How the merchant of death brought peace.
On Friday we had the honour to be part of the #globaljax Going Global Summit at the Florida State College. The idea was to mentor the high school kids, tell them about our career, our countries and hopefully inspire them. I am not sure whether I managed to inspire them but one of us certainly did. Eloiza presented the following story. It was so inspiring that I wanted to share this with you.
Once upon a time, there was a guy named Alfred. Alfred was a well known scientist and inventor. He invented dynamite and because of this Alfred was famous, had money and recognition. Pretty much what most of us want from life. All good for Alfred.
Until one morning, as he was having his breakfast and reading the newspaper, his eyes fell on the obituaries section (you know when people die and are famous other people write about them) and specifically on his own obituary. It was Alfred’s twin brother that died but the newspaper made a mistake and announced that Alfred died. In his own obituary Alfred was described as the ‘merchant of death’. Because dynamite was used to kill people during battles and wars. Alfred was shocked.
When up to that point he thought he had everything he ever wanted, and was successful by most people’ standards, he realised that all those things were important – but not if they didn’t add up to leaving behind something of value to his family, his community and to the world. And he would hate to go down in history and leave a legacy of death and pain behind him. So he took a decision right on that moment that changed the course of his history.
And can you guess who Alfred was?
His last name is Nobel. And no one remembers him now as the inventor of dynamite but instead as the founder of the Nobel price.
Quite a legacy!
This clearly shows, it is never too late to think about a vision for your life and leave a positive legacy behind you.
What is the one thing you want to be remembered by?
Eloiza asked the high school kids and some of them wanted to share their thoughts with the around 200 people in the room. One said: “I want to be remembered by singing” and another one: “by making an impact” and a third one “by making people smile”.
What is the one thing YOU want to be remembered by?
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Special thanks to @EloizaSavvidou for bringing warmth and joy to our hearts.
Feel free to connect with me on Twitter and share your thoughts and comments: @KovacsMelanie
