A Lesson In Never Giving Up #MyFirstBlogPostRevisited #Kungfupanda

Today is a little like Throwback Thursday. 🙂 I was one of the “victims” Rachael Ritchey tagged for this blog hop, created by the entertaining Sarah Brentyn, to share with you the first thing I ever posted here on the blog, waaay back when it was just a baby!

I dug through the archives of 2014 (come summer this blog will be 3 years old!), and this is the oldest post I found. Just a simple quote:

Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, but Today is a gift—that is why it is called the “Present”…

You may recognize this from the fun movie Kung Fu Panda. The story is cute (since it has animals, and a big fluffy panda), and hilarious (with Black Jack as the voice), but it also has something more, which is why I made that particular quote my first post.

Po the panda is not talented in any ways we think of as talent. He cooks, he eats, he’s a positive person. And so his dream of becoming a kung fu warrior at the Jade Palace is far beyond his reach and talents. But when he is presented with a chance to visit the Jade Palace and see his heroes, he takes action. And it’s this “taking action” that ultimately begins his destiny and brings his dream within reach. But first, he has to work his behind off, and endure the ridicule and scorn of those around him.

One day, Po goes to the Jade Palace to witness a special ceremony taking place that will select who will be the new Dragon Warrior. During this ceremony, Po accidentally falls into the ring, just as the Great Oogway’s finger points—choosing him to become the next Dragon Warrior. Everyone is shocked, and convinced it’s a mistake, but Oogway insists that Po must be the one. However, no one is willing to accept a flabby chef panda as the next great warrior, and so the difficult journey begins!

Po’s story is all about “never giving up.” Even when you don’t have a talent that others recognize, you can still find a way to succeed as long as you work hard and discipline yourself, and use the talents you do have along the way.

Po’s positive attitude kept him trying again and again at kung fu, and made him get back up each time he was knocked down. His talent for cooking made him able to start friendships with the other warriors. And it later turns out that his useless talent for eating is what enables him to become a great kung fu warrior! He just needed to learn the right way to use each of those talents to his advantage. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, go watch it and you’ll see what I mean. 😉

How this applies to our lives: How many times have we told ourselves that we have no useful talent? That maybe we’re good at a few things, but none of them really matter? (I know I’m guilty) Change that negative thinking, and put on the Po attitude! If there’s really something you want to do, something you want to achieve, then examine whatever talents you do have (whether it be cooking, writing, artwork, singing, talking on the phone, pacing…) and put them to use in a way that will work towards your goal!

I’m good at drawing some things, I have a determined spirit, and I care about people. But what can I do with these simple talents? My goal is to share the stories that I write with others. So, I could use my artwork to get people interested. And when I care about others, they may in turn care about me and what I write. And it’s that determined spirit that can keep me going, chugging and chugging along like the little train that could!

How about you? Are you good at talking on the phone with strangers? Maybe you could be good at speaking before a crowd, too. Are you good at artwork or cooking? A beautiful display, or a delicious smell, can bring in customers! Or maybe your goal is to support your loved ones and be an encourager. If you have a talent for listening, then listen to their troubles. If your talent is cooking or music, then use that to cheer them up. Whatever your goal is, you can find a way to match your talents with it.

No talent is useless, no talent doesn’t really matter. It all matters. Even the silly ones that make us laugh—because laughter is priceless!

Go on and look at the talents you have, and be prepared to work your behind off, as Po did, and go reach that goal!

So anyway, that quote was my oldest post, and needless to say this blog has changed a lot since then. I hope you enjoyed this flash back to the past with me. Thanks for reading, and subscribe to my email list to keep in touch! 🙂

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News for this coming week:

I will be a guest over at Pages Unbound for this year’s Tolkien Reading Event, this coming Sunday! I’m really excited about it, as I’ll be sharing with you the story of how I first discovered Tolkien and the genre of fantasy! The schedule for the event is here, so go check it out when you get a chance. There’s a lot of fun stuff going on!

And now, my nominated victims for this blog hop (mwuahaha!):

Claire M.B.
Hazel West
By Hook or By Book
Nandini Bharadwaj
E. Paige Burks
and YOU, if you want to. 🙂 Just link back to this post so we can read it!

Le rules:

Obvious rules:

• No cheating. (It must be your first post. Not your second post, not one you love…first post only.)

• Link back to the person who tagged you (thank them if you feel like it or, if not, curse them with a plague of ladybugs).

Other rules:

• Cut and paste your old post into a new post or reblog your own bad self. (Either way is fine but NO editing.)

• Put the hashtag #MyFirstPostRevisited in your title.

• Tag…um…ten two twelve five (5) other bloggers to take up this challenge.

• Notify your tags in the comment section of their blog (don’t just hope they notice a pingback somewhere in their spam).

• Feel free to cut and paste the badge to use in your post.

• Include “the rules” in your post.

Completely silly rules that I’m making up as I type:

• Drink a glass of wine, bottle of beer, cup of coffee, mug of herbal tea or whatever floats your boat after you hit “publish”. (In other words, toast yourself. Go you!)
• Read the post out loud in a Mickey Mouse voice.