A man comes across a friend he has known for a long time; the friend gives the impression of someone who has not been able to chart his path in life. I’ll have to give him some money, he thinks. But that evening, he realizes that his friend has become rich and has decided to pay off all of his debts up until then.
‘They go to a bar they frequent, and this dude buys everyone a drink. When asked about the source of this sudden wealth, he tells them that he ‘lived the Other’ until his last days.
‘But who is this Other?’ they ask the man.
“The other is the person they taught me to be, but who is not me,” he says. He believes that people have to think about how to make money in their lifetime if they don’t want to starve to death when they get old. The more they think, the more they plan; Only when they are about to expire do they realize that they are also living beings. Then it was too late.”
“- So who are you?”
“I am like anyone among you who listens to the voice of his heart. I am a person who is dazzled by the secret of life, open to miracles, and excited and excited by what he does. Until now, however, the Other had tied my hands for fear of disappointment.
“Well, people continue to suffer,” replied all those present.
“- It is the failures that go on. No one can get away with this. It is better for a man to have some failures in his struggle to make his dreams come true than to be defeated without knowing what he is fighting for.”
“- Is that all?” asked the customers at the bar.
“- Yes. After making this discovery, my eyes were opened and I decided to truly become the person I always wanted to be. There, in my room, the Other stared at me, but I did not let it come back into me, although at times he tried to frighten me by reminding me that I was putting myself in danger by not thinking about my future. From the day I cut the Other out of my life, the power of God began to show its miracles.”
Paulo Coelho – “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept”
