Heart of Joy

Heart of Joy George Foreman

 “Find a place inside where there is joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.”

Joseph Campbell

           Finding joy is easy for some but others never seem to find it, like my friend.. He has a loving family, a great job, and is relatively successful by middle-class standards. Yet as we have gotten to know one another I realize he is utterly miserable. He hates to go home at night and instead stays out late and shows up after his family has gone to bed. He doesn’t like his job and wants to quit. I often ask him why he just does not retire but he just can’t seem to bring himself to do it. I have tried to encourage him to get some help, but he is too afraid.  When it comes to seeing the joy in his life, he is blind.  

           In contrast, my father lives in severe pain from his injuries that occurred during the Vietnam War when he was blown off a bulldozer. When he wakes up in the mornings it takes him several minutes to even get out of bed. You would think he would be entitled be miserable.  However, he is constantly smiling, laughing, and joking. He is a pleasure to be around even though I can see him grimace or move more slowly at times.

My father lives with a Heart of Joy. I have always known him to be happy. Even when my parents divorced and he had to work many extra hours to make ends meet, he still put a smile on his face. He still made sure people saw him happy.

           How can these two men be so different? The one man who should be joyful is miserable and the man who should be miserable is joyful?

           The story of George Foreman’s life is one of misery and joy and a life the spanned humble beginnings to boxing royalty to successful entrepreneur.  Once Big George learned to live with joy in his heart he became the smiling lean, mean, grilling machine man we all know and love.

           Big George Foreman, as he known in boxing circles, was a boxing menace earlier in his career. When he beat Joe Frazier to win the heavyweight championship of the world in 1973 he was 37-0.  But Big George said he fought angry during this time.   

           George grew up in Houston’s Fifth Ward, a poor and crime-ridden section of the city. His mother raised him and his six siblings on sometimes $26 a week. He recalled that his mother once brought home a hamburger and cut it up into seven equal portions for the children to share.  

George dropped out of school at 15 and joined gangs. He was an admitted thug and extremely angry youth and was anything but joyful. He joined the job corps and met a man that encouraged him to box to release some of his anger. He channeled his anger into boxing and won the 1968 gold medal in the Mexico Olympics. Shortly after the Olympics, he turned professional.

           Big George quickly dispatched his opponents. He often pummeled them to submission within the first couple of rounds. George would look at his opponents before each match as if he wanted to destroy them. Old photos and footage depict him as an angry behemoth.

When he knocked out Joe Frazier to win the world championship he was predicted to lose. George fought awkwardly, throwing wide punches. But Big George knocked Frazier down six times before the end of the second round scoring a TKO. This should have brought him joy. He should have been happy.

           Big George fought Muhammad Ali in what became known as the “Rumble in the Jungle” in 1974. At 32, Ali was considered to be too old and likely to be killed in the ring by the younger Foreman. But Ali did what Ali did best; he got in the head of his opponent. Big George came out throwing his big bombs at Ali. Ali fell against the ropes weaving and bobbing but not absorbing the full force of the blows. George continued to throw his heaviest punches at Ali and by the fifth round was visibly exhausted. As with his previous fights, George expected to knock Ali out within the first couple of rounds.

Near the end of the seventh round Ali, leaned in toward Big George and whispered, “George is that all you have?  I thought you could punch as hard as Joe Louis.”  Big George knew he was in a different type of fight when he heard Ali speak those words.

In the eighth round, Ali started throwing punches that were easily connecting to his target. With only a few seconds left in the round, Ali dropped Big George to the mat. He had won the world championship in a fight he was not expected to survive. George went into obscurity after his fight with Ali. He only fought a few more times before retiring from boxing.

           After his retirement, George became a preacher in his hometown of Houston. He started working with youth and used his winnings from boxing to support himself and youth programs. Big George had become George and had finally found his joy.

After ten years of retirement, George wanted to raise some money for his church and his youth programs and decided to return to boxing. He was 38 and the menacing demeanor that had been his trademark when he was younger was gone. He was now fighting for his purpose and his joy. His friendly persona won him new fans and people of all ages fell in love with the man who was older, heavier, and much wiser. He became the oldest heavyweight champion at 45 by knocking out Michael Moore.

George had found his joy and had finally let the anger of his youth disappear. He went on to start his own company selling his now-famous George Foreman Grill. And no longer do the burgers have to be split between family members. George is worth an estimated 250 million. He lives with a Heart of Joy and it has led him to fame and fortune. His joy is in his giving and service to others. When we give, we receive joy.  

While my father is not famous or wealthy, he would give the shirt off his back to help a person in need. Like Big George Foreman, his heart is a heart of joy.  Live with a heart of joy.

Questions:

1.    Have you ever been successful at something, but it didn’t make you happy?

2.    Big George was able to achieve a boxing comeback. Can you think of a comeback in your life?

3.     When do you feel you possess a Heart of Joy?

Big George’s Credo:

"A merry heart will do you the same thing a medicine will do,” “But a broken spirit will do the same as a knife."