

By combining gumption and Gumption and analyzing them as a way of living, we arrive at the 7 principles of being gumptionable.

Today let?s take a deeper look at principle #4: Making shrewd choices

Choice

Uncertainty

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