What a glorious montage!

You know the one I'm talking about! I'm talking about Rocky II when Adrienne breaks out of her coma and says "Win, Rocky. Win!" And then he goes back into fighting mode.  And he's running with a log on his back.  Then he's doing 50 one handed pushups. Next he's doing military presses until he's exhausted.  And after all that he's doing hundreds of situps while someone beats on his stomach.  All the while he's wearing a shirt that says "Win, Rocky. Win!". And then, you know what's coming next.  He's running through the streets of Philadelphia slapping hands and waving. More and more people start running behind him just like in Forrest Gump. He's an inspiration. A hero! The original underdog! So when he gets within a 1/4 mile of the Philadelphia Museum of Art he goes into an all-out sprint all the way to the top where he jumps around waving his fist in the air!

Wow. What a montage indeed! If that doesn't motivate you, then you may just have to check your citizenship. There may be a mistake.

So while I was elbow deep in the AMC Rocky Marathon, I was thinking about how we all make these cookie-cutter plans for our lives.  Obviously we all (with a few exceptions) get past the elementary dreams of being a professional athlete, movie star, cop, nurse or whatever.  Not to say that some of us don't actually get to have those careers, but as far as celebrities go - it's rare, and as far being a nurse or cop - it stops being a "dream job" and starts becoming a means to an end really. Just my viewpoint.  Maybe there's a nurse of a cop out there who wouldn't want to do anything but stay right where they are.

The point is that there's a time when you finally realize that it's game time and you've got to pick a path and stick.  So you start thinking about when/if you'll graduate college.  You'll think about when and who you'll marry.  Your career has to be realistic, achievable and dependable because if you are going to have 2.3 children, then you'll have to have a way to pay for diapers and private school.

So we all make these plans. Maybe secretively.  It's more like a timeline.  And it's perfect. But during the course of our excursion down our paths we don't account for forks in the road or detours.  

I was thinking about this.  I mean, how could you account for variations in your timeline? There's only one who knows for sure how all the puzzle pieces of your life fit together. The Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Alpha and Omega, Good Shepherd, The Way - Truth - and the Life - *cough*cough* GOD, if you will.

The problem I've been having for quite some time now is being able to put ALL of my faith into him.  I've never fully been able to give him my 100%.  I've never been able to say "God, these are my problems, and I need a solution." Because it's my understanding that that is exactly what he wants.  In the same way that you have a father here on earth who you bring your problems to and say "Fix it. Help me", God wants you to be able to come to him. Trust him. And he will. That's the common theme I've been gathering from my reading - you know, after I dusted off my Bible. It must be an incredibly liberating feeling to be able to take the weight off your back completely and ask God for the help. I'm not there yet, but I figure that enough prayer will lead me.

So back to the cookie-cutter remarks. If life always went the way we'd planned then there'd be no such thing as a pleasant surprise. If we knew the end of the story before we got there, then there'd be no point in reading. Life seems much better as a rollercoaster even if there are a bunch of dips. 

Those dips are what make the peaks that much sweeter, don't ya think? When Rocky beat Apollo Creed he shocked the world. It wouldn't have been much of an underdog story if everyone knew he would win and become the heavy weight champion of the world - everyone in the fictional story of Rocky that is - um - I knew he would win before I began to watch it.

And if you thought the montage from Rocky II was great. Try the one in the beginning of Rocky III. Eye of the Tiger playing. Rocky kicking a**.  Making piles of money. Going from country to country. And then all in between Mr. T is sneaking around watching Rocky fight and slaughtering people in the ring.