I hate to admit it because I don’t like the idea of fighting, but I love the idea of Rocky Balboa. He epitomizes how I want to approach life. For him, whenever he approached a fight, it wasn’t really about being able to win the fight. That always seemed like a secondary thing. That was always the end result. For him, the end result wasn’t that important. It was his life that meant everything. As he said many times, all that mattered was no matter how many times they knocked you down, did you have it within yourself to get back up and keep going?
That’s why I love the idea of Sisyphus. The guy who rolls the boulder up the hill and just before he gets to the top it rolls back down again. Sisyphus’ story isn’t about ever having a result; his story is about his struggle. He is forever rolling that boulder up the hill, and he never gives up.
There is an interesting aspect to this story because Homer describes Sisyphus in Hades along with other people who have received punishments. He implies that Sisyphus suffers from a punishment and can’t stop. However, if I consider my own life, unless I commit the mortal sin of suicide, I really can’t stop either. Yet, my attitude in how I approach life matters. Sisyphus’ time might have been a punishment, but it could’ve been a penance, or He could have even been suffering so that others wouldn’t. We don’t know. What we do know is the story of struggling and never stopping. That story is a metaphor for life. Not just life is general, but my life and also Rocky Balboa’s life.
If I have enough faith, then I can face anything. Today, I wrote to a friend feeling a little embarrassed because I went up and talked to someone without really knowing who they were and made a fool out of myself. However, when I look back on it, I see it in a different light. I suffer from anxiety and lots of people have trouble facing it. However, with me, I have God inside and He gives me an inner strength to find bravery and go talk to people even when I am
scared to death. I thank God every day for so much. Today, I thank God for giving me strength to continue even when I’m scared. I do it knowing that He is always by my side.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
