In my seemingly lifelong quest to conquer the Spanish language one of my learning techniques is to force myself to read in Spanish…..with a translation dictionary close by, of course. I am not talking about the daily newspaper, even though that is a good idea. I am talking about books, novels, self-help, etc., etc. I am currently reading Paulo Coelho’s classic, The Alchemist. I actually read this book in English several years ago and now I am reading it in Spanish. There are some really good life messages in this book. It is about a young shepherd boy, Santiago, who is enamored with his life pursuit of being a shephard. The thing he loves the most is to travel, which shepherding allows him to do. He comes across a king and an old man who reveal to him his “Personal Legend” to go to the Great Pyramids of Egypt in search of treasure. Reluctantly the young boy abandons his beloved flock and sets out on this journey, but is faced with certain changes that take him out of his comfort zone, such as traversing foreign countries with strange languages and many mishaps along the way. He is forced to find the good in situations that at first glance don’t appear good at all. He is forced to choose between the security motivated inclination to retreat and return to his flock and the growth provoking decision to keep pushing head. Wow, in all this I can really see similarities to myself and what I have been faced with living in Costa Rica. I came here back in 2001 for innocent reasons of pursuing a business deal. However, once I arrived I quickly began to change…to see life in a different way. And boy did I face many mishaps in this journey of self-discovery and business success. And it seems that the challenges of being in a place so different from where I grew up never end. But the good that can be found in this is that those challenges are really, I believe, God-given opportunities to grow me into the person I was put on this earth to be. Which brings me to the central message of this post, which is that in life we either get busy living or growing, or we get busy dying, to quote Andy Dufresne in one of my all-time favorite movies, The Shawshank Redemption. It is as true in nature as it is with us, humans. We may stop growing physically when we reach young adulthood, but in actuality that is when the true growth really begins. I am talking about growth as a person, growth in character, growth in humility, compassion, intellect, and all those other attributes that make us unique as humans. I am fortunate, I think, to be living in a place that for me has inspired more growth in the short span of eight years, than that of the previous forty. And the journey has just begun. Just as it was with the young Santiago, to move forward toward one’s “Personal Legend” or reason for being, requires that in the face of seemingly overwhelming obstacles, one must not become overwhelmed. To do that requires, as Rudyard Kipling put so well in his poem, IF, that “you keep your head when all about you others are losing theirs and blaming it on you.” It requires that you open yourself up to new things rather than being closed to them. And living in a foreign country certainly provides ample opportunities for “new things.” Right now the change of the challenge (or the challenge of the change) brought on by the current “crisis” seems quite overwhelming. Financial challenges always seem to be that way. They cause us to conjure in our heads all the many mistakes we have made, real or imagined, and to call into question our very worth as humans. When in reality, our worth as humans is not defined by either financial success or failure. But as I stare out my window while writing this and gaze on the beautiful mountains of San Rafael, Heredia, I am motivated to move forward, just like Santiago, the humble protagonsita of The Alchemist. In Costa Rica change and the growth it inspires is a never-ending process in the natural world that envelopes you here. Change and the growth it inspires is a never-ending process of life, mine and yours, and if embraced can lead us to the fulfillment of our own Personal Legends.
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Honestly, I am voiceless. The Shawshank Redemption is exceptional. I’am quite young film fanatic, in fact, this film come out whenI was very young, and hence I am more accustomed films with marvellous special effects, edge-of-your-seat action, et cetera. This film has none of that, and still, it attracts me very much . The way Frank Darabont applies the story of Red to drive on the tale, the beauty of the music applied (note the mouth harp used merely before Red getting the letter close to the end). The entire movie, from starting to end, from actions to sound, is a beacon of hope, judgement, and redemption. The cast is pure, Morgan Freeman(Red) in reality brings about a refreshing feel to the film, and that is precisely what the movie is, what a film should be. Highly recommended for every viewer.