After we stumbled on this image of former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali talking to an obviously distraught, suicidal man, we had to know the story behind it. Was it for real? We found this remarkable 1981 clip of Walter Cronkite reporting the story on CBS News:

(Video link HERE.) According to the report, the man said “I’m no good”.  Ali took the time to shift the man’s view out of that terrible stance. We don’t know all he said, except “We’re brothers, I want to help you” simple words that can make a big difference: break isolation, equalize things.

How many times have we heard friends say “I’m no good” and spent time reminding them of the truer perspective: of the good WE knew and THEY had forgotten. We can’t count the times dear friends have done that for us when we have become blind.

It seems to be an essential practice: to keep coming back to TRUE, and away from the criticial voices in our heads.

via Retronaut

If you’ve found illumination, joy, or inspiration in this post, please consider supporting Improvised Life. It only takes a minute to make a secure donation that helps pay our many costs. A little goes a long way towards helping Improvised Life continue to live ad-free in the world.

Support Improvised Life ♥

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *