Earlier in the week, I posted a throwback Thursday post reviewing Lean On Me. For those who did not read the post or have not seen the movie, it is the story of teacher turned principal Joe Clark (Morgan Freeman). Mr. Clark’s assignment is to turn around an inner city school where the kids are receiving anything but an education. His methods are tough, unorthodox and controversial. But in the end (spoiler alert!) he is able to turn the school around and guide his students to the path that lead them to a hopefully bright future.
The clips above are his motivational speech to his students. What struck me is that it is a universal message.
No one goes through life without heartbreak or troubles. The question is, how do we react to these difficult times?
Do we assign blame and become complacent or do we take a hard look at ourselves and realize that we are in control of our lives, not the distant person or thing that we are blaming?
To be fair, this film does hit the nail on the head when it speaks of the issues that racism cause. There are people who will deny us opportunities because of religion, skin color, family origin, sexual orientation, etc.
But that does not mean that we can use that as an excuse to sit back and do nothing. One of the things I have learned that is life does not give us what we want simply because we ask for it. We have to work for it. If we meet life halfway, hopefully, life will meet us at the 50/50 mark.
Assigning blame does not help. Stepping up and doing what needs to be done is the only way to succeed in life.
Writergurlny 