Figaro introduces himself in the Barber of Seville as the city’s factotum. He calls himself fortunate, and he declares, “Bravo, bravissimo! Ah, Te Fortuna non mancherá.” Fortune isn’t going to leave him. Shouldn’t he feel that way? He’s a factotum, the guy to go to because he can do everything from cutting hair to curing people with leaches.
You know that the more you can do the better your chance of having Fortuna by your side. You also know that the more you can do the better your chance of having Fortuna fail you. Well, come to think about it, I guess Fortuna can either stay or go, and we have no complete control, regardless of what we are or do in any single venture.
However, I recommend your being a factotum. Keep Fortuna busy. Maybe she leaves here, but not there. Maybe she fails in one segment of your life, but she doesn’t in another. You might have a failure here or there, but given that you are a factotum, you have plenty of chances for ups even in the presence of downs. As I have said elsewhere, your successes outnumber your failures. The problem with most pessimists is that they focus on that one failure in the midst of successes.
Do more, fail more. But do more, succeed more. In the midst of failure, do more. You can sing with Figaro, “Bravo ____________________ (your name here)! Bravo bravissimo! Ah, Te Fortuna non mancherá.”*
*In case you feel like singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bQ3rhottqI
In case you need a translation: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/largo-al-factotum-make-way-handyman.html
Or: http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/classicalmusictips/qt/Largo-Al-Factotum-Lyrics-And-Text-Translation.htm
You know that the more you can do the better your chance of having Fortuna by your side. You also know that the more you can do the better your chance of having Fortuna fail you. Well, come to think about it, I guess Fortuna can either stay or go, and we have no complete control, regardless of what we are or do in any single venture.
However, I recommend your being a factotum. Keep Fortuna busy. Maybe she leaves here, but not there. Maybe she fails in one segment of your life, but she doesn’t in another. You might have a failure here or there, but given that you are a factotum, you have plenty of chances for ups even in the presence of downs. As I have said elsewhere, your successes outnumber your failures. The problem with most pessimists is that they focus on that one failure in the midst of successes.
Do more, fail more. But do more, succeed more. In the midst of failure, do more. You can sing with Figaro, “Bravo ____________________ (your name here)! Bravo bravissimo! Ah, Te Fortuna non mancherá.”*
*In case you feel like singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bQ3rhottqI
In case you need a translation: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/largo-al-factotum-make-way-handyman.html
Or: http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/classicalmusictips/qt/Largo-Al-Factotum-Lyrics-And-Text-Translation.htm
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