Inspiring Story of Hollywood Super Star- Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone is one of the most famous American Movie stars.. With characters like Rocky and Rambo he is a household name in the hearts of millions.

During birth, a wrong gynecological procedure caused Stallone to have one sided paralysis. At school, his middle class being and his facial paralysis became a thing for others to make fun of.

He started body-building because he wanted to frighten those who bullied him. Slowly he started thinking of a career in movies.

Around 1974, he had a pregnant wife, a dog that he loved a lot, a lot of bills to pay and no success in his movie career. What he still had was a belief in his dream that he will make it big.

Soon a time came when he went broke. He was heavily under debt.

Restless, anxious, stressed and still loaded with hope that he WILL make it big.

 Things got so bad that he had to sell his wife’s jewelry and ended up homeless. Sleeping at the New Jersey Bus station for 3 days.

The cold American winter forced him to choose between electricity and his dog. He sold his dog, his best friend for $25.

Two weeks later, on TV he watched a boxing match between Mohammed Ali and Chuck Wepner. That match was like a flash of divine inspiration… For the next 20 hours he sat and wrote the script of what today is a cult movie, ROCKY.

In the words of Stallone himself, “After nearly 1500 rejections”,  he got a production house to offer $125,000 for the script.

Despite the poverty, pains, pregnant wife and lost dog… His dream was to STAR in the movie  as the MAIN LEAD.

In an era when heroes were super handsome men and spoke fluently, a body builder with a facial paralysis that made him stammer while speaking, made Stallone the wrong choice for any role.

The studio bluntly rejected his offer… And Stallone went back home with another failure.

A few weeks later, the studio offered him  $250,000 for the just the script, and not him.

-He refused.

Soon they offered  $350,000 for the script but not him.

At that time everyone was pushing him to accept.. It would be MAD not to do so.. He was making a fortune.

-He still refused.

 Someone in the studio really loved his script, and as fortune favors the brave.. They finally accepted to give $35,000 for the script and have him as the lead star.

The rest as they say is history!

The movie was made for $1 million and went to make around $200 million. It won the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Direction and Best Film Editing. Stallone was a

“bankable” hero for the next 20yrs, till the late 90s… with his movies making billions of dollars.

And what did he do with the first $35,000?

He stood outside the liquor store, where he sold his dog, for 3 days. Identified the man who had bought it, and finally got him back for $15,000.

 AND IN THE WORDS OF ROCKY BALBOA -

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that! I'm always gonna love you, no matter what. No matter what happens. You're my son and you're my blood. You're the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, you ain't gonna have a life.

― Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa

The Inspirational journey of Refugee Swimmer Yusra Mardini

On Saturday, Yusra Mardini swam to victory during her first heat for the women's 100-meter butterfly swimming competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It was a historic first win for the Refugee Olympic Team, the first-ever team of its kind to compete in an Olympic Games. But the victory also marks a sharp contrast from Mardini's life just one year earlier, when the stakes for swimming long distances looked less like gold, silver and bronze and more like life and death.

In 2015, Mardini fled Syria in the midst of a civil war that was being waged in the streets and suburbs of Damascus, where she had grown up. 

 

 

From the time that she was 3 years old, her father, a swimming instructor, trained her personally in a pool near their home in Syria. Then the war began in 2011, when Mardini was 13. 

 

 

In the beginning of the war, she told the New York Times, everyone was worried, but as the years passed and the violence intensified, friends and neighbors became resolved to the idea that they might not survive the rebellion, and tried to carry on normal lives.

 

 

"...after a few years, we were like: 'O.K., if I'm going to die, I'm going to die! But let me live my life. I want to see my friends!'" Mardini told the Times.

 

 

After the roof of the swimming center where she had once trained was destroyed by a bomb, she begged her parents to let her try to escape the country. Eventually they relented, and she and her sister set off for Europe with two family members and a friend. At every step of the way, terror and heartbreak plagued them.

