Gratitude Reciprocates

The video is basically Matthew McConaughey's speech when he won the best actor award, in the 86th Oscars in 2014.  I found it to be quite inspiring and I really liked not just what he said, but also the way he spoke, he was very charismatic and has an amazing sense of humor. Matthew started by thanking the other nominees and how perfect their performances were. He then thanked the director and his colleagues. He said there are three things that he needs each day: One is something to look up to, the other is something to look forward to and the third is someone to chase. He said God is the one he looks up to, as he graced his life with many opportunities that were in no-one's hand and said, "He has shown me that it's a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates". and quoted actor Charlie Laughton who said, "When you got God, you got a friend and that friend is you"!

As for what he looks forward to, its his family. He thanked his late father for teaching him to be a man and his mother who taught him and his brother to respect themselves and in return people will respect them. He also thanked his wife and 3 children for giving him the courage and significance every day. As for his hero, the person he chases, its him! When he was 15, someone asked him who is your hero and he said, "Its me in 10 years, when I am 25". But when he turned 25, he felt he wasn't a hero yet and that his hero is him at 35. "I'm never going to be my hero", he says. But that is fine with him, because it keeps him with somebody to keep on chasing. This is what really makes him successful, is that he is constantly self improving himself. There's always new dreams and more achievements and more development he strives for. 

I believe there are two main messages of the video. The first one is about gratitude and how we should be grateful for every little thing in our life, because when you are grateful for the good and the bad...God gives you more. Its a common belief in both Christianity and Islam, as well as a positive outlook in life. God rewards those who are grateful and content with their lives, as well as positive and patient. So it is important to have strong belief in God and yourself.

The other message is about always working on developing yourself and to never stop working hard and striving to be better and better and achieve more and more dreams and accomplishments. When he said that he is his own hero and the person he keeps on chasing, he meant that he is always climbing and moving upwards to accomplish more and that is what makes him successful!  Sometimes you can win and achieve what you want and sometimes you fail, but the important thing is to keep on going and not stopping, this is what makes a successful person. 

A successful person never gives up, has his eyes and mind focused on his target and end result, doesn't get side tracked and is always positive, no matter what happens. He also believes that nothing is impossible. So, for me or anyone to be successful, not only is it important to have a strong belief in God and yourself and have gratitude for the things and the people in your lives, but in parallel a person should be working hard on achieving his dreams and not just wait for a miracle to happen, even if things sometimes are not working the way we want them to or we feel that we are failing at something, we should learn from our mistakes and try again and again. To keep chasing our dreams and "Be our own hero" and our dreams will come true, even much better than we expected. To believe that absolutely nothing is impossible and that the only limitations are in our minds.