What does the future hold?

Patricia

About learning

In this case, a lioness

Patricia

Replacing presents with presence

Talk to myself

Comparison with others

Help people

One early evening, many, many years back, I was still a child, I remember returning from school with my mom. She carried a heavy weight I recall, at least one heavy bag in each of her hands. Up the hill near our home, there was a very pale young man seating in the ground.

My mom approaches him, slowly dropping the heavy bags in the street pavement and addresses him asking if he is OK.

I heard voices telling her to stay away “another junkie” the voices said “do not approach as he may have contagious diseases”. Ignoring the voices around her she tenderly gave him support, holding firm until he was strong enough to stand.

I will never forget: the bravery, the kindness, mom's instinctive will to always help others in continuous acts of kindness – regardless of if they will ever help her back. Wonderful lesson. 

Patrícia   

World

And my family is my most loving world.

Patricia

Faith, hope, love

Friends

That's when I realized what a true friend was. Someone who always love you - the imperfect you, the confused you, the "mad-sad" you, the wrong you. Just because you are friends. 

Love mine. Regardless of how bizarre I, you, and/or you & I, may seem.

Patricia

The curious case of Benjamin Button

"For whatever is worth, it's never too late to be whoever you want to be.

There is no time limit, to stop whatever you want. 

You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing.

We can make the best or the worst of it. 

I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you feel things you never felt before. 

I hope you meet people with a different point of view.

I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find you're not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again"

By Scott Fitzgerald

Care more

In a world of people that couldn't care less, strive to be someone who couldn't care MORE.

Patricia

Educating

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all." Aristotle

Couldn't agree more. We spend so much time worrying how good our children will be on maths, science and technical competences and so little how strong they will be in their values, relations and good will man/women.

Patricia   

Even if mistakes, doing something

Patricia

Searching

Although I could be fascinated by natural science events, the description, prediction and understanding of natural of natural phenomena, based on observational and empirical evidence was not interesting to me, I suppose because it is too impersonal or objective.

So, at the beginning of my adulthood I was very much interested in everything that related to humanities: anthropology, literature, religion, psychology and history but, most of all, philosophy, which for me was the most significant of all humanities studies, as it put for consideration and discussion the meaning of life that I seek. What do I want to do with the (so little) time I have? What is the legacy I want to leave behind? 

The question on the meaning of life is tremendously personal. It is no consolation that others answer to the question of the meaning of their lives (not as in natural science). The questions posed, such as what is living for, can never be answered for me or on my behalf. Simply cannot. I can be inspired and learn from others actions or narratives of experience presented (in whatever form) to me. But I can never defer to their judgment in this matter, as I do in so many others. For nothing that anyone says or even does can ever, by itself, justify my thinking of the meaning of my life. Delegation which is very much acceptable on pursuit for the truth in impersonal aspects of life would be completely out of place here. The question of how to spend my life, what I want my life to be for, can only be posed to me and I cannot give the responsibility of answering it to anyone other than me – this would be to put the happiness key in someone else’s pocket which makes no sense.

For a quite a big while I’ve been drifting my attention. But the question is always there and although fading away for a while, it came back and crashed me.

So I have been quite focused on this question lately. I’m humble enough to know I’m not better than anybody else, but I’m also wise to know that I’m different from the rest. I get sometimes frustrated because I can’t really seem to find an answer that gives me peace. I keep searching. I believe for me it makes only sense while giving to others. I keep searching for the meaning of my life, for its value, for my impact in others life.

Patricia