Forrest Gump lived a gump-like life.
In fact, Forrest invented what it means to be gump-like.
Simple.
Kind.
Open-minded.
Persistent.
Forgiving.
The result was peace. Forrest had peace of mind.
Another result was love. Love for himself. Love for others.
The final result was Gumption. Gumption that leads to success.
On November 5, 2009, I wrote my first blog. On November 1, 2010, I posted my 100th blog. On October 20, 2011, I posted my 200th blog. Today, October 11th, 2012, I?m posting number 300 ? Wow!
Here are three things I?ve discovered about myself from writing during the past year.
Want to see eleven of my favorite blogs this past year?
Sixteen years ago, I started performing for the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. My job was to sit in front of the restaurant on a park bench talking to tourists and potential shrimp consumers. My task was pretty simple. I engaged people in conversation and created a gump-like experience for them. It was a soft sell: Come sit with Forrest, take a picture, enjoy yourself, and if you’re hungry we have great shrimp, burgers, etc. It worked perfectly.
Except … I was asked one question that initially I didn’t have a good answer. I tried telling the pure truth, but that didn’t work out so well. So I created my own ‘little white lie.’ You’ll remember in the movie when Mama encouraged Forrest to promote the Flex-O-Ping-Pong Paddle. She acknowledged that it was just a little white lie and wasn’t hurting anyone.
Here is the question that I was asked and the little white lie I created to better fulfill my mandate of creating a gump-like experience for the tourists visiting Cannery Row in Monterey, California.
In my previous post, I attempted to describe Cerebrate as the event it was. It described the who, what, where, when, and why. But Cerebrate really isn’t a logistical thing; rather, it’s an opportunity for personal self-discovery. My guess is everyone who participated learned something new about him or herself. The process of sharing, conversing, and focusing without the distractions of everyday living allows new personal discoveries.
Here are five things I learned either about myself or about my future self.
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 Gump had many admirable and notable character traits. One of those traits was Forrest’s ability to be kind. Being gump-like is having the ability to show consideration, be helpful, and be affectionate and loving. Check out being gump-like Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,and6here.
Gump-like is being kind.
Fifteen-plus years ago I started working professionally as a Forrest Gump impersonator/look-alike/tribute artist. I 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 Gump had many admirable and notable character traits. Forrest was literal. Being gump-like is being literal. Check out being gump-like Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 here.
Gump-like is being literal.
