The Measure...

I recently read, The Measure of A Man by Sidney Poitier, peculiar title for a woman to find interest in, right?  Well, I always think that you can never truly understand or know different worlds if you aren't willing to learn about them.  Besides, this autobiography is worthy to be read by anybody and everybody.

Who is Sidney Poitier?  --An actor, director, writer, diplomat, aged somewhere in his eighties.  He won an Academy Award for Best Actor, 1963, for his role in Lilies of the Field and starred in three other well-received films only about four-years later.  Anyway, the man has achieved remarkable accomplishments in his lifetime and is well-honoured too.

Sidney, narrates his memoir so well and in such fine detail that it leaves somebody as inquisitive as me, well satisfied.  I took away many profound lessons from this reading, such as, that sometimes standing up and remaining steadfast in your core set of values and beliefs will earn you the respect you deserve - no matter the length of time it'll take.
That even the little and insignificant holds tons of value.
That love trumps money.
That doubts and depression and feelings of inadequacy are human.
The struggle for balance. Courage. Culture. Religion. Spirituality.
About gratitude, reflection, strength and weakness, lies and truths, pain, joy, illusions and realities, you know, it's filled with many treasures hidden or poignantly revealed.

He mentions being shot down by failure, miraculous joys and wrenching guilts; everything every human experiences at least once in their life.  It's a pleasant and note-worthy mention that this autobiography is not just a recollection of many dates and moments.  It's a story, like any other, with many encounters.

I could quote the book endlessly but I won't bore you, so I'll refrain from doing that.  If you do happen to pass the book in a bookstore, step back, grab it, open it to page 181 - para 3,  here he defines the measure of a man in his own words... goosebumps!

Sidney's success came at a slow and steady rate and that resonated most with me.  I've always had this crazy idea that life could be planned and I'll be able to reach my ambitions at more-or-less the rate I wanted.
Life doesn't measure like that.
It didn't for Sidney.  It isn't for me.
But with a determined spirit, it will pan out as it should.  I still hear the echoes of his life journey and I hope one day when I re-open The Measure of a Man, my life would have measured up too.  And I'll read it then with a sense of reflection, and not with the burden of looking forward.

To lift the heaviness, I'll end off with one of my favourite lines from the book:
"I listened intently until each point had been driven home.  Then I said, "fuck you," in the nicest way I could.