Have you watched the movie Unbroken (2014) directed by Angelina Jolie? If not, then you should watch it. Now! If yes, then you will know who is the late Louis "Louie" Zamperini (1917 - 2014). A remarkable man. An athlete in the field and life. A survivor. I love to read stories from people who endure hardship and yet do not come out as bitter but inspirational. Read autobiographies of those like Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning (1946), Elie Wiesel's Night (1956), Richard Wurmbrand's Tortured for Christ (1967), Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl (1947), Zamperini's Devil at My Heels (2003) and see if you still can complain about the little things in life. They show us how we can find hope amid suffering, love amid hatred, and radical forgiveness amid evil acts. They are not perfect, and that's good because we can relate. When a graduate from the school of hard knocks like Zamperini gives advice, I think and take notes.
So many good lessons I've learned from this book. It's not that these lessons are new and revolutionary (self-help books, for example, are saying the same things only with different packages) but because Zamperini's life and integrity back up most of his words, I find that they are refreshing... and real. Everyone can say something profound about forgiveness but when Zamperini - who was captured, tortured, and abused both physically and psychologically by the Japanese soldiers during World War II for more than 2 years - say it, the lesson goes from my head to heart. After his conversion under Billy Graham's preaching, Zamperini writes: "My faith grew. A year later I returned to Japan. I asked to meet my prison guards - now incarcerated as war criminals - determined to forgive them all in person. The hardest thing in life is to forgive. But hate is self-destructive. If you hate somebody you're not hurting the person you hate, you're hurting yourself. Forgiveness is healing." His wife, Cynthia Applewhite, agreed. She said, "Louie truly became a different person, able to forget the bitterness and sincerely forgive."
This and many more. Other of my favorite lessons is commitment and perseverance. Very uplifting! It's a short book, only 238 pages. I bought it cheap only RM19.90 from Popular Bookstore.
#ServeToLead #LeadersAreReaders #LouisZamperini #Unbroken #DontGiveUpDontGiveIn #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain
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