Louie’s older brother Pete advised him: “If you can take it, you can make it”
I watched the movie Unbroken today. Some of you, my friends,
might say, “Why you didn’t call to watch
the movie together with me?” or “Why
you didn’t wait for me?” My simple answer is: If I wait for you, I’m not
sure when I will be able to watch it. So I just went and watched it without
you. The movie initial released was on November 2014 but in Malaysia, it was February
2015. The movie is based on real story about a man named Louis Zamperini, the
Olympic athlete, World War II bombardier and prisoner of war. As I watched the
movie, I learned 5 important lessons
that inspired me personally:
#1: If You Can Take It, You Can Make It
Early on in the movie
Louie’s brother, Pete, convinced him to try running as a way to get him
focused, out of trouble and into something positive. At first Louie wanted to quit
when it got hard. But his brother gave him advice that helped him through this
journey – he said, “If you can take it,
you can make it”. That advice become his life tagline. What’s yours?
#2: If You Have Someone Believes in You, You Can Do it
Louie is not a self-made
champion. He wouldn’t be Olympic athlete if he didn’t get support from his
parents, his brother, his track coach and even the policeman. When he was
stranded in the ocean after the crashed flight, he then became the support
person by telling the other two survivors about his mother’s cooking and other
sweet memories to improve their morale and to keep their spirits high. Surrounding
yourself with the right people who believe in you, support you and will rally
for you when you’re off track. Treasure them. And in the same way, be the one
who believe in others. We all need people to believe in us to help us achieve
our best.
#3: If You Have Found the Meaning in Life, You Have the
Will to Survive
In this movie, Louie
stayed strong in the midst of difficulties, trials and pain. He have strong
vision for the future. He demonstrated what Viktor Frankl author of Man’s Search for Meaning wrote, you can take
a man’s health, you can put him in unimaginable horrific conditions, you can
beat him and starve him, but you cannot break his will. Will is strengthened by
having a meaning in life, a strong reason to survive.
#4: If You Feel Like Giving Up, Remember Self-Respect
A notoriously sadistic and
brutal Japanese guard, Mutsuhiro Watanabe (a.k.a. The Bird), was obsessed with Louie. He singled Louie out from all
the other prisoners. Almost every day he bullied Louie with horrific beatings
along with other de-humanizing tasks. Louie refused to be broken by Watanabe.
He have self-respect in himself. There is one scene where he ask to stand with
heavy beam of wood as long as he can or the guard will shoot him if he let down
the wood. He remain strong and standing as long as he could until Watanabe impassion
with his determination and hit him until he passed out. This act of
self-respect from Louie not only strengthened his other fellow prisoners but
empowered them to survive and the exemplified life of Louie made them stronger.
#5: If There Is No Christ, There Will Be No
Forgiveness
At the end of the movie,
it was told that Louie finally achieved his dream to come to Tokyo, Japan for
the Olympic. Not as athlete of course, he was very old by then, but as a touch
runner. The movie also told that Louie have learned to forgive his enemies. But
I wonder, how? How can he suddenly become a forgiving person when in the movie
it shows that he and others are up for revenge once the war is over? How? Well,
Angelina Jolie, the director, might not get very comfortable with this fact,
that (this part was left out of the movie) Louie Zamperini had attended a
sermon of Rev. Billy Graham and found that through dedicating his life to
Christ he was able to make his mission forgiveness and not revenge. It wasn’t
Louie’s strong will after all, it was Christ who have sustained, believed, and
gave him the meaning of life. I love to know this truth.
You should watch this movie.
As for the ending, read the final chapter of the book.
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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