The Tony Hawke documentary on HBO was the best movie released last year. It started as a ho hum bio doc, and then becomes something unforgettable, teaching life lessons about failure and what happens when you keep showing up.
Oh for about an hour it was background noise: Tony was born here, learned to skate, won some trophies, then people stopped caring about skating, he faced a crisis of confidence, stuck with it and made people care about skating.
Yada yada yada. I’ve seen this movie before.
The movie should end
No. Now Tony is skating the X games. He’s already a legend; He has accomplished everything a skater can; He has nothing to prove, yet he wants to stick the first ever 900 on the Halfpipe.
He tries. He fails.
And fails.
And fails.
In front of a huge crowd.
‘Tony was gonna make it or kill himself trying,’ someone narrates. That’s not hyperbole. You see him crash what feels like 1,000 times. He’s sweating. He’s bruised. You can tell he’s in pain.
It is ugly
Why does he keep trying? He’s Tony Hawke. He has nothing to prove.
And then it happens. Tony lands the 900.
The movie has my full attention now. I’m jumping up and down in my living room.
I’ve seen this movie before. It’s the final scene of Tin Cup where Costner stubbornly throws away a chance to win the US Open to prove to himself he can hit that one shot on the 18th hole.
He misses again and again.
It is ugly.
And when he finally does it it’s just about the greatest thing you’ve ever seen.
It’s madness: And it’s on display every year at the Boston Marathon.
Have you seen the people who run it in 5-6 hours? It ain’t pretty.
It’s beautiful.
‘The race doesn’t always go to the swift, but to those who keep on running.’ That’s my favorite quote; I used it to finish last week’s newsletter.
Yes it strikes a chord with my stubborn Scots/Irish heritage, but above all the quote is hopeful.
You may not skate well.
Or golf well.
Or run well.
But if you keeps stubbornly showing up; for strength; for weightloss; for balance; for flexibility…
You too can be inspirational.
You ain’t pretty, you’re beautiful. Just keep showing up.
See you at the gym.
Related: How to Stay Motivated: If You Ain't Failing · Failure Isn't Fatal: Get Another Safety Guy