Good Western movies and Barack Obama have one thing in common😏👼
Alfred Nobel invented both dynamite and the Nobel Prize. The two opposites — on the one hand, the celebration of destruction, on the other, a celebration of peace and progress — came from the same person.
Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States, serving from 2009 to 2017, is also a Nobel Prize winner as in 2009 he was granted the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
On the other hand, what good Western movies don’t have an attack to a bank, train or bridge with some dynamite sticks. If you find one, shoot! And, actually, I would argue that such films cannot enter into the wall of fame as one of the best Westerns! You would agree that one without a blast is half of a Western. Some truly legendary movies, actors and music. What can I say about Ennio Morricone’s music! Just writing those lines I imagine myself on a horse galloping around red desert America, wind in the air, a Colt on my belt, the harmonica in my pocket, and obviously the whisky flask in my jacket 😊
Ok ok I went a bit far ahahah….
So yes Alfred Nobel is key to both, but how come for such polar opposite reasons?
As a chemist, engineer, and inventor, Alfred Nobel amassed a fortune during his lifetime, with most of his wealth coming from his 355 inventions, of which dynamite is the most famous.
In 1888, as Alfred's brother, Ludvig, had died, Alfred picked up the local paper in Stockholm to see what they said about his brother. To his astonishment he read his own obituary, eight years prematurely. They mixed up him and his brother. Can you imagine the shock of reading your own death in a newspaper?
Titled “The merchant of death is dead”, his obituary talked about dynamite, death, destruction, and military force. He was devastated that this was what he would be remembered for. So he gathered his friends and loved ones around him and asked them, “What is the opposite of destruction?” Everybody said “peace”, and so Alfred Nobel redesigned his whole life so that he could make a difference and be remembered for peace.
As he died aged 63, Nobel’s last will specified that his fortune be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the “greatest benefit on mankind” in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Nobel bequeathed 95% of his total assets (c. US$190 million in 2008), to establish the five Nobel Prizes (This explains now why they are given in Sweden! I always wondered 😊)
That’s an exercise you might want to try: writing your own obituary. In the process of writing your own obituary, start thinking what you want to be remembered for, what your mission in life is and what your purpose is.
QUESTION…
What do you need to do, create, build, and change today to get the obituary you want?