I think Samime and I have alluded to this to some and written about it other places. This disease messes with your mind, and I’m not talking about, in this case, the mind of the person who is sick – although that is completely correct as well. This disease causes problems for the caregiver as well.
As Rocky said, “Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.” And this is true – too true. This is even truer today. This disease makes us all vulnerable. We don’t have our typical stamina, the ability to defend ourselves, the strength to persevere. Unfortunately, there are people out there who will take advantage of you and your circumstances. It certainly has happened to us. Others see us as weak as if we can’t or won’t fight for ourselves. They will take advantage of this weakness and use it against you. Use your vulnerable moments to break you or to harm you. And it’s not just your “enemies”. I can be people or companies you trusted and valued.
I don’t think I’m teaching anyone who reads this something new. In fact, I’m pretty sure that many of you know of a similar incident that happened to yourself. There may not be something so obvious as a sick family member, but we’ve all had “bad times” happen to us. It’s inevitable. And we’ve all had people use us or take advantage of us.
The people who take advantage of us, who cast themselves as our friends and then turn on us because they suspect we are weak. These people are the ones we need to be on guard against. As the saying goes you expect your enemies to be bad to you – not those who you trust.
Remember the rest of Rocky’s saying: “It (the world) is a very mean and nasty place… It will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it… But it’s not about how hard you can hit, but about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward…”
Over Christmas break of 2006, a freshly married James Baldini, new father of two, took his two kids to see this movie. I grew up with Rocky, as an Italian Stallion myself from Philadelphia, my brothers and I identified with Rocky. To me, this was a message reaching into my heart and ringing the round start bell.
Yes, today, I listen to this quote over and over again. Because I won’t stay down. Neither will Samime and I hope I have instilled this into both my children. I know I have seen them BOTH suffer through things and keep moving forward.
Here’s the video segment from the movie.