A Lesson From Napoleon

FABLES FOR OUR GRANDCHILDREN
READING TIME: 1 minute

There is a biography about Napoleon by Andrew Roberts. In one part, it describes Napoleon’s ten months in exile on an island. Exile is what happens when you’re an Emperor and they don’t want to kill you or put you in prison. Ten months for us would be since last August. Hmm. I wonder what you and I have accomplished since then. Here’s Roberts’ list of what Napoleon did to pass his time in that same period.

“During his nearly ten months on Elba he reorganized his new kingdom’s defenses, gave money to the poorest of its 11,400 inhabitants, installed a fountain on the roadside outside Poggio (which still produces, cold, clean drinking water today), read voraciously (leaving a library of 1100 volumes…), played with his pet monkey Jenar, walking the coastline along the goat-paths while humming Italian arias, grew avenues of mulberry trees, reformed customs and excise, repaired the barracks, built a hospital, planted vineyards, paved parts of Portoferraio for the first time and irrigated land. He also organized regular rubbish collections, passed a law prohibiting children from sleeping more than five to a bed, set up a court of appeals and an inspectorate to widen roads and build bridges. While it was undeniably Lilliputian compared to his former territories, he wanted Elba to be the best-run royaume d’operette in Europe.”

Talk about making the most of a bad situation. Right? Just imagine what you could do in 10 months if you tried. Now think about 10 years! You don’t need to distract yourself from emptiness. You need to fill it instead. Dream a dream and work to make it a reality. Be the Emperor of your Life. 

I love you,
Granny

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