Mickey Rooney was a great American actor born in September of 1920. He grew up performing in vaudeville, and soon found himself on the stage, and later on the big screen. In a career lasting nine decades, he appeared in over 300 films, continuing to act until the last year of his life in 2014. He was best known for his long-running role as “Andy Hardy” in the famous series of seven movies. In 1944, he co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor in the film, National Velvet, and later, in 1979, in the The Black Stallion, with Kelly Reno, both of which are two of my treasured movies. To me, he will forever be that funny young man with two charming eyes, a dashing smile, and funny laugh.
We all have ideas and dreams of our future success. We envision what we hope to achieve and how we might get there. While we contemplate our dreams and hopes, we may try to decipher a trail that will lead us to where we want to go, A Wonderful Land of Success, if you will. We want to choose the easiest and fastest route to get there, a route that cannot fail us.
It would be lovely if this path actually existed. As it turns out, it doesn’t. In every journey to our great accomplishments, shortcoming will turn up somewhere along the road, because “we, as humans, are not perfect.” We can’t expect to live out our entire lives without failing at something. As we drive down that highway, with the wind whipping through our hair, sporting sunglasses and a hopeful smile, we are inevitably going to drive through “Failure-ville.” No matter which route we take, there will always be a Failure-ville. This certainly doesn’t sound very inspiring or motivational. It may even sound depressing. However, it’s not always healthy to sugar-coat the route to success. Way too many calories! Just kidding. . .
What I’m trying to say is, we can’t be afraid of failing. It can bog us down for a while, but it’s not like we are stuck living there forever. There will be a time when we can just fill up the tank, high-tail it out of there, and hit the highway toward our great accomplishments. We can leave Failure-ville in the dust and get back on the road again. We just have to keep driving, keep dreaming, and especially keep depending on God’s strength and love, because we’ll never have to drive through Failure-ville alone.
Psalms 73:26 – “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” KJV
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Have you ever driven through Failure-ville?
What did you do to get back on the road?
Which Mickey Rooney film is your favorite?
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Great reminder!
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Thanks and thank you for reading!
– Megan Joy
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Love this! Thanks for your wonderful encouragement!
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Sure! Thanks for reading!
– Megan Joy
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Amen! I love how you openly speak about failure not being a bad thing. Bad moments don’t have to equate a bad life. 🙂 Rooney was an amazing actor and guy. I was watching full house, and didn’t realize he played the older man in the joke shop in the Christmas episode.
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Thanks! Wow, I was just watching Full House when I read your comment! That’s so weird! And I didn’t even know he was in the Christmas episode! Now I’ll have to find it and watch it!
– Megan Joy
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It’s when Michelle is older. Jesse and her get stuck in the store. 🙂
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Ok, thanks! I’ll look it up!
~ Megan Joy
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I think it is the last season, which would be 8 I believe. Are you watching on Hulu? I found out they added a lot of 90s shows.
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I was watching season seven on DVD. I don’t have season eight yet, because I can’t find it in any store. I guess I’ll have to order it!
~ Megan Joy
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Oh no! I got the whole series a couple years ago at WalMart for $40 I thought that was pretty awesome for 8 seasons. I hope you find it 🙂
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Only $40! That’s an awesome deal! I’ve seen one season alone selling for half that, which was crazy! Glad you got a good deal! 🙂
~ Megan Joy
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Yeah, I still see the box sets at WalMart so maybe a Christmas wish list idea 🙂
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🙂 🙂 🙂 !
~ Megan Joy
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Ah, I like National Velvet! I haven’t seen very many Mickey Rooney films, but Huckleberry Finn was a good one. 🙂
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Yes! National Velvet is so special! I haven’t seen Huckleberry Finn, but I’ll have to put it on my list! Thanks for reading!
~ Megan Joy
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Yes, I love Mickey Rooney!!! And this is so true!!
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Me too! 🙂 Thanks for reading!
~ Megan Joy
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