What are some of the major events that took place that have changed your life?
Answers
Moving to the US
In 2004, I moved from Bogotá to Boston, without speaking English, no friends, and less than a thousand dollars in my pocket. I learned the language while waiting tables, parking cars, and many other odd jobs.
A few years of hard work and good faith resulted in a Master’s degree from Columbia University and an epic journey in the US.
LESS Saga
The financial crisis of 2008, is considered by many economists to have been the worst crisis since the great depression of the 1930s.
Back then, I used to work in Wall Street and ended up loosing everything. I call this episode as the “LESS saga”because as a result of the financial crisis I ended up:
Love_Less, because my girlfriend at the time left me;
Job_Less, because I lost my job; and
Home_Less, because I didn’t have money to pay the rent.
Cancer
In 2011, I was diagnosed with cancer. It was one of the toughest times of my life, but I learned a lot about my personal resilience by discovering my capacity to convert poison into medicine.
I had cancer but cancer never had me.
HERO’S JOURNEY
Life’s difficult moments and the way how they transformed my way of looking the world remind me of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey. (See graph below).
Hero’s journey is a great template that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home transformed. Sounds familiar?