Coaching Dante
" Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura
ché la diritta via era smarrita.
Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte
che nel pensier rinova la paura!
Tant'è amara che poco è più morte;
ma per trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai,
dirò de l'altre cose ch'i' v'ho scorte.
Io non so ben ridir com'i' v'intrai,
tant'era pien di sonno a quel punto
che la verace via abbandonai. "
Inferno, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri in 1307
In a very free translation these verses read:
" Right in the middle of my life, I realised that I wasn't where I wanted to be. It was like I'd wandered off the right path into a dark forest. I don't even want to remember how unhappy that place made me – I felt like I was going to die. I am only telling you this because a lot of good came of it in the long run. I don't even know how I ended up so far off course. It felt like I had been sleepwalking. "
Dante wrote these words in 1307, so since long people have woken up at midlife to find themselves unhappy or off course. A fulfilled and meaningful life is something the human species has always longed for.
We wish True Colours Coaching had been around to coach Dante Alighieri...