Nothing else matters but life, life itself. Odysseus and Achilles story explained. A most inspiring story that gives confidence and changed my life.
I walk my mind through forests. And I find inspirational musings. I find them and pick them up like one picks mushrooms in the forest. When I find one, there seem to be more growing close by. You know that gods were in the main mushroom eaters? Let’s take our small slice of godliness and feast on the mushrooms I found. No, this time I’d only use for sharing only one. A magic one. Just imagine a 16 year old, living in the head and trying hard to fit in life, real life, with girls, aspirations, rivalries, bombarded by imperative. All of these were happening with high frequency. I felt, although I didn’t know it at the time, he he, until much later, I felt shot at from every direction possible. To make it worse, I had no cover, nowhere to run. Until something happened in the classroom, one day. The teacher of French we had, used to like doing other things, not teaching us French but talking about interesting things, telling us stories and asking us questions. We liked it, all of us, but I know I liked it in particular. In hindsight, again, I was lucky. I admired the man. There was a meeting of minds and a difference of experience. He maybe read my mind or my soul? No. I must’ve been pure chance, randomness. He told us the story of Ulysses and Achilles when they met in Hades, the world of shadows, where all the dead people dwell after death. Ulysses was alive and Achilles was dead, a citizen of Hades. But Ulysses managed to bribe his way into Hades to speak to the brave and beautiful prince, Achilles. They meet and Ulysses asks simply but meaningfully, from the heart, driven by the curiosity of a mortal in such matters: “How are you Achilles?” The answer came from an otherwise unchanged Achilles: “I am well, a prince still, and everyone respects and loves me here in the land of shadows. But I would like to be alive again and in the world. I want life as anything, not as a prince. I want life even as a slave that tends to horses. I want back to life!”. I remember being a bit baffled, kind of lost. I took the story like one takes a fairy tale and I was expecting more. And there was more. The teacher, like a god, speaks the moral of the story: “The only thing that matters is life. Any other thing doesn’t matter much in comparison. So be brave and bold and do what you feel and want as long as you don’t harm life, yours or someone else’s! Take risks!” And I listened and tried it. And it worked ever since. I better say another thank you now! That was the time when a cross in the road appeared in front of me. I turned. I turned right! And I turned many times since.