Bernard B. Kerik was the Police Commissioner of New York City during the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001. With over 100 awards for meritorious, heroic and public service throughout his career [including the New York City Police Department’s Medal for Valor and a Presidential Commendation for heroism], Mr. Kerik is also a best selling author [The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice] and a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Twin Towers Fund.
It’s sad to say, that Mr. Kerik is about to serve 48 months in a federal prison. You can read more about his fall from grace at Mr. Kerik’s blog where he also says that in order to help prepare his daughters for his time in prison, they watched Rocky Balboa together…
I sat with them and watched the movie Rocky Balboa, for the sole purpose of having them watch one scene where Rocky speaks to his son and says, “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are….it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward!
When Sly Stallone wrote those words, he was talking about the challenges in real life and the principles of courage, strength, and perseverance.