Life is like a box of chocolates

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.

Don?t Count Your Chickens Before They?re Hatched ? Part 2

The Rhode Island Red with her one very healthy chick.

A few weeks ago, I wroteabout my chicken-and-egg experiment. I had three broody hens sitting on eight fertilized eggs each.

Twenty-four eggs … twenty-four potential chicks.

Turns out if I were a baseball player, my .333 average would be considered pretty good. But like political polls, when you dig deeper into the data, the headline can be misleading.

In my case, I had one superstar, one marginal player, and one total washout. Here is the story.

Face Adversity with Courage

gumption-Gumption-Gumptionable

Last August I created the word gumptionable. Gumptionable means being 100 percent personally responsible for all your actions and interactions.

Wow! That means every single thing you say or do ? you must be 100% responsible!

No blame. No excuses. No hedging. No petty criticizing. No gossip. No cover-ups. No fish stories. No lame explanations. No passing the buck. No evading. No giving the run around. No 90/10, 75/25, or even 50/50!

Only 100% responsibility?for all your actions and interactions.

As a reminder, Gumptionable combines the traditional meaning of gumption (sound practical judgment; fortitude and determination) with the theory of Gumption?(integrity, presence, receptiveness, choices, opportunities, adversity, and communication) to create 7 principles that lead directly to success.

Today, let?s examine principle #6 in greater detail and face adversity with courage.

How courageous are you when adversity stares you in the face??

Birthdays are Like a Box of Chocolates

Forrest-Gump-Movie-Poster ?

Is this a weird coincidence or some sort of strange karma or destiny or fate?

July 6 (1994) ? the movie Forrest Gump released
July 7 (1958) ? my birthday
July 9 (1956) ? Tom Hanks? birthday

It seems more than ironic that my birthday would be so closely sandwiched between those two dates. For 14+ years I?ve made my living off the movie Forrest Gump. And for 30+ years I?ve been compared physically to the actor Tom Hanks.

The human mind tends to see patterns where none exist. My guess is it?s just a coincidence ? albeit weird. But let?s examine the ideas of coincidence, karma, destiny and irony a bit more deeply to see if you agree.

Life is like a box of chocolates

Uncertainty

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