It's Not How Hard Life Hits, It's How You Respond

                                                   Image via WikipediaI have a confession to make....

I love Rocky!  I mean I seriously love the Rocky movies.  I've seen each of them at least a hundred times, and probably will see them all at least that many more times.  Much to my wife's chagrin.

No matter how quirky/corny the movies might be there are little life lessons you can learn from the Italian Stallion.  In the latest installment, simply titled "Rocky Balboa," Rock dispenses some invaluable lessons to his kid. It's a lesson that I think about every single day, especially when I am faced with some of life's more unpleasant tests.

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place It will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

Sometimes life is hard.  If you're not careful it will knock you down.  And if you're not extra careful, and find your inner Eye of the Tiger, it will keep you down.

You want to know the single biggest difference between those who refuse to let life's little punches keep them down and those who keep getting pummeled every day?  The winners in life let life take it's best shot but they keep getting up.  They simply refuse to take the knockout punch.  As Rocky said they keep getting hit but keep moving forward.  That's what winners do.

So how do you respond to life's little tests?  Do you take it on the chin and crumble like a little fragile china doll under the pressure or do you get mad, do you get angry and do you dig your heals in to keep charging ahead to claim what is rightfully yours?

Think about it.  The bell for the round just rang...I gotta go!

Ripple On!!!

In case you need any extra motivation to answer your own bell, take the 4 minutes to watch this video montage of Rocky highlights. If you can't see the video because you receive this BLOG in a reader or in your email, you can check it out here: http://youtu.be/VgSMxY6asoE