March Storyteller: Pura Vida...Life is Good - An Unexpected Discovery About Happiness
- Merry Sorrells
- Mar 28
- 5 min read
Hi, Friends!
So glad you're here.
The isthmus of Costa Rica is nestled between Nicaragua and Panama, the Pacific Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea. I recently visited there with Principia School’s 8th-grade class. Our community of travelers was made up of 39 students and six chaperones. To be truthful, Costa Rica was not a crowning destination on my bucket list. I don’t speak Spanish, and other parts of the world are calling me with louder voices. However, I love to travel, so when the opportunity presented itself to travel with our students to a part of the world I had never seen before, I jumped in eagerly with both feet to join as a chaperone. How grateful I am that I did.
We spent part of each day with the native speaking Spanish teachers at the world language school, which was our home base while in San José. They were outstanding teachers, hosts, and guides. They taught our students to dance the Salsa and to cook Costa Rican style. Each day offered a new adventure. We navigated a busy marketplace in San José to purchase souvenirs to carry home to our families, visited a wildlife sanctuary filled with screaming white-faced monkeys, upside-down arboreal sloths, cawing, swooping toucans and macaws, scaly iguanas bipedaling curiously to get a better look at us, and all the while picking our way around fallen mangos which littered the ground like autumn leaves. We learned how to make chocolate on a cocoa farm. I will long remember the deliciousness of that newly minted batch of chocolatey delight. To top it all off, literally, we participated in a nine-stage canopy zip-line adventure, sailing through the skies over the rainforest. By the end of the trip, I’m pretty certain everyone from Costa Rica thought I was a native speaker by the effortless way I delivered my “Buenos dias” and “Muchas gracias” phrases. Ha!
Everyone we came across, whether strangers or the school teachers we interacted with every day, treated us with warm and welcoming hospitality. My biggest takeaway and most lasting memory, however, was the joy the Costa Rican people expressed. Most poignant was our experience when we visited a modest little elementary school. We joined their recess period, which by the way was signaled, start and end, with what sounded alarmingly like an air-raid siren. The school was tucked away in a busy, congested neighborhood. The recess yard was a spotty patchwork of grass and dirt with boundaries designated by chain link fences. A concrete court with netless basketball rims and soccer nets stood adjacent to the play yard.
Before the siren sounded announcing recess, the Principal sat our students and teachers on a long concrete stoop in the blazing sun to tell us about her students. She explained to us that these children came from poor families, so much so that the breakfast and lunch that the school served were often the only meals they had each day. Food was scarce in many of their homes. She went on to say that many of them lived with relatives, aunts, uncles, or grandparents because their parents were in jail for drug-related crimes. I have to say I was concerned that the picture she painted was of shy, quiet, introverted little kiddos, and that our 8th-grade students would really have to step up to help cheer them.
And then, the siren went off. The school’s students came flying out onto the field from all directions, laughing, shouting, and ready to play. They eagerly greeted our students with shy smiles and Spanish greetings. Soon they were all intermingled, chatting and playing together. The teachers organized all the students in lines for relay games. Hopping across the fields in plastic garbage bags served as one relay race, flipping oranges in the air between teams and catching them on outstretched plastic bags was another, holding hands in a circle and passing a hula hoop from person to person, stepping in and out without letting go was a sight that filled us all with infectious laughter. A fair estimate of the cost of the equipment for that recess period was likely under $10 American dollars. The joy that filled our hearts was priceless.
What a lesson that day was for all of us. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, wrote, “Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love.” I have carried that quote with me most of my life, but never before has it come to life for me as it did that day in Costa Rica. The happiness we all experienced didn’t come from wealth, or fame, or even family and loved ones. It didn’t come from things, possessions, or even promises of a bright future. It appeared seemingly from nowhere, and it didn’t cost a thing. Before that day, we didn’t know each other, but we shared a spontaneous joy and sweet moments of happiness. It wasn’t fleeting because it was born of Truth and Love. I guess that the students in that precious little school find happiness there every day, because they embrace the joy that comes from pure and innocent hearts in a school that surrounds them with love.
As they say in Costa Rica, Pura Vida, life is good. And, it is!
Until next time, please like, follow, and share Storyteller and help our community of friends continue to grow.
All my best,
Merry
“Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love." by Mary Baker Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 57)
The spring semester has arrived, which means my time at Principia is coming to an end. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time there, but I am excited to move back home.
When I return, my focus will shift to full-time writing, coaching school leaders, and joining groups and conventions as a keynote speaker. An exciting new chapter awaits!
Contact me at msmerrysorrells@gmail.com to discuss how we might collaborate.
Listen to the latest Storyteller LIVE featuring special guest Connie Uddo. In this episode, Connie and I delve into the significant impact Hurricane Katrina had on New Orleans its community rebuilding efforts. During our discussion, Connie shares her transformation from an "ordinary life" to becoming a community hero.
In the 20 years since Katrina, Connie has led more than 250,000 volunteers and thousands of volunteer groups from all over the world as the Executive Director of the St. Paul's Homecoming Center and the NOLA Tree Project. Two organizations that have literally changed the landscape in Lakeview, New Orleans and throughout the region.
Our discussion also addresses something that continually crosses my mind: the distinction between volunteering and meaningful service. This conversation marks my seventh episode, and I think it might be my best yet! I hope you will tune in. You'll be glad you did.
Special thanks to Connie Uddo for sharing her story and for all the ways she has made our community stronger and more beautiful each day.
Storyteller LIVE is more than a podcast, it's a community of friends connecting over faith, family, life, and learning. Don't miss this episode! Remember to follow Storyteller LIVE on Spotify.
Did you miss the last Storyteller? Don't worry, you can find it,
all my stories and more on my website.
If you enjoy being a part of the Storyteller community of friends,
remember to like, follow, share, and subscribe!
Comments