Inspirational Figures for Youths -“YOU” can do the remarkable.

Education & Learning, Health & Welfare, Social & Youth development,

This article highlights inspirational figures youths can learn from to understand themselves and their sense of purpose.

My favourite movie trilogy of all time is “Kung Fu Panda”. It follows the generic Hollywood format of an unlikely nobody becoming the hero that saves the day. It is a fun movie and contains one of the best nuggets of wisdom I’ve heard in my life.

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift… that’s why they call it present”

The core theme of the trilogy is “there is no secret ingredient”. That phrase has enlightened how I approach life.

There is no secret ingredient.

In fiction, a famous cuisine with an unknown secret formula is the Krabby Patty. Till today, there are debates about what the secret formula might be. According to SpongeBob lore, the secret formula has ranged from a math formula (x-2)+1 to the more arbitrary King Neptune’s Poseidon Powder.

But what if – the secret of the Krabby Patty is that there is no secret formula because the secret formula becomes whatever the showrunners decide it to be?

Viktor Frankl – a Holocaust survivor, wrote in “Man’s Search for Meaning” that all people are driven by purpose and strive to find a sense of meaning within their lives. His solution to finding this sense of meaning is

“The meaning of life is to give life meaning”.
Viktor Frankl

Just like how there is no Krabby Patty secret formula. A Life’s sense of purpose is whatever you want it to be.

In the first Kung-Fu Panda movie, there is this Dragon Scroll that is alluded to contain limitless power, and it is the protagonist destiny to learn from the Dragon Scroll. But when the Protagonist gets the coveted Dragon Scroll meant to reveal his life’s purpose. It’s blank and just a golden reflection of his own image.

“There is no secret ingredient. It’s just you”.

You are special. And because you cannot feel your speciality does not mean you cannot contain enormous potential within you.

You can be the pioneer of skill the world hasn’t even seen yet. To harness your potential, believe you are special. To achieve your goals, believe you are capable.

"YOU" can do remarkable things - Inspirational Figures for Youths.

You are the secret ingredient.

You are special.

Have you ever wondered what the odds of your existence are?

Well, according to Dr Ali Binazir, a Harvard graduate who actually calculated the math on the odds of a persons’ existence – “The odds you exist, is basically zero”.

That means you are a miracle!!! You’re an inspirational figure and can do remarkable things.

The abridged version of Dr Ali’s calculation is the probability of sperm from your father meeting a fertile egg from your mother, which is 1 in 400 quadrillion – that’s five sets of triple zeros.

That probability applied to your entire family tree becomes 400 quadrillions raised to the 150,000th power because your earliest ancestor existed about 3 million years ago, and assuming a new generation begins every 20 years means there are 150,000 generations in your lineage.

So 400 quadrillion to the 150,000th power then needs to be multiplied with the probability of every one of your ancestors reproducing successfully, which is 10 raised to 45,000 … some further calculations down the line, the probability of your existence is 1 in 102,685,000.

Trust me, 102,685,000 is a really huge number, and a 1 in 102,685,000 is an even rarer occurrence. However, to illustrate, your birth is rarer than the chances of prince Arthur being selected to pull out Excalibur if everyone dead and alive and in fiction all took part in the game rock-paper-scissors, and everyone chose scissors.

Inspirational Figures for Youths -"YOU" can do the remarkable. Genetics

Inspirational Historical Figures for Youths

Over the centuries, inspirational figures have existed, carving their importance in history. This article aims to showcase inspirational figures who were so ahead of their time doing remarkable things despite their entire world being against them.

These inspirational historical figures gave meaning to their lives, and as youths, there’s a lot to learn from their self-belief.

Socrates

First, there is the philosopher Socrates. The most influential thinker of all time. He is the father of philosophy and the founder of the Socratic method, a technique used in modern-day therapy. Socrates was ahead of his time in his critical thinking approach. However, it was his way of life that turned the people of Athens against him.

Julius Caesar

He was the person integral to the strength of the Roman Republic. He was a benevolent ruler and a military mastermind. However, his popularity led to his senators overthrowing him, which marked the end of the Roman Republic.

Galileo Galilei

During his time, it was believed that Earth is the centre of the universe. And despite Galileo using the telescope to observe other planet’s moons and the Sun as the centre of the universe. He was ordered to abandon the idea, the truth, and his contribution to the solar system was dismissed for his lifetime.

Ignes Semmelweis

This is a man who is incremental in mitigating the pandemic we live in today. In the 19th century, he discovered the importance of handwashing against spreading germs and bacteria after discovering that recent mothers died after being treated by doctors who handled corpses prior to their childbirth.

However, his discovery did not lead to the adoption of sanitation and hygiene; it led to the opposite. He got fired from his job and spent the rest of his life fighting with colleagues over sanitation.

“The meaning of life is to give life meaning.”
Greek & Roman Philosophers: Marcus Aurelius, Caesar, Socrates.
Inspirational Figures for Youths -"YOU" can do the remarkable.

Believe in yourself, believe in your truth.

Vincent Van Gogh

He perfected his craft on his unique brand of impressionist art and is today one of the renowned painters of history, despite not taking painting seriously until he was 27 years old and is committed to a mental asylum.

During his lifetime, he had close to non-existent or little fame. And most of his famous works were done in the last two years of his life, and now he is an important influence on modern art.

Alfred Wegener

Alfred discovered the Earth was previously a supercontinent that broke off to the continents we have today. His discovery was so ahead of his time in 1912 that other scientists discredited his theory as pseudoscience.

Today, his continental drift theory is the bedrock of modern geology science, helping to answer vital questions like where to find precious oil and mineral deposits.

Emily Dickinson

Regarded as one of the best American poets did not receive any notoriety from editors and the public until she passed away.

Edgar Allen Poe

He gained no actual level of recognition in his lifetime despite innovating genres. In fact, he was so unaware of his skill as a writer of stories; he considered his poetry to be his major strength.

These inspirational figures for youths made remarkable impacts despite their period in time failing to acknowledge their relevance, and there is a lot to learn from them and Viktor Frankl. That purpose come from inside; it manifests despite the critics.

Create your own meaning in life, and the greats have followed in this path and succeeded. And to quote one of the greatest Roman emperors.

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking
Marcus Aurelius