I heard a piece today by Lili Boulanger: Faust et Hélène. It was written by Lili when she was 17 and she won the Prix de Rome with it becoming the first woman and youngest person ever to come out on top in this prestigious competition.
Many people would say that she was a prodigy and there were any number of exceptional things that enabled her to accomplish this feat at such a young age. I tend to agree with John Mighton that ability is a myth. He believes, and has shown through his math program, that we all have the ability to learn anything at anytime in our life.
For me Lili's piece linked to some further reflection I've been doing on the quote I posted yesterday by Florence Nightingale. Is part of what stops us all from learning anything or writing pieces like Lili at 17 the excuses that we make or are made for us and we accept? What might happen if we stopped saying I'm too young, I'm not smart enough, I'm not good at this, I don't have time etc.?
Being a Force for Good 