Don't Forget Your Uppercut

Growing up in the ‘80s or ‘90s, it was a well-known fact that the “start” button paused any and all video games. However, there was one glorious exception to this rule: the uppercut in Punch-Out!

For those who never knew its exhilarations, Punch-Out! was an extremely popular boxing game on NES in which players entered the ring as Little Mac, a pint-sized runt who, through some highly unethical breach of WBA regulations, faced a series of monstrous opponents two or three times his size.

But Little Mac had two advantages: first, his determination to fight and win; and second, the human being controlling him.

Still, once the bell rings and Mac’s first opponent ambles forward, apprehension never fails to kick in. The fact is, the guys you face in this game are huge. Some of them can make mincemeat out of Mac with just a few punches. Mac’s punches, on the other hand, come off as depressingly anemic. Then again, what more could you expect from a guy who has to jump a foot in the air to reach his opponent’s chin? But this little guy is not without his trump card.

Into this daunting situation, Digital Providence has tossed a happy surprise: Mac’s signature move, the spinning uppercut. It takes a lot out of Mac, and is only possible when his confidence is up after scoring a particularly effective shot against an opponent—but when he’s able, Mac spins around, spirals into the air in a dazzling five-foot vertical leap, and drives his little fist straight into the adversary’s unsuspecting face. All this is triggered by pressing the “start” button.

This is quite literally a game-changing punch that has the power to instantly lay out some opponents. And when it’s timed right, this baby is still—in the age of ultra-HD graphics and super-intuitive game engines—still one of the most satisfying moves in all of Video-Gamedom.

So why bring it up now, other than nostalgia?

Sometimes I feel like Little Mac. You know what I mean. Up against huge problems, thinking things like, “I am way out my league here!” or “I shouldn’t even have to deal with this!” or “Why am I boxing with a mutated, 300-pound hippo-man?” Well, okay, only Little Mac has thought that last one, but we’ve all been in the ring with people or problems that seem to vastly outweigh us. And we have felt that primal fear, that deep sense of inadequacy.

It is at these moments that we need to remember the spinning uppercut. There is power, there is greatness, placed within you. Find it and claim it. Don’t be afraid to use it. Never fear greatness, because greatness is your destiny.

And there is nothing more satisfying than feeling that spinning uppercut hit its mark!

 

Confidently,

Joezilla

The Solution

Sometimes it's the most obvious advice that we need to hear most often and most repeatedly. So let's sustain that custom with today's brief post.

No matter what problems you are facing, prayer is solace, solution, and the way forward. Whatever is not right in your life, whether you know what that is or not, begins to be solved when you sit in silence and set yourself to commune with your Creator. All will be well. As Boyd Bailey says, "Be still, listen, and let Him love you and revive you."

It is no wonder that prayer is one of the most common characteristics of the saints. Prayer is an immediate way of getting closer to God. We are called as Christians to live our lives so as to bring ourselves closer to God. So why do we waste so much time thinking about the grass of the field, which is thrown into the oven tomorrow, when God is right there waiting for us?

It is quite literally true to assert that God has all the time in the world; He can wait.

But can we?