Universal Equilibrium, pby JLR

I would like to share with the reader what the Universe of Wine has given me in my personal learning, that is, the land where it is born, the love that the people who work it with their hands put into it, the natural environment where it is raised together with other plants and living beings in perfect symbiosis, its pampered harvest and its "rest" in the winery. The strange evolution of a product that, without "external agents", reaches that wonderful balance that I wish so much for myself and for all human beings.

My professional experience has always been far removed from wine, a world I am completely unfamiliar with. My involvement was reduced to tasting a wine and saying whether I liked it or not and little else, without worrying about what was behind that glass of wine. In one of the stages of my professional life, I found myself immersed in negotiations with multinationals, with public and private entities, contracts, sales, purchases, etc. Within the engineering market, I met wonderful people who helped me to learn and continue to grow, but I found myself in a territory of egos, unreality, disloyalty, separation... even blame, attacks, continuous judgments... A land far away from generosity, humility and respect, in short, from love. The truth is that I was really tired, it was as if every day that passed I was losing my energy and inner light. I lost my illusion, I was lost, I needed to look for something that would really fulfill me, that would give meaning to my life and that I could serve life.

Thanks to finding myself immersed in this entrepreneurial territory, it awoke in me a desire to find something that fulfilled me and I created a foundation in 2009 called Fundación Planeta Robinson, focused on the little ones as a search to compensate and give meaning to my life, so that I could serve as a complement to children, discovering and exploring through the connection with nature and natural environments such as Doñana, recovering values that society is forgetting, and taking into account the children of social exclusion in other parts of our planet. Many people got involved and helped me in the project, to whom I will always be grateful. For years the project was very exciting, but it lasted as long as my economic resources lasted, and I had to leave it without activity. I humbly believe that it was not the right time, and I have the hope that someday it will rise again, when it has to be.

Almost two years ago, one Saturday morning when I woke up in my house in Andalusia, I felt a strange and enormous restlessness. I felt that I had to do something for life, but I didn't really know what. Weeks before, I had been told about a winery called Jiménez-Landi, where I was offered to become part of it. At first, I didn't pay much attention to it. The offer passed through my head in a fleeting way as another of the many daily issues in which we are all immersed and which are, in the end, what prevent us from having that personal peace to see the reality or the truth of things. That day, I was nervous, I wanted to finish breakfast as soon as possible and leave for that winery. I felt inside me as if something or someone was pushing me insistently. I called the winery to see if anyone would pick up the phone and there was José. I told him that I wanted to meet him personally and that, although I was more than 450 km away from the winery, I didn't care, he should wait for me because I wanted to see him and talk to him. At that moment, my wife told me that I was crazy, that how could I drive 900 km there and back in one day, and that it would be better to leave it for Monday. But, inside me, I felt that I had to go. And, that's how I did it, and I will be eternally grateful for having made that decision that day.

When I arrived at the winery, I met with José. From the first moments, I found myself aligned with the values he represents: humility, respect, effort and love for the land. The first thing I asked him to do was to take me to the vineyards. I remember the smell of that day, the vines intermingled with the grass of the field was what I liked the most, to see that respect for the rest of the plants and living beings, letting the field evolve naturally, without forcing the ecosystem. I felt happy to have found some reality in a society lacking sense and too full of unrealistic illusions. That same day I could see that Bodegas Jiménez Landi was governed by respect for three basic principles: truth, health and saving the Planet, and that all the winery's energies were focused on growing by learning from these three principles, always seeking Balance. That is why, before returning home, I told José that I wanted to become part of this winemaking family and that he could count on me.

I did not understand, nor do I understand wine, nor agriculture, nor the evolution of wine, but I wanted to be part of a project that is governed by these principles, where things are really done, where the winemaker's attitude was one of respect for the environment, for what it means and above all for what it is. Where the maintenance or recovery of native plants, some already lost, is valued, where the bees "play" with the flowers, where we give back to the Earth what has been taken from it, without forcing it to produce no more than what it can give us, feeding it as a mother feeds her child, pampering it and taking care of it to strengthen it when plagues come. Respecting that other living beings can also enjoy the fruits of the vines, no matter how many kilos of grapes they have eaten and, above all, putting a lot of love in everything that is done, so that the fruit that is born, developed, harvested and left to "rest" emanates all its aromas and flavor that remind us that happiness lies in the search for truth, health and that we can all do something to help our Planet to heal its wounds while we live. It was like reconnecting with values, nature and its universal laws, filling me with energy and peace to give meaning to life by sharing the same values of the Robinson Planet Foundation that already in 2009 in its introduction said:

"If we wanted to explain to a child what the Robinson Planet Foundation is, if we had to give a short introduction to our goals, if we decided to present our Foundation to the world, we could say that Robinson Planet is a different way of conceiving the society in which we live, education and nature. It takes us to the heart of the earth, to today and now, giving light every day to people who want to share experiences. It is, in short, a way of life".

That "natural" balance that Nature and the Universe continually show us, no matter how much the hand of man tries to destabilize it, and which has taught me so much, is what I call Universal BalanceIt is what I call Universal Balance, where each one of us with Faith can seek and find in our daily lives that Balance, a balance that helped me to make personal decisions, turning my energies for example in studying Kinesiology (KH) thanks to my friend Ray, to whom I will be eternally grateful. Learning to see reality and the truth of things, feeling to do something for life and not against life.

This is what the world of wine has given me. Without knowing anything, it has given me a new knowledge of reality and of nature itself, precisely what I needed most.

For this reason, my first words to this new world of experiences are words of gratitude:

THANK YOU to all those artisanal wineries that struggle and strive every day to maintain that Balance, doing all things for real, without interfering in the vegetative life cycle of plants, to pamper and nurture their land. All this, to give priority above all to the Health of the people, no matter how many bottles of wine will be produced, and so that future generations can enjoy and not lose the natural environments where they can grow. I hope, with all my heart, that more and more wineries will follow the path of this quest for Universal Balance.

THANK YOU to all those organizations that fight every day to save the Planet. I have a very special affection for WWF, which I got to know thanks to my friend Beltrán during my time at the Foundation, and which helped me so much and taught me to give Love to our beloved Mother Earth, which thanks to her we breathe.

THANK YOU to all those companies from very diverse sectors that develop their businesses from sustainability, respecting health and the environment above all else, above the turnover numbers at the end of the year, and that have to make tough decisions to maintain that Universal Balance in a world where there are also other approaches and business objectives.

THANK YOU to those people who, from their microcosm, maintain that Universal Balance in their daily lives. Serving Life, giving Life, giving Love, giving Truth, giving "Universal Love" because, without them, this would be a dark Planet. From their humility they fill this Planet with energy and light, they are an example and guide for me.

THANK YOU, in short, to all those people who have crossed my life because without them I would never have been able to write these words.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU and THANK YOU...

JLR