What Will People Say

“What will people say?”

A question that, where we come from, was never really asked - it was assumed.
It came before decisions,
before courage,
often even before truth.

It was spoken quietly, yet it could be louder than the heart.
When someone wants something different.
When they dare to leave.
When they decide to stay.
When they laugh, but “it’s not the time.”
When they cry, but “it’s not the place.”

People always had something to say.
And they always spoke from a distance.

And then I think of my father.
His voice without weight, yet full of meaning.
He would say, almost in passing, as if stating something completely ordinary:
“People are people - it’s their role to talk,
and yours is to live. The only thing that matters is what the reflection of your face will tell you
in the mirror
you must look into.”

That was his measure of life.
Not applause.
Not approval.
But peace with the one you see when you are alone with yourself.

Because people do not carry other people’s choices.
They do not stand in front of the mirror instead of you.
They do not live with the consequences of their words.

People see a moment.
A person carries the whole journey.

So whenever that question rings again -
what will people say -
it’s worth remembering that talking is their role,
and living is our responsibility.

People will talk.
They always have and always will.
But life…
it doesn’t wait for everyone to agree.

And living -
that, in the end, each of us must do for ourselves.

“Šta će narod reći?”

Pitanje koje se kod nas nije pitalo - nego podrazumijevalo.
Dolazilo je prije odluka,
prije hrabrosti,
često i prije istine.

Izgovaralo se tiho, ali je znalo biti glasnije od srca.
Kad neko poželi drugačije.
Kad se usudi da ode.
Kad odluči da ostane.
Kad se smije, a „nije vrijeme“.
Kad plače, a „nije mjesto“.

Narod je uvijek imao šta reći.
I uvijek je govorio s distance.

A onda se sjetim svog oca.
Njegovog glasa bez težine, ali s puno smisla.
Znao je reći, gotovo usput, kao da govori nešto sasvim obično:
“Narod k’o narod - na njemu je da priča,
a na tebi je da živiš. Jedino što je važno je šta će ti reći
odraz tvog lica u ogledalu
u koje moraš pogledati.”

To je bila njegova mjera života.
Ne aplauz.
Ne odobravanje.
Nego mir s onim koga vidiš kad ostaneš sam sa sobom.

Jer narod ne nosi tuđe izbore.
Ne stoji pred ogledalom umjesto tebe.
Ne živi posljedice svojih riječi.

Narod vidi trenutak.
Čovjek nosi cijeli put.

Zato, kad god to pitanje ponovo zazvoni -
šta će narod reći -
vrijedi se sjetiti da je pričanje njihova uloga,
a življenje naša odgovornost.

Narod će pričati.
Uvijek je i uvijek će.
Ali život…
on ne čeka da se svi slože.

A živjeti - to ipak mora svako za sebe.