Cheating at life with old Santiago - a reflection on your Purpose
Stephen Ashcroft
Strategic Procurement Leader | Mega Projects | Infrastructure | Airports
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about Purpose and how my knowledge, motivation and attitude aligns and enables what I want to achieve.
And maybe that’s something you reflect on too.
I had an insight that got me thinking on this!
With my friends, we have some back and forth about books we’re reading – fiction in the main (though The Gulag Archipeligo is one recently, so it's not all giggles).
Reading fiction is cheating at life. An author provides an opportunity to experience a ‘life’ different from our own that impacts on how we're leading our own life. There is no one reality, we become what we think about. Perhaps not an original thought but that’s insightful, right?
And so to my point.
Have you read The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway?
It’s a slim volume, written way back in the 20th century (published 1952) and won awards and everything. A simple story about a man. And the sea :) .
It doesn’t half make you think about your Purpose.
The story is told with an economy of words and description - maybe you wish I could write this post in such a style :) - which captures the power and inner strength of an individual who accepts the burden of responsibility, of being a serious fisherman – that is his Purpose.
He, Santiago, has failed to catch a fish in the Gulfstream off the coast of Cuba for umpteen days, it's really not going well for him. And he continues to fish gathering all his inner strength, quietly facing his challenge. Here, we're back to Purpose, fishing is his thing. He's experienced, talented and skilled for his Purpose.
The book celebrates the magnificence of an individual striving against nature and the need and value of determination, skill, gratitude and courage. And yet, ultimately the tragedy of life continues in the face of such sacrifice and monumental efforts.
(For those of you who’ve read Hemingway, there’s a pattern emerging here in Big Papa's themes…).
Who's my role model here – Ernest the author or Santiago the fisherman?
Neither, I guess, I’m not proposing a role model. Pick and mix is the way to go – that cheating at life phrase has some resonance – let's take the learning we can from where we can.
I can be inspired to embody the characteristics I felt in reading old Santiago’s Purpose and in diving into his inner monologues I'm reminded of the nobility in the struggle to ‘be’; the battle with life.
I’m living and working in Dubai - the above image is the city today and how it looked in 1981 - so it's not storms and marlin I’m battling here in the self-described ‘happiest city in the world’. I've a purpose, I've (some) talent. Can I learn from Santiago to ‘be’?
The Old Man and the Sea invites reflection on your Purpose and the wonder of courage, skill, art and endurance.
Recommended.
Procurement, Sales, Negotiation practitioner/educator. Persuasion, Politics.
6 å¹´Hi Steve,? It certainly is a compelling read, and your reflections ring true for me too.? Coupled with a clear idea of one's purpose (no mean feat itself) is the importance of recognising what one has learned already. We sometimes forget the richness and depth of our experience (including in our work) and instead we develop a shorthand that enables us to see and diagnose things that others cannot (at least not yet). What seems clear to us, has yet to come into view of many people (and in other respects vice versa, of course) Perhaps, we must repeatedly remind ourselves that what have have, and what we offer others, matters. And be bold in taking that out into the world. Such experience and insight is hard won, and there are few shortcuts. A bit like old Santiago, eh??