HELLO wise old chap from England
(or UK) & Pilotwin7
(from¿?), after watching the different videos included on this post -most of them from priviledged people that pontificate- the one striking me is
"The prison of your mind". His key frase
(for me) is
"NEVER BELiEVE ANY PREDICTiON", period. Many Old Chaps in this forum have been born under the ravages of WW II, where Death visited many a times per day, taking away loved ones & unknown neighbors so democraticaly: WiTH NO DiSTiNCTiON. Everybody around us focused so much in survival that it did become a habit. In my case, I never had any time to analize if my life was good or bad, if I was happy or depresed, if I liked to work or hated it. In special when times become dire, there is less analizing since I focus all my energies to emerge from that dire situation. Afterwards
(when the storm is over) I dedicate my time to enjoy life: my work, my family & my environment.
When living in
Puerto Escondido MX (1990's), the bunch of derelict
"grown ups" played
Frisbee Golf along the Zicatela Beach for a Mile. I became very close to Captain Hook, a Vietnam veteran that lost both hands with a grenade and later, thanks to the front line limited medical atention & gangreene, lost both arms leaving only two little stomps after both arm pits. He had mechanical arms that ended in grabing hooks
(hence his name) moving them with bowden cables
(bicycle brake cables) he controled with diferent movements of his stomps. He could grab a pen & write, or drink beer & eat, or drive his Pick up truck. I was his mechanic for greasing & adjusting such arms cables.
When he started his Retirement and Disability Benefits he decided to live in Hawaii. Since before the Vietnam war he was a lawyer & a successful one at that, he started practicing again: defending the native priviledge to grow & sell
"Paco Lolo" (Olelo Hawaii language for marijuana). He was wining the case & was promptly deported from the USA, on condition that his Retirement and Disability Benefits would be paid as long as he NEVER stepped on USA soil. So, he resided in Puerto Escondido.
One day we met a new member, vacationing from Denmark: MAGNAR. He was driving an electric chair
(like the chap in "The prison of your mind"), because he had a left little hand above his left arm pit, a small thin short right arm with two fingers and NO LEGS. He was diagnosed with death a little after being born. Because of Thalidomide, Magnar was born with phocomelia
(malformation of the limbs). Only 40% of these children survived. Magnar was incredibly agile when he jumped from his chair to the ground & run moving his asses!! Then he would pick the frisbee & throw it with his little arm & two fingers. Afterwards, he would jump back
(almost levitating!) into his electrical contraption & resume the game.
Besides being Captain Hook's mechanic, I managed & lived at the
Arcoiris hotel, right there in Zicatela beach. Captain Hook & I were having breakfast with beer at the hotel restaurant, when he told me how much he admired Magnar:
"I am so regretfull of lost arms and there is this little chap, so happy go lucky with no limbs at all!!" I responded:
"He has an advantage over you: he NEVER KNEW what he misses so there is no memory of lost limbs. You on the other hand, had a life with a complete body, hence you have a memory of the limbs & you miss them." - For two more winters Magnar visited Puerto Escondido, then no more. Captain Hook met a british countess, they became inlove & married in Guatemala, where they lived at lake Atitlán & no more is known.