"The man on the portrait" Brave and chivalrous, he never missed an opportunity to pick a..

I'd like to hear your opinion on this essay as well as any recommendation or proofreading. Any grammar or vocabulary suggestions are accepted. If you thinks there's something to change or delete i would aprecciate the advice.

The man on the portrait

Brave and chivalrous, he never missed an opportunity to pick a fight or win a lady's heart. Unfortunately a cannon ball wrecked his leg in battle, what turned him bedridden for some months. During this time he had nothing to do except reading but the only available books were religious ones. The texts inspired him to make U-turn in his life. Enlightened by god he left his mundane passions and followed the path of priesthood, which led him to sanctity. This summarizes the life of St Ignatius of Loyola but honestly I had never really cared about it.

Having attended Jesuit schools since I was 6 years old it is no wonder that I can almost recite the life of St Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits. Every year from elementary school to high school has been the same. Somehow, somewhere teachers manage to squeeze this man's life and accomplishments into class. Although he is idolized at school, for me he represents nothing more than any other man. An emotionless serene face in a portrait hanged on the wall of every classroom looking at me with his heavy lidded eyes, this had always been the image I had of him but recently things have changed.

In high school I started asking myself all sort of existentialist questions related to who I am and who I want to be. Then I discovered myself to be more like the man in the portrait than I had ever though of. Maybe he was a truly remarkable man, or maybe it was just his constant presence in class but all of his ideals penetrated into me.

As I stated before I don't really care much about his life or the amount prayers he said a day or even his sanctity. What has made a profound impact on me is his vision of life. There is one phrase that comprises it: "what is the value of winning the world if you loose your soul". With these words he has shaped my principles and me as a person.

All my life I have wanted to become a successful man. Success always meant being an executive in a big company where I would gain a great salary and live a life full of commodities. Now my conception of success is different it is not about the money or the lifestyle but about being able to give back to the world. Do not get me wrong I still want to live well but after reorganizing my priorities I have learned to distinguish the superfluous things from the truly valuable ones.

Of all the people I know Ignatius, the man on the portrait, is the one that has influenced me the most. Through all the teachings he left after his death he has managed to change my perspective and values. I will not say that he has turned the person that I am into an exemplary righteous man but he has indeed constructed the person I want to become.

This sentence seems kind of awkward order-wise. Maybe something like 'The image I had always had of him was no less lifeless than the emotionless face immortalized in classroom portraits, but recently my perspective has changed.'





Hope this helps a little! :)