This morning I read a tragic story about a young woman in her fifties who came here to start anew. Instead, she ended her life. I feel compelled to write something in response to this. I could write a cliché-filled diatribe about how “Costa Rica is not for everyone.” That you can’t escape yourself, nor your problems, here. Duh! The truth is life can be viewed as either being filled with problems, or potential, anywhere you are. The answer never lies “out there,” but rather “in here.” Okay, so much for avoiding clichés, but it is true, isn’t it? If you are looking for answers to problems in a place, or in a relationship, or in a belief system, political view, drug, or by pointing a loaded gun at your head, what you will find is simply more problems. This fabulously fleshy computer that God installed between our ears is quite adept at finding and magnifying problems if that is where you choose to direct its processing power. Have I been able to escape my problems in Costa Rica (and believe me I have and have had many)? The very notion of that question makes me chuckle to myself. It all really comes down to a decision that we all are empowered to make. Costa Rica provides a beautiful backdrop in which to make that decision and which can enrich that decision in many ways. What “decision” am I talking about? The decision to embrace life no matter what it throws at you. To see the silver lining in every dark cloud. To pass the test of integrity. To love even when you feel unloved. To sacrifice yourself even when you feel completely spent. To be at peace alone with yourself when no one else wants to share their time with you. To remain fond of yourself despite all the stupid #$@! you’ve done. And to gaze upon the beauty that surrounds you here in Costa Rica, or wherever you might find yourself, and know that there is a purpose to it all. That there is a purpose to your life. The decision to cut it short is one you can make in a myriad of ways, but that is always outside of the path of your true purpose. You wouldn’t be here in the first place if it weren’t meant for you to L-I-V-E your life in every sense of what that word means. Anyone who has suffered in life, really suffered, has experienced the electrically impulsed image of ending it all slicing through the synapses. There is nothing weird or even particularly alarming about that. After all, it is a choice we always have, just like all the other choices God’s gift of free will grants us. But it is never the best choice. Life beats it, hands down, every time.
…..Live to Love
…..Live to Laugh
…..Live to Learn
…..Live to Leave a Legacy
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