Paradise
“A unique trait of character is that it is only revealed by the actions you choose to take.”
Once there was a man who was finding it very difficult and frustrating in finding peace or purpose in his life. Day after day, the pressures and demands of his responsibilities started to take its toll on his own joy and happiness. One day he walked out on the beach to clear his mind, and as he looked out past the waves and into the horizon, he noticed a beautiful island filled with lush gardens, waterfalls, fruit trees, beautiful birds of all colors, and calm waters.
He thought to himself: "If I could swim to that island, I may be able to finally live in peace and find purpose to make my life complete.” So on that day, he jumped into the water and battled the waves and tide that kept pushing him back to land. After days of swimming and on the verge of collapsing, he was finally able to see the waves lapping up on the island shore and could hear the soothing sound of waterfalls and the exotic singing of beautifully colored birds in the lush forest trees. Exhausted and exhilarated, he swam faster to finally reach the island and said to himself: "Yes! This is where I belong!" On his first day he ate the sweet fruit, swam under the crystal blue waterfalls, napped in the shade of the palm trees and enjoyed the peace and freedom from the monotony and struggles of life he once knew. On the second day he did the same, he swam, ate the exotic fruits, watched the birds as he did on the third, fourth, fifth day and throughout the days and months that followed.
As the years passed, he found he was not as agile to climb the trees to pick its sweet fruit or to swim for very long because it became too strenuous in his older age. The melodious songs of the multicolored birds no longer pleased him like they used to and the alluring sound of waterfalls had lost their magic. As he strolled on the shore, he thought about how lonely his life had become on the island that was suppose to be his paradise and how much he needed others in his life to care for and to care for him as well. As he stood on the shore of his island, he could see in the far distance the life he once knew and thought about all he gave up to try and escape his difficulties.
He realized he had been gone long enough that others had probably stopped looking for him and had carried on with their own lives. He thought to himself at that moment, "How can I swim back to be close to those I care about? I am no longer as strong as I once was. How can I call out to them when my voice is weak and fragile? Maybe that which drew me here was only intended for a period of my life and not to be how I should leave this world." A profound sense of wisdom came over him. He realized the challenges and struggles he faced were only meant to strengthen his character and lead the way for those he loved, and that character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through the experience of trial and suffering is the soul strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
He looked across the sea to the life he left and all the comforts he had grown to love and was now longing for those he left behind. He ran stumbling to the island shore and cried out: “I am here! I am here!" Over and over again he called out but only heard the crash of the waves in response. After days of calling out to the life he once knew, he decided he would rather take the chance and trust in the strength he had left to swim back to the distant shore he once called home than to continue to be alone in what he thought was his personal paradise. On that day, he jumped into the water and swam against the waves and tide that kept pushing him back to the island shore. What seemed like minutes, turned to hours, what seemed like hours turned to days, and what seemed like days turned to years. With his last breath of strength and half-way to the distant shore, he could swim no more and could only watch as the waves overtook him and pushed him to the ocean floor.
As he sank to the ocean floor, vivid memories of birthday celebrations, laughter, and tender moments of tears and comfort seemed to stop time. His flailing arms gave way to surrender to the life that could have been. Just as he reached up for the last time to the surface light above him, he felt someone take his arm. As his last breath left his lungs, another hand held his waist. As the hope of feeling the touch of those he loved was ripped from his heart, and just as he lost consciousness, he felt yet more hands reach out to hold his head and body above the rough waters.
As he awoke on the shore of the life he once knew, he found himself surrounded by all those he had once left behind. Between his tears of joy and relief he cried out: "How did you know I was out there!? How did you ever know I was trying to swim back to you!?" And lastly, with touching humility he asked softly: "How could you still want to help me?" As they cradled him in their arms, they told him: "We never stopped missing you. We never stopped loving you and we never stopped listening for your call. We all have learned to live in anticipation for the day you would reach out to us so we could help you find your way back home to us. All you ever had to do was just meet us half-way."
We spend the first half of our lives making mistakes, and the second half trying to make up for them all. It’s never too late to be who you’ve always wanted to be.