I've began reading a great book it's called "Papillon" (Butterfly) by Henri Charrière and although I've read it before this time round it seems all the more better. Previously I had found some of the beginning chapters boring, yet now they are not. The book was made into a film and is some years old. The story is a magnificent one about a man who in the early 1930s is sent to a French Penal colony to rot away. He states he was framed for a murder and so has a bitter contempt for the legal system, which has incarcerate him. They may have seen him as one of those young underworld gangsters who was going to get worse and worse. By all accounts he knew how to look after himself and was good with a knife when needed. However, the one thing they could not break was his will. More than this, he knew what he was doing. His strong will and conviction for escape carries you along, it's like being on a roller coaster ride. In the preface of the book there is some suggestion he has made up some of this story. It is supposed to be largely autobiographical. Regardless, it is a book to read before you die.
We spend so much of our lives doing stuff, which is wasted. What Charrière says is time is life. This is true. There are times in life when events are stressful, definitely in this convict's life, but these stressful times make us appreciate and value more those quite peaceful moments. When the love and touch of a fellow human being jumps the hardships of living and puts meaning into living. This reminds me when Sparkling said she did not want any presents at Christmas and said she would rather have donations sent to charity. She felt overwhelmed when some fridge magnets arrived of a goat and other items from Oxfam. Perhaps we do not give enough as individuals back into society or the world? Especially when the stories of people living in developing countries arise. Some countries which are run by despots and whose gentle populace suffer the worse atrocities. For these people I can never know or understand their plight, I can sympathise with them, but as the saying goes, "walk a mile in my shoes," there are many miles a lot of us Westerners need to walk before our own bigotry can be tackled.
Odd I can't help sometimes how the words come out when I write a blog. I just sit down and write and mostly they have a humorous quip about them. So to lighten up a little.
Having an obstinate and strong conviction of one's own worth puts us in place in society, without the need to seek approval. So This probably means as I get older, and battle against an ever increasing belly, if I lose now and again it don't matter so much, because inside, I know even if my shoes stay dry for longer. I am worth more than the size of my girth and external appearances are surface issues. See beyond these, see the person inside, but preferably, there's only one person inside and not space for 3 or 4.
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