Master Key Experience Week 14 – Cool Runnings: A Lesson in Persistence

I think I’ve seen Cool Runnings at least ten times before sitting down to this viewing.  It always just struck me as a feel-good movie.  You know…the protagonist gets the win in the end.

And it was those things this time around.  But yet it was more.  The message that stuck out to me most was persistence.  I mean, these guys could have given up a million times:  when they lost the qualifying race, when they had to learn a completely new sport, when their not-yet-coach said “no”, when they felt frozen tundra temperatures for the first time, when they really sucked, when Junior’s Dad said “no”, or when their sled finally said “no!”.

But they persisted.  They kept working.  They kept moving forward, getting better, gaining expertise, and finally gaining the respect that they truly deserved.  People called them crazy.  People called them unworthy.  But yet they persisted.  It’s the same thing that happens in everyday life when anyone tries to make a change.  The people you hang around with, see you going in your own direction and try to pull you back into their circle, by whatever means necessary.  It’s so much easier to just go with the flow and fall back into old habits.

But some of us persist.  And some of us make it to the next level…and the next.

Find your greatness.  Persist.  And you will win.