Despite his intellectual limitations, his life is far from ordinary.
From saving fellow soldiers in the Vietnam War and receiving the Medal of Honour, to meeting several historic US presidents, his inadvertent role in the Watergate Scandal, and Ping-Pong Diplomacy, he unwittingly becomes involved in significant historical events and meets influential figures.
Know who I’m talking about?
It’s Forrest, Forrest Gump.
Forrest is a man with a below-average IQ, but it’s his simplicity and lack of pretence that shows us that even in ordinary life, one can make an extraordinary impact through acts of kindness and compassion.
His childlike curiosity allows him to fully embrace the present moment. He takes pleasure in the little things and doesn’t overcomplicate matters. Nothing defines Forrest. Not setbacks, not his intelligence, not rejection, not the pressures to fit in with society’s expectations. He moves forward. Always.
Those inner voices hold us back. Those social media pretences. Worrying about what other people think. Pressurising ourselves to be extraordinary. All these things hold us back. Choosing to simply move forward each day, opens up the wonderfully ordinary opportunity to be extraordinary. So ‘Run Forrest, Run!’. (You’re Forrest in this story by the way.)
But, don’t run away. Just run forward. Or stroll forward. Either way, just move. That is enough. Little steps, little goals are enough to move you in the right direction. Want to write a book? Don’t write a book, write a line, describe a character, or create a world. But if every day you tell yourself ‘I must write a book’, ‘I have to write a book’, ‘I need to enter this writing competition’, you create an out-of-reach, out-of-scope goal.
Instead, you say ‘I will write a line today’, ‘I will give myself today to switch off and let my mind be creative and wonder for inspiration’ or ‘I will finish this chapter’. Those are approachable, achievable, and feasible steps. And they’re all steps forward. One step leads to another, leads to a leap, leads to a giant leap for mankind, leads to a Forrest-Gump-style marathon. Little, ordinary, but impactful.
© Lindsay Dowling 2023-09-18