Sacrifice ...

Can you remember the defining moments in your life? Moments where everything changed… moments that will be etched in your mind forever.

Last week I had such an experience.

I had the opportunity to meet an extraordinary man in Cape Town a few days ago. R is a man in his late-thirties who had a car accident in his early twenties. He lives in the beautiful town of Strand in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Hello my friend
We meet again
It's been a while
Where should we begin?
Feels like forever

When I had my eighteen month stint as a teacher back in the mid eighties I had the privilege of teaching Geography to R… at the time I thought then that when I have a kid one day, I really wanted him to be like R. Bright, friendly, Handsome, brilliant sportsman, full of energy and light. A kid that had the whole world at his feet. Someone with a wonderful future ahead of him. (And I have been blessed with a wonderful child, my son... JP. When I grow up...I want to be like him ;)). I can still remember how R always argued with me about getting higher marks and his wisdom at that young age really impressed me.  Over the years I always wondered what happened to this brilliant young man. 

Within my heart
Are memories
You gave to me 

Through the wonder of facebook I saw his name again last year, we connected. I immediately wrote him that I would like to see him again and joked about the time I was a young teacher. He responded that he couldn’t remember me… I was a bit pissed of…and told him so… my fragile ego in pieces.  I mean, I always thought that I was an above average teacher and that some of the kids would at least remember me. At least the bright ones.

We've seen our share
Of ups and downs
Oh, how quickly life
Can turn around
In an instant

 It was then that he told me about his accident and apologized that he could not remember me due to gaps in his long term memory.  After having been in a coma for a long time, he recovered miraculously. R had to stop his studies and had to change his life completely and ended up working as a labourer. The insurance only paid out more than 15 years after the accident and he can now afford a small apartment and has a pension to take care of him. He also started studying again, involved in charity work and dream of running his own business again one day.

R said one thing to me that I will remember for the rest of my life. He said that he became the person that he always thought he never wanted to be... a dependent, someone who couldn't do it for himself... and that he had to make peace with that and start living again. I can see that he does not regret what has happened to him, but that he sees it as one big opportunity. The ultimate sacrifice…

This brings tears
To my eyes
This sacrifice…

There are so many things that scare me…. scared that my plans will not work out, scared that I might loose my possessions… scared that my son will grow up in a world where he will not be okay… is this just survival instinct kicking in? Would it make me a better person if I stop fearing so many things? Or would it be like the turning point in my life when I realized that the bullsh** indoctrination by the church kept me captured by fear for such a long time.

Isn’t it now time to have multiple turning points side by side by side… ? Maybe this is the way to create a big bang “orgasm” and explode into a magical world of constant ecstasy and wonder.  Life is short… how do I make sure that I live it to the fullest? 

It feels so good to reunite
Within yourself and
Within your mind
Let's find peace there

Something happens inside of me when I meet wonderful people like R. My intention is to give to him. I want to give him hope. I want him to know that I am sincerely interested in him and look forward to a long friendship. But I left having received much more than I can ever give. I left realizing that less is so much more...

There are so many wonderful giving people in this world... people who realize that we need to give to keep life safe for future generations. Give (up) good for great...