 

 

When the engine cut out on the small boat they were using to cross the Mediterranean Sea, Mardini and her sister lept into the water to try to push it to shore. Two young men attempted to help them but grew tired quickly, so the Mardini sisters swam for three-and-a-half hours on their own and eventually the boat reached the shore.

 

 

"I'm thinking, what? I'm a swimmer, and I'm going to die in the water in the end?" she said.

 

 

Eventually, the girls made it to their final destination, Germany, where they have been granted temporary asylum. Their parents and two younger sisters have since joined them, and Mardini is competing on the elite squad of refugees in the 2016 Olympics.

 

 

She told the Times that she is "...expecting personal best," at Rio, since two years without training have left her well behind the official Olympic qualifying times for the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly.

 

 

But her real victory at the Rio Olympics, she says, will be having the chance to share her story in Syria, where she hopes to return someday to help out other refugees like herself.

 

PUT THE GLASS DOWN TODAY!

Read this small story; Hope that makes a BIG change in YOU
The Professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see & asked the students “How much do you think this glass weighs?"
'50gms!'..... '100gms!' .....'125gms' ...the students answered.
"I really don't know unless I weigh it," said the professor, "but, my question is:
What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?"
'Nothing' …..the students said.
'Ok what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?' the professor asked.
'Your arm would begin to ache' said one of the student
"You're right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?"
"Your arm could go numb; you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis & have to go to hospital for sure!"
….. Ventured another student & all the students laughed
"Very good.
But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?" Asked the professor.
'No'…. Was the answer.
"Then what caused the arm ache & the muscle stress?"
The students were puzzled.
"What should I do now to come out of pain?" asked professor again.
"Put the glass down!" said one of the students
"Exactly!" said the professor.
Life's problems are something like this.
Hold it for a few minutes in your head & they seem OK.
Think of them for a long time & they begin to ache.
Hold it even longer & they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.

It's important to think of the challenges or problems in your life, But EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is to 'PUT THEM DOWN' at the end of every day before you go to sleep...
That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh &strong & can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!

So, when you start your day today, Remember friend to ‘PUT THE GLASS DOWN TODAY! '

Weakness or Strength

Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.

"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"

"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.

Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.

This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.

"No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue."

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

"Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"

"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grap your left arm."

The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

Bits & Pieces, August 15, 1996, Economic Press Inc


Each time He said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
— 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, The Holy Bible

Attitude Is Everything

--- By Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant.

The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations.

You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers.

While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices:

I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.

I read, 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything." "Yes," I replied.

The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled,"Bullets!"

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Dreams.... A Lovely Story

The first day of school a professor introduced himself and challenged his students to get to know someone they didn't already know. Jack stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched his shoulder. He turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?"

Jack laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may!" and she gave him a giant squeeze. "Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" Jack asked. She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel." "No seriously," jack asked. He was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age." I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told him.

After class they walked to the student canteen and shared a chocolate milkshake. They became instant friends. Every day for the next three months they would leave class together and talk nonstop. Jack was always mesmerized, listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with him. Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went.

She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up. At the end of the semester, Jack and his friends invited Rose to speak at their football banquet. No one can ever forget what she taught those kids.

She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her pages on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the mic and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know."

As the boys laughed she cleared her throat and began:

"We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success."

* You have to and find humor everyday.

* You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!

* There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old, lie in bed for one full year, and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.

* Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things, we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.

At the year's end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

"Remember, growing older is mandatory, growing up is optional."

Believe in YOU - Antonio Munoz

Antonio Munoz is a successful actor, but his life didn't start out that way. He was kind enough to share his story to help others. When he was asked, why he sent it in he replied graciously, " I hope maybe it might help others to do better in life." I think we can all learn about passion and determination thanks to Antonio.

Remember, obstacles are only obstacles if you let them be obstacles.

Antonio Munoz was born and raised in Guatemala City. He started racing motor-cross when he was only eleven years old. During the third year of racing, he suffered a major accident, leaving him with major facial fractures and the loss of taste and smell.

Never resigned to be the victim of any circumstance, he continued racing after the accident, which he did professionally for twenty years and held the National Champion title not once but three times.

He has since been driven to appreciate the tastes and textures in all aspects of life and the human condition. After another unfortunate accident, he was forced to put his love for motor cross racing on the back burner, while he moved onto go-kart racing (125 shifters) where he excelled, achieving the "rookie-of-the-year" title during his first year.

In July 2000, he arrived in the US and soon started living the American Dream on the receiving end of a very lucrative BMW sales position, achieving a top sales' record in the company soon after he arrived.

A strong believer in living and relentlessly following one's passion, Antonio walked away from the American financial dream to pursue his real passion for acting, despite the strong resistance and skepticism manifested by colleagues and people who insisted he had to be crazy to chase after something he had no chances of succeeding at.

As a testament to his tenacity and self-belief, Antonio had his first break only six months after he started his acting pursuits. Desmond Gumbs, a director on Straight Out (2003), (his first movie) took a great risk on Antonio's raw talent and cast him in a major plot-driver role. His desire for intense competition and speed quickly translated into an unstoppable and unconditional commitment to his work as an actor and to collaborating with other artists.

Soon after he signed with the biggest talent agency in San Francisco and again, always challenging his comfort zones, Antonio moved to Los Angeles in search of greater and more diverse work opportunities. Since then he has worked on the top-rated shows "Nip/Tuck" (2003), "24" (2001) with Kiefer Sutherland, The King of Queens, "Dragnet" (2003), "Karen Sisco" (2003), the miniseries "Kingpin" (2003) TNT's "Wanted" (2005), as well as in the feature films London (2005), Straight Out (2003), The Rundown (2003) and Spanglish (2004) with Adam Sandler.

Additionally, he has been seen in television and editorial commercials (Bank Of America, Ernest & Julio Gallo Wines and 21st Century Insurance) as well as industrials for The Discovery Channel.

"This is what I've achieved since I came to US 5 years ago. People called me "Crazy & Stupid" for quitting my job and trying Acting. This was because I was making a six-figure salary at that time at my work. But I didn't listen to any one, I listen to my Heart and I believe in Me."

"So if I was able to do so in the acting since start, and I didn't even speak English when I came to US five years ago, I believe anybody can make any Dream come True or Goal in His or Her life, right?"

"So follow your Heart and your Dreams always, because we only have one Life to Live, and never let other one's Choose for you."

--- Antonio Munoz

The Real Pepsi Challenge: The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business

The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business By Stephanie Capparell Wall Street Journal Books/Free Press, January 2007

Getting black folks to drink soda water was the easy part. Proving that African American executives could succeed as executives in big business was another matter.

In 1947, Pepsi's president, WAter Mack, courageously hired Urban League official Ed Boyd, to start a Negro market group. The salesmen--never more than a dozen--were natty, well-spoken ambassadors who blanketed the country and endured all of Jim Crow's affronts to visit white bottlers as well as black colleges, grocery stores and Elks' Lodges.

The Real Pepsi Challenge departs from the larger corpus of black business books in that it doesn't deal with entrepreneurs such as Bob Johnson in The Billion Dollar BET: Robert Johnson and the Inside Story of Black Entertainment Television (Wiley Books, 2004).

This story has a concomitant quality with another major crusade of the mid-20th century. Rosa Parks was not the first black citizen to challenge segregated public accommodations, just as the Pepsi salesmen were not the first African Americans to quietly storm the corporate bastion. Yet Parks tipped the modern Civil Rights Movement merely by refusing to relinquish a bus seat. In similar fashion, Corporate America finally accepted black executives in an effort to sell a product as unremarkable as sugared water. Some who sold it, however, changed business history. Indeed, last year, PepsiCo Inc. named a woman of color born in India as its chief executive.