Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 6 degrees, cold, overcast and rainy.
I went to bed worrying about money and woke up without any problems.
The morning was very foggy and extremely cold; I could feel it in my bones. I had a short walk to the canal to feed the ducks and swans. When I rattle my plastic container with their food, they fly in warp mode like the USS Enterprise in seconds.
Now, I have a routine of doing a short round trip along the canal that returns to where my mother lives, about 3 to 4 kilometres. It is a little short for me, but I’m getting into the stride with the cold, so I think after Christmas and the New Year, I want to increase my walks to 7 or 8 kilometres.
When I got back, I gave some classes, and now that I’m adjusting to the cold, I’m also getting used to my new routine with the time zones between England and Brazil. My mother went out, and when she came back, she gave me a deposit book from a building society with my name on it.
She had been putting money away in each family member’s savings account for some time. Due to past arguments, fights, and confusion with my brother, she had cancelled the accounts for his family. She had made accounts for all the grandchildren, including Jessica and Yasmin, