In the recent movie, "The Castaway," Tom Hanks played the role of a FedEx delivery man. His job was to fly all over the world making sure that the packages were delivered on time.

One fateful trip found his cargo plane flying through a nasty storm somewhere in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. The plane crashed near a tiny, deserted island. The only survivor was Hanks.

Upon awakening the next day, Hanks found himself all alone. Alone with nothing except the clothes on his back.

So picture this: no matches, no tools, no food, no shelter, no communications, only 1 small flashlight along with a few packages containing some useless items that had washed up on shore.

He learned to survive a meager existence sleeping in a small dark cave. His food came from coconuts and the few fish he managed to catch.

Tom Hanks was captured and held prisoner on an island with seemingly no hope of ever escaping. Every day the island dictated to him how he was to live.

He was trapped on that island because he saw no way of escape.

His fears of losing what small sense of security the island provided, as despicable as it was, prevented him from trying to escape to a better life. A life he knew existed, but now only dreamed about.

Looking out over the vast expanse of the ocean, he constantly thought about that better life. But those thoughts soon returned to seeing the opposition and competition that prevented him from returning to what was rightfully his.

4 long years later, Tom Hanks made a decision.

He had grown sick and tired of having a nothing life.

It was either die a nobody, going no place, on a nowhere island, continuing to live a struggling and pitiful hand to mouth existence,

The Pacific Ocean was the obstacle. His opponent was his own fears of overcoming that obstacle.

He made a plan to escape. The day arrived and Hanks set sail aboard a make shift, rinky dink raft of logs tied together with tree bark and video tape.

He met every adversity the South Pacific could throw at him. It wasn't easy, but finally, the rescue came.

The movie portrayed a very intense drama. An analogy of what life is like for many people. Thousands of folks every day feel trapped in a nowhere life. They feel like their life is being wasted, like they are going nowhere, on a nowhere island with little hope of escape.

Every day these people trudge off to a boring and hopeless job that offers only an existence but no real sense of satisfaction in life as accomplishing anything.

These people know there is a better life out there, a life they so desire, yet it seems so far away. They are trapped on their own island of despair.

Held there, not by the island itself, but by their own fears of not being able to overcome the adversity and opposition that lies between them and their dreams.

A few do escape from that island. They are the ones who finally become sick and tired of living a wasted life, they are the ones who overcome the fear inside.

They start out from their island, not really knowing if they will make it or not. But they look that sea of difficulties square in the eye and say, in the unforgettable words of Admiral David Farragut, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead."

Dave Cole
Editor/Publisher
Prosperity: The Choice Is Yours http://choosetoprosper.com