“People may say I COULD NOT sing, but no one can ever say I DID NOT sing” – Florence Foster Jenkins
The above quote is one of the most powerful things I have ever read all my life. Few months ago, I watched a movie about the woman who said this; Florence Foster Jenkins. Florence was convinced that she could sing, but the 'truth' was that she had such a horrible voice. Her husband and everyone else who knew her discouraged her from singing. She had a voice that could collapse what is left of Aso Rock, if we are being honest.
—
But she was insistent and determined to host a show and to sing at that show. She met voice trainers and every other music professional but they turned her away. She took matters in her hands and started her own personal music study, forced a renowned pianist to work with her and sent out her voice clips to various radio stations that played her because she was really persistent. Cutting this story short, Florence had her show, the tickets were sold out, mostly out of curiosity and for mockery purposes but she did sing. Shortly after her music show, she took ill and on her dying bed when asked if she had any regrets and if she felt terrible with the criticism she received about her music career/voice, she said, “Some may say I couldn’t sing, but no one can say I didn’t sing”.
—
The rest of the world can bet against you, but the real tragedy is when you bet against your own self.
All that is required of us is that we just try, and show up for ourselves, even when the odds are stacked against us, as they sometimes will be.
I don’t know how the last seven months of the year was for you, but I hope sincerely from my heart that from today, this very new month, you will give yourself a second, third, tenth, hundredth chance to just try again. I hope you are kind to yourself. I hope that you love yourself fiercely, whether or not others love you. I hope that you do those things you want to do, the dreams and plans that scare you, whether you fail or not. I hope you don’t stop living.
Let it be said that you failed, but let it never be said that you did not try. That is all that matters at the end.
The above quote is one of the most powerful things I have ever read all my life. Few months ago, I watched a movie about the woman who said this; Florence Foster Jenkins. Florence was convinced that she could sing, but the 'truth' was that she had such a horrible voice. Her husband and everyone else who knew her discouraged her from singing. She had a voice that could collapse what is left of Aso Rock, if we are being honest.
—
But she was insistent and determined to host a show and to sing at that show. She met voice trainers and every other music professional but they turned her away. She took matters in her hands and started her own personal music study, forced a renowned pianist to work with her and sent out her voice clips to various radio stations that played her because she was really persistent. Cutting this story short, Florence had her show, the tickets were sold out, mostly out of curiosity and for mockery purposes but she did sing. Shortly after her music show, she took ill and on her dying bed when asked if she had any regrets and if she felt terrible with the criticism she received about her music career/voice, she said, “Some may say I couldn’t sing, but no one can say I didn’t sing”.
—
The rest of the world can bet against you, but the real tragedy is when you bet against your own self.
All that is required of us is that we just try, and show up for ourselves, even when the odds are stacked against us, as they sometimes will be.
I don’t know how the last seven months of the year was for you, but I hope sincerely from my heart that from today, this very new month, you will give yourself a second, third, tenth, hundredth chance to just try again. I hope you are kind to yourself. I hope that you love yourself fiercely, whether or not others love you. I hope that you do those things you want to do, the dreams and plans that scare you, whether you fail or not. I hope you don’t stop living.
Let it be said that you failed, but let it never be said that you did not try. That is all that matters at the end.
Comments
Post a Comment