“The Pursuit of Happyness” is one of my favorite films. Will Smith is a REAL actor and Gabriele Muccino is a wonderful Director – they did “Seven Pounds” together too.

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What a great inspirational story from CBS News Sunday Morning.  You are never too old.

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Coach Tomlin:

"…The standard is the standard. We don’t choose to point fingers. We
stay humble in times of excellence, and achievements individually are
part of a team. By the same token we don’t point the fingers as members
of the team. The issue has been, is and hopefully will continue to be
winning in this game indefinitely for the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s
where the focus is. We care less how others may judge portions of our
football team or portions of our football game and are more concerned
about the final outcome, which is having one more point than our
opponent…"

 

“Rabbi Yossi was born and raised in a family of Chabad emissaries in the vibrant and friendly Jewish community of Melbourne, Australia.  He attended Yeshiva College (Melbourne) for his Elementary & High School education, and later continued his studies at the Educational Institute Oholei Torah in Brooklyn, NY. In 2001, he was chosen as a Yeshiva exchange student and sent for two years to Toronto, Canada. Upon completion of his studies in 2004, he received his Rabbinic Ordination from the Central Lubavitcher Yeshiva in New York. Ever the trail-blazer, Rabbi Yossi, was the founding director of the highly successful Student Outreach Organization of the Yeshiva Lubavitch in Toronto.”

Sisu is a Finnish term that could be roughly translated into English
as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally
in the face of adversity. The equivalent in English is "to have guts",
and indeed, the word derives from sisus, which means something inner or interior.

Usually sisu means
the will and decisiveness to get the things done against impossible odds.  It reminded me of Stephen Covey’s statement that true character is revealed in the crucible of life. 

"A man’s true confidence is rooted in the wells of
courage, and courage is evidence of character. In the
end, a
man’s character is revealed in the crucible of everyday
challenges."

 

Life brings moments when
extraordinary courage is required.  Decide.  Have the will. Get things done.

Wonderfully written, it’s chock full of Mr. Pidgeon’s own warm memories that brought me momentarily back to boyhood.   In the speech he says, "The longer I live the more I believe that the essential factor which places some men above others is their superior capacity for self-discipline." Jack also reminds us to, "never, never, never, never, never quit." He goes on to remind us of how we are all capable:

"You don’t have to have been born with talent or brains or special abilities or a capacity for leadership.  You don’t even have to have been born tough.  The happiest fact of life is that the one ingredient we need the most is ours for the taking.  All you have to do to acquire it is this: beginning today, stop doing something you shouldn’t do and start doing each day something you know you should do."

Thanks Joe.  It was especially generous to send this out.  Reading "On Self-Discipline" was a heartwarming connection to the roots of my commitment to a life of character and principles. 

You can download "On Self-Discipline" by Jack Pidgeon here.

Self-pity is nothing less than an impulse to destroy yourself. And this is its script:

“This is the way you were made. These are the facts of your situation. It’s bad. Worse than anybody else in the whole world. In fact, it’s so bad, it’s impossible to do anything about it. And therefore, you are free from any responsibility to clean it up. Nobody can blame you for anything.”

Self-pity is a thief, and a liar. A thief, because it steals away every opportunity you have to move on in life. A liar, because anyone who says he tried to clean up his mess but couldn’t succeed is telling an outright lie.
- the comic credit goes to the very funny Dan Wheeler.