Forever Young

Let’s take a look in the mirror.

Have we not changed? Do we still look the same as ten years ago?

I don’t – I’ve changed, my hair isn’t the same it was when I was younger. To be fair, I basically don’t have any.

My thoughts haven’t been stuck in a loop for twenty years. The world has changed, and so have I. We’ve had to change to not lose ourselves and to understand the changes that were taking place.

We want to improve, grow – at times, we get hurt, and have to stop and get better. We look for support outside ourselves when we need to heal. And, when we reach out to other people, we change, therefore evolving.

If our soul can change, then so can everything surrounding us.

If we can change, we must guide other people as they pursue perfection.

Ah, perfection – perfection is a state of mind. Plato himself said that pursuing beauty, perfection, and an ideal world is well beyond the reach of our complicated and imperfect one.

Where is this perfect world we dream of but never reach?

If it’s out of reach, we have to change, and help others change, and be and do good.

Doing good makes us happy.

Aristoteles said all virtue is summed up in dealing justly, and that knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. We can grow and improve and learn – and by doing so, we will have the means to build a better world.

By doing something tangible, we can set a goal which can be shared by more than one person.

This is what happiness is – after all, idle hands are the devil’s tools.

And we Costas are not known for being idle.

We want to help our youth and welcome them into this new world we’re building. We want our activities to bring happiness to people, to ensure that what we do makes sense, and learn from the new generations as they learn from us.

Bob Dylan sang: “May you have a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift, may your heart always be joyful, may your song always be sung, and may you stay forever young.”

We want to reach out to people between 18 and 30 and host them – for free – at the La Perla Hotel during select days this summer. Oh, we’ll have a blast, just you wait!

We’ll show them what hospitality means to us. Sure, it’s not perfect, but we can always aspire to improve while being down-to-earth about what we already do.

They will learn about the Costa Family Foundation, what we do at the hotel on a daily basis, how the HR Office works, and what we do in the areas of growth and development.

We want to show them that ours isn’t just a ‘job’, but a vocation. Working in our Casa, our home, can help people become the best versions of themselves.

“May your wishes all come true, may you always do for others and let others do for you, may you build a ladder to the stars”. Forever Young, once again Dylan guides us on this endeavour.

We want as many people as possible to seize this opportunity. Younger people can run faster, but young people at heart – although now white-haired or completely bald – know the way. You can only be young once but, if we hold each other’s hand, we’ll both climb the ladder to the stars.

Enjoy 1 June – summer is just around the corner, and what a summer it will be.

.m