I wasn't expected much from it, given that Foreman on the surfacewouldn't seem to be the ideal role model to write a self-help book . . . hewas a bully, of sorts, when a kid . . . he didn't read his firstwhole book until the age of 16 . . . and he was married and divorced four times, only to find his fifth time to be the charm.
Furthermore, after he lost the heavyweight title for the first time,he became a recluse of sorts . . . he also had a reputation forbeing surly and mean-tempered, as unlikely as it now seemswhen you see him pitching products on TV or doing boxingcommentary on HBO.
But Foreman has really turned his life around, and he shows youhow you can do the same . . . though much of the advice is basic,and you may have heard it before, his effective use of exampleshelps to drive many of his key points home . . . as he notes in the Introduction, "Everyone in life goes through a hard time sometime, but you can't let that define who you are. What definesyou is how you come back from those troubles and what you findin life to smile about."
There were several other memorable passages; among them:With life there is pain and still more pain, but even with it all, there is always a reason to smile: a beat of music to make youlift your feet and dance; a piece of chocolate to sweeten upa moment. With death, as far as we know, there is no pain,only silence.
The point is I could forgive a horse for biting me, another foralmost killing me. But it seems that people can rub us thewrong way and we're through with them overnight. We canforgive an animal and hold on to a grudge for years againstanother person.
People only want to hear the best about their children. That'sbecause every mom and dad feels their child is an extensionof themselves. So pointing out their kid's shortcomings-whetherthey're physical, emotional, or behavioral-hurts because itfeels like it's a reflection on them and their success as a parent.As soon as you say something's wrong with that boy or girl, theirmother or father starts a conversation inside their head that goessomething like, "If only I were better at this or if only I had donethat, my child wouldn't have this problem." It doesn't really matterwhat you say or that you meant well; what they hear is, "What'sthe matter with you? Couldn't you have done a better job?"