inspiring – Marlo Yonocruz

Book notes: You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero

You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero book summary.

You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero

Synopsis: “Best-selling author, speaker, and world-traveling success coach Jen Sincero cuts through the din of the self-help genre with her own verbal meat cleaver in You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life. In this refreshingly blunt how-to guide, Sincero serves up 27 bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, life-changing insights, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word.

Sincero, a former skeptic herself, delivers the goods minus the New Age cheese, giving even the snarkiest of poo-pooers exactly what they need to get out of their ruts and start kicking some ass. By the end of You Are a Badass, you will understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can’t change, how to change what you don’t love, and how to start living the kind of life you used to be jealous of.” -Audible

Book notes: I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai book summary.

I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World by Malala Yousafzai

Synopsis:

“When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

I am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls’ education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person’s voice to inspire change in the world.” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

Movie review: Sully

Warning: spoiler alert!

Synopsis:

On Jan. 15, 2009, Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) tries to make an emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River after US Airways Flight 1549 strikes a flock of geese. Miraculously, all of the 155 passengers and crew survive the harrowing ordeal, and Sullenberger becomes a national hero in the eyes of the public and the media. Despite the accolades, the famed pilot now faces an investigation that threatens to destroy his career and reputation.

Initial thoughts:

I’ve watched hundreds of movies and consider myself an avid movie-goer. So when I saw the movie poster, Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood, saw it was a true story, and its high rating on Rotten Tomatoes, my instincts were telling me it was going to be awesome. There was no question about whether or not I was going to watch this 😁

Storyline:

I enjoyed how the movie didn’t go in chronological order. Instead, it was broken up into five parts:

Post-crash: the day after and the beginning of the investigation
1st half of incident: take off up until crash
Continued story and investigation
2nd half of incident: crash and rescue
Continued story, the final public hearing, and the revisit of the flight audio recording

Continue reading “Movie review: Sully”

Movie review: Eddie the Eagle

[warning: spoilers]

So I watched this movie last night. I wanted to watch it in theaters mostly because Hugh Jackman was in it, but didn’t get around to it before it left theaters.

In a nutshell, it’s a great movie. Based on a true story, I thought it was nothing short of inspiring.

The movie is about a boy who has the dream of becoming an Olympian. Despite, his disadvantage of having no natural talent for athletics, he persists to train hard to achieve his goal. Eventually he learns to ski, but moves to long jump after not being allowed on the British Olympic male ski squad.

Along the way, he faces ton of challenges. Everyone discourages him (including his father), he’s thwarted by the British Olympic committee from joining the team, and he doesn’t even know how to long jump.

He manages to link up with Hugh Jackman’s character, who was a prodigy long jumper back in his day, and together they manage to help Eddie qualify for the Olympics and achieve the impossible.

There are a few things I absolutely love about this story:

Despite many challenges, he persists and doesn’t give up. He went on pure faith in his vision.
He has this amazing optimism that kept him going. Where most people would have been focused on failure or paralyzed by fear, he just did it anyway. The act of DOING instead of just thinking always inspires me.
He was set on proving people wrong. Don’t we all love the story of the underdog? Nobody believed in him since the beginning, but he never waivered and managed to become an Olympian.
He had the unconditional love and support of his mother. Themes about family alway get me. It reminds me about how Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon) attributes a large part of his success to his parents always encouraging him. It reminds me of the type of parent I aspire to be one day.

While I don’t think this movie is going to win any awards, it’s definitely an inspiring telling of a story with a solid execution. Would definitely recommend if you’re looking for one of those heartwarming movies about determination and human spirit.

Rating: 8.5 / 10