After being pressured for weeks and weeks (it was probably even months) into watching The Imitation Game by one of my American friends, I finally gave it a shot over the weekend.
I’m not usually too keen on sitting and staring at a screen for hours (unless it’s when I’m typing these kinds of sentences), so it’s a big thing to give something 114 minutes worth of my attention – with a couple of breaks and brain nod-offs, of course.
The movie, which is based on a true story, is about this elite and secret team of insanely smart mathematician/cryptic puzzle solvers, that are given the task of finding a solution to the war and the Nazi’s communication system called Enigma.
What an enigma! (Ha, sorry, couldn’t resist.)
Click the picture to read more about it.
But in all seriousness, this story was hard to take in given that it was real and what these people went through (not even talking about the war), actually happened. I won’t go in to too much detail as to not spoil it for anyone out there, but the main guy, Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), along with his team, eventually managed to solve the insanely difficult Enigma machine over the course of a couple of years.
It took them a lot of hard work, dedication, passion, and the constant possibility of being closed down completely was always imminent. It was tough times indeed, and after they had helped win the war against the Nazi’s, can you believe they were barely recognized for their efforts?
TAKE AWAY’S
I took a couple things away from this movie that I think will resonate with so many people here, so I’ve decided to share one of them.
Alan Turing – who we can pretty much be thankful to for the device you are currently reading this sentence from – was told this quote when he was a young outcast child at his school which was repeated a few times throughout the film: “Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.”
It’s so true, right? It always seems like the people that always have their nose down grinding away, the people sticking to something trying to achieve what they’re after, and all whilst not looking for huge recognition, bragging rights, or celebrity status, are the people that achieve the great things in the long run.
The people that stay dedicated to something. Stay consistent. Stay passionate.
For Alan Turing’s small team, I’m sure they would’ve loved to have solved the code in a matter of minutes and ended the war, but of course it took more time and effort than that.
Just like in so many other areas of our lives. The hard and challenging things are never supposed to be easy. If they were, everyone would be doing them and I guess, everything would be even harder to achieve.
It’s when things like my mate receiving his purple belt in Brazilian Jujitsu really shows how much time, effort, fails and successes are woven into achieving something great.
The same goes for that “ideal” job you want, that business you want to open, that body you’re striving for. If it was so easy, I guarantee every single mo’ fo’ out there would already be doing the things you want to do, already being the person you want to be, and you wouldn’t even want it anymore.
Of course it takes dedication and passion to reap rewards, but, why the hell would you just quit because something doesn’t happen overnight?
As long as you are breathing and conscious of your life, you still have time. You still have time to do everything you ever wanted to do. You can still experience everything you’ve ever wanted to. You can own it all. Have it all. Be it all.
THINK ABOUT THIS
Can you imagine if everyone was as dedicated to achieving things like the Enigma team were? I think our world and society as a whole would be an entirely different place to live.
I think it’s time to stop waiting for that magical day and time to happen, rise up and start to lay down the path to what you want your life to be about.
Oh and ps. I probably would give the movie a solid 7.5/10. Definitely check it out if you haven’t already.