The simple soul has hidden talents
Where we are: 2017 – cycle 2 – Week 4: Word – days 6 and 7.
“Hello, my name is Forrest, Forrest Gump“is the opening line of the 1994 film starring Tom Hanks – Forrest Gump was one of the most popular films of the 1990s, grossing more than $ 320 million.
Pay attention because the movie can teach us a lot about how to keep your word.
Anyway, it won 6 Oscars, including best picture and best actor.
It currently ranks 13th on the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) 250 Greatest Movies of All Time.
Although if you are in India, you may not agree with this because the Indian film scene is huge and dwarfs Hollywood production and popularity.
Anyway, here’s the story.
Forrest Gump is a simple soul, not gifted with great intelligence, but has a strong sense of right and wrong and is resolute when assigned a task.
This works in your favor throughout your life.
Running – Ping Pong – Shrimp Fishing, he finds a way to excel in everything he does.
During the course of the film, he is sent to fight a war and meets his “best friend in the whole world” Bubba, and his commanding officer, Lieutenant.
Dan.
Bubba dreams of one day having a shrimp boat and the two hatch a plan in which Bubba would be the captain and Forrest would be the first mate. They would be partners
50/50.
This is the cornerstone of some of the most important parts of the film.
Have you seen this movie? Can you think of some ways that people kept their word?
Let’s go straight back to the story: the scene is a bar in New York for a 1973 New Years party.
Forrest Gump: I have to buy one of those shrimp boats as soon as I have some money. I made myself a promise to Bubba in Vietnam, that as soon as the war was over, we would go in partners. He would be the captain of the shrimp boat and I would be his first mate. But now that he’s dead, that means I have to be the captain.
Lieutenant Dan Taylor: A shrimp boat captain?
Forrest Gump: Yes sir. A promise is a promise, Lieutenant Dan.
[Lt. Dan starts to chuckle and shouts]
Lieutenant Dan Taylor: Now listen to this! Private Gump will be the captain of a shrimp boat. Well, I’ll tell you what, Gilligan. The day you are a shrimp boat
Captain, I will come and be your first officer.
Forrest Gump: Okay.
Lieutenant Dan Taylor: If you’re ever a shrimp boat captain, that’s the day I’ll be an astronaut!
You will see above that I have highlighted all references to a promise in bold.
But Gump is still in the military and has no money to buy a ship.
He is on the All American ping pong team and plays in China. upon his return, he is discharged from the army, so he simply goes home.
Once home, he discovers that his ping pong exploits in China have attracted some attention and is asked to ‘back up’ a ping pong paddle.
PAYDAY! Gump receives $ 25,000 for his troubles to back up the ping pong paddle.
So he goes to Louisiana and buys a boat.
Soon enough, Lieutenant Dan is on the dock while Gump brings his boat back.
Is that how it works:
Forrest Gump: Lieutenant Dan, what are you doing here?
Lieutenant Dan Taylor: Well, I thought I’d try my sea legs.
Forrest Gump: Well, you don’t have legs, Lieutenant Dan.
Lieutenant Dan Taylor: Yes I know. You wrote me a letter, you idiot. Well well. Captain Forrest Gump. I had to see this for myself. And I told you that if you were ever captain of a shrimp boat, I would be your first mate. Well, here I am. I am a man of my word.
Forrest Gump: Okay.
Lieutenant Dan Taylor: Yes, but don’t think I’m going to call you “Sir.”
Forrest Gump: No sir.
In fact, I think the most interesting character in the Forrest Gump movie is Lieutenant Dan.
If you haven’t seen it recently, maybe take a look and see what I mean.
So, we can see, Gump kept his promise to Bubba, and Lieutenant Dan kept his promise to Gump.
Some might say that there was no “obligation” behind any of those promises, but I am afraid that is not entirely true.
When we say we’ll be there for someone and we don’t deliver, a little trust and love dies.
It’s a bit like the story of the boy who cried WOLF! when there were none, thinking it very funny, but when the wolf actually came to eat his sheep no one came to the rescue because they thought it was another false alarm.
Do not let that happen to you.
So maybe this week it’s been hard to understand how keeping your word helps build your character, confidence, and self-esteem, but I think some of the examples we’ve seen do just that. I hope you can begin to recognize the places where your habits in this area are holding you back and that you can work on them, excuses, of course that is a good place to start.
Tomorrow we move to week 5 of the current cycle: waste and we will look for ways to run a ‘tighter boat’, that is a boat, not a shrimp boat by the way.
