Friendship lessons from Creed III

I was (am) a huge fan of the incredible spin-off of the Rocky series, Creed. In fact, it took two editors to make me yank a scene from the blockbuster, Creed II, off the original manuscript of my debut book, Dear Father. It was so tempting to use the scenes from that movie to portray the similarities between our fights and struggles and that of our forebears. Boxing wasn’t my thing. It still isn’t, but I guess we all love a great comeback story.

Here’s what Creed III taught me about friendships.
1. There is usually more to the story than your version: Adonis’ mum, Mary-Anne’s good intention to shield her son from communication with his convicted friend, Dame, by hiding letters he sent from jail to his friend unbeknownst to Adonis did a lot of damage to their friendship. It was the cause of Dame’s resentment against Adonis, as he felt the one he took the fall for had abandoned him.

Many times, we get angry and harbour resentment with people without hearing from them or even entertaining the possibility that there is a part of what happened we aren’t privy to. Hear them out.

2. Re-entries should be handled with caution and discernment:
Every now and again, we wake up to knocks on the doors of our lives from people who used to live there. Childhood friends, relatives, exes, former colleagues, and co-workers, the list is endless.

People are more than their faces, we must recognize that like ourselves, people are a sum total of their experiences, and these experiences and associations with other people change people.

Damian walked out of Adonis’ life a fledgling young boxer with prospects and came back in an ex-con who thought he didn’t deserve anything he had. Reentries should be handled with discernment and if anything people should earn their place back, taking a step at a time.

3. Forgive quickly, we don’t have forever:
The movie didn’t say much about if Adonis let go of the hurt his mother’s actions in hiding Damian’s letters from jail caused him. But it did show us a thing or two on the brevity of life with Mary-Anne’s passing.

Personally, I don’t think i would do things differently if i were in her shoes, We rob ourselves of the benefits relationships bring, holding unto wrong for too long.

4. There’s life after fights:
Adonis, after proverbially picking up Damian’s gauntlet, gave it back to him after his victory; renewing their friendship in what would be a beautiful end to a high octane blockbuster. There’s life after misunderstandings. Hopefully, we don’t get to exchange punches and declare a winner, but when a relationship isn’t toxic or abusive, the olive branch should be extended from our end, doing all that is within our power to be at peace with all (wo)men.

Everyone deserves to see Creed III for themselves.😁

Let me know if I missed anything.
Hope this helps your friendships.

#love #friendship #friendshipfriday #blackhistory #blog #article #family

#reentries #boxing #heavyweightchampion #blockbuster #lessons