Aug 22, 2021
“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. And if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”
This quote above has been attributed to F. Scott Fitzgerald who wrote the short story about Benjamin Button, but if you do the research you will find that it was written by the screenwriter Eric Roth for the film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". At the end of the day, does it really matter who said it, although the quote itself brings up two good points. First one is do your research and don't trust the internet, and the second one is that it really is never too late to lead a life you are proud of. Sure it will take faith, and courage, a spirit of adventure, and tears but life is made out of ups and downs, side roads and mountains, muddy waters and clear skies...But if you don't reach for the sky, will you ever get to fly to the moon?!
Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla (this one is interesting, Nikola was born in Croatia but lived and died in Serbia, so both countries claim him as his. The truth is he should be considered Yugoslavian since he lived during the period when Yugoslavia was a country and Croatia and Serbia were a part of it) were all pioneers of their times. I believe that neither one of these incredible individuals had "can't" in their vocabulary. They all pushed the envelope and achieved remarkable results. Their contributions to the world have changed the landscape of their times and the future. But, I am also sure that they experienced many periods of failures and times when it was too hard to go forward. Despite it all, I am also sure that an element of stubbornness, determination and adventure guided them through those hard times and now looking back, sometimes I ask myself where would we be if it wasn't for individuals like them.
That leads me to the last point, history is there to be remembered, never forgotten, learned from and in some instances not repeated. Some events were horrific, some were triumphant, some were happy and some were just plain sad. BUT, history should not be forgotten. Our future depends on the ability to look back, hopefully not repeat the mistakes of the past but learn from them, and go forth and build a future we can all be proud of. As Brad Pitt (as Benjamin Button) has said "I hope you live a life you’re proud of. And if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”
KL