For the last 3 evenings, we were seated in the dinner lounge next to an elderly gentleman, American looking with a crew cut, with a slow demeanour, he looked to me to be quite old and yet, quite fit. This was my chance to get to know him better. Born in 1919, Jim Cox had a very successful career as a sea farer, he started life in the army to be trained as a marine cadet. During the war, he had 3 years of training, and fought in the 2nd world war. One of his greatest joys of life was the moment he left the academy. He was then happy to be liberated from the army and yet, was lost as many of his then colleagues were, when they were relieved from their disciplined and strict life. Luckily for Jim, he immediately found employment as an officer in Delta Shipping formerly known as Mississipi Steamship co. After a few years of sailing for that company, he was promoted to captainship, and for the next 17 years he sailed as a sea captain on a passenger and cargo vessel from New Orleans to the South American ports. During that time he met his German wife who was then a passenger on the ship. He married her at age 37 while she was only 21. Their union gave them 2 sons, the elder one is presently an airline pilot instructor, whilst the second one is a Yoga teacher based in Bangkok. Jim talked about his second son with much emotion; in fact, when he divorced his wife, 20 years ago, when the lattter son was only 14, and that, in a way, caused a lot of trouble to the son’s upbringing. He had quite a bit of problem to educate his second son because of the broken family situation. He even thought, during one of his trip to Israel, to send his son to be trained in a kibboutz, to give him a more regimented life. This son chose to follow his friends in a Japanese homestay program where he enjoyed learning Japanese and even managed to find temporary work in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Later on, the blue eyed blond son travelled to India and more particularly to Bihar State, to learn yoga. Afterwards, he also obtained a diploma in yoga training from a New York institute. His studio in Bangkok now, not only dispenses yoga lessons, but is also a centre for yoga teachers’ training.
At his age, Jim lives on his own, sharing his time between his apartment in Pattaya and the one in Seattle. He prided himself to have worked until age 70 and was still very active when asked to retire, in spite of his will to stay on. Somewhat, out of obligation, he wanted to work further because his divorce got him into financial strains. But he admitted that, looking back today, he lives comfortably with his pension and savings. What he enjoys today is travelling and discovering new places and things. His immediate plan is to spend the next week in the hill station of Ooti which is 150 miles away from Mysore. From this encounter, I could sense a person of great self independence, with a positive mind and very much in touch with reality.
I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet such a character, and the lesson I draw from this encounter is that, in spite of any difficult situation, with a positive mind, self –reliance, and looking towards the future, you will always be able to triumph over the difficulties. THANK YOU Jim.