Adapt and Survive
“We got a problem here.” This is the message to Tom Hanks from director Bob Zemeckis, in the filming of Forrest Gump.
The problem? The boy that was to play young Forrest did not sound like Tom Hanks, who was playing adult Forrest.
Zemeckis continued to tell Tom, “you have to teach this kid how to talk the way you talk.” The boy who was chosen for the part was from Mississippi and had a thick accent. Tom insisted and meeting the boy and he did. After talking for a bit Tom said, “I thought, why don’t I just talk the way he talks?”
The movie became a classic and it happened because Tom Hanks adapted. He chose to speak like the kid instead of making the kid talk like Tom. Sure they could have found a new child actor. However, that’s the beauty of many great things or events. It becomes due to adaptability.
Think about this when you want to force your kids or co-workers into doing something. Think about this when you want the world to bend in your favor.
Your ability to adapt speaks to your ability to succeed. Because nothing will go the way you want or expect. The unpredictable. The adverse conditions. These require you to adapt.
Or you can choose not to. And be nothing. End up nowhere. You decide.
Thought Provoking Questions : What can you actually gain by adapting?
Daily I write and release a daily meditation. A quick read. Sharing wisdom and asking thought-provoking questions. Influenced by the obstacles, success and failures in my life and of others. Using history, books, current events, philosophy, and ancient wisdom. These writings are actionable, thought-provoking, designed to make your life better.
These writings are not to push a way of thinking on the reader or to force you into a certain philosophy or methodology. Rather to give you practical and real ways to handle life. This is an added tool. My writing is simply a discussion, a discourse, with all the material I read, watch, hear and consume.
What are your thoughts on this piece? Comment below…