Well, ok, it wasn’t a literal bar. It was more like a community center. Two of my dearest amigos from the Dominican Republic have taught me so many life lessons, I don’t even know where to begin. Yet, I have found that seasoned veterans of life that I respect all have one thing in common. “They all never stop learning.” And part of this life-long learning approach to life is their ability to listen, no matter what their age.
Both Fausto and Pablo have let me know on a number of occasions that life learning is not about the “end game.” It’s the journey of life that matters more. One of my proudest moments in life was when, with the help of many great individuals, we were successful in building a community center in the middle of the Island Country of the Dominican Republic. To this day this community center turned school now reaches and serves its community through an average of 200 sponsored students every year. In and of itself, this proud accomplishment ranks behind the life lesson that I was taught in the process of its development. I learned how driven and “Type-A” I can be when given a task or project. This personality approach was challenged as both Fausto and Pablo revealed to me that missing what really matters on the journey (e.g. people) takes away the ultimate joy of the journey and the accomplishment itself.
This was a mind reset for me that I carry with me to this day. I don’t have to industrialize every aspect of project development. I can slow down once in a while and “wait for the mango to fall off the tree.” These words still linger with me today. I am forever grateful to these friends for their unconditional love, their encouragement, and their unwavering friendship that allows us to pick right up where we left off, even if we haven’t physically seen each other in years.
Mike Bearden