Forrest Gump

Occasionally, one stumbles on a very good old movie and upon watching watching it for the first time, one wonders why one hasn't watched it before now. Especially for a 1994 movie like Forrest Gump. 

image: whatculture.com

Yesterday was the first time I watched the movie Forrest Gump. I have never watched any movie that taught as much practical lessons as Forrest Gump. The movie is about the life of a man named Forrest Gump. But the lessons I learned from the movie were beyond what happened in the movie. This is a 1994 movie, the technology then is nothing compared to what we have now, especially in the movie industry. Yet this movie beats all the 2014 movies I have watched. It showed me that genuine creativity supersedes technology any day and anytime. And an excellent work is timeless, like a rare art.

My best movie quote is from King Kong, where Carl told Jack that if he truly loved the theatre he would have jumped out of the ship and swam back. It's practical meaning is that you would go any length to get what you truly love. And Forrest Gump is a movie that shows what magic dumb doggedness can create. How much you can achieve by giving your best in all you do. That what you see yourself as matters way much more than what other people see you as. That having a good nature and a lot of contentedness is one of the purest beauties that breaks all barriers. And that the day you discover you can run you should make running you new walking; the day you discover you can play ping pong you shouldn't stop until it takes you to places; that you should put your best into whatever you discover your are good at.

When Forrest Gump, while on his shrimp boat, heard that his mother was ill, he left the food he was eating and jumped out of the boat. He swam ashore and ran home. Whatever he wanted to do he did immediately putting all of himself into it. He wasn't the complaining sort waiting for perfect conditions. Even though he had simple almost childish ambitions, his focused diligence put something extra in every ordinary thing he did.

From watching Forrest Gump I learned that you don't have to be a genius to get exceptional results or even be exceptional. You only have to be exceptionally determined and diligent. And that stupid is as stupid does.