Autobiography - The Galindo Group

Ram Galindo THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN Page 185
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ADVENTURE
In reviewing the traits that we learn in the cradle of our homes, it appears to me that our
quest to explore is among the most important. Any exploration of the unknown quickly
takes the tone of adventure. Even learning is some sort of adventure. One can
experience the thrill of discovery by learning from a book, by experimenting, or even
more exciting, by just plain reasoning. This trait of exploring, of looking at life as a trip of
discovery, I learned at my parents’ home and taught to my children in my own home.
Therefore I integrate my taste for adventure with my family life, whether as child growing
up in my parents’ home or as a father teaching my own children the basics of life.
Thus, I see adventure as an integral part of growing up and of honing us to be the best
that we can be. Accepting adventure allows us to enjoy life more, to appreciate the
society that makes it possible for us to do so and to become more accomplished
citizens. I perceive the taste for exploration and adventure as a lesson to be learned at
home.
One of the benefits of liberty is the power that each individual receives to seek and
explore beyond what is generally considered an established limit. Just as surely as each
one of us has dreamed of self-improvement, each of us has also dreamed of pushing
the envelope of what we have already accomplished. I find that the desire to seek and
explore blossoms under the encouraging light of political and economic freedom. My
observation is that when one is free to decide where and when to go, how to spend his
or her own resources and what and how to explore, another mandate shrouded in the
genome is released with great power. People call it our “natural” curiosity to explore.
Akin to our desire to create to improve ourselves, this is a desire to learn more, to
overcome the fears caused by ignorance, to find out what our personal and group limits
are, to look beyond the confinement of the allegoric range of mountains behind which
each one of us lives. This impulse to explore cannot prosper without liberty. The genius
of America unleashes this impulse in all its citizens for the benefit of the world.
While some truly creative people feel this impulse with great clarity and have the talent
and perseverance to move all of humanity up the pyramid of progress, most of us are
only able to push our own limits, be they intellectual, physical or willpower. The
discovery of my own desires to explore new territories started in the realm of physical
activities. But I soon found out that even to develop muscles and motor skills it was first
necessary to develop willpower, and willpower cannot be developed in the absence of
intellectual concentration. The inner strength needed to set goals and persevere in their
search is the main ingredient of what we call a strong spirit.
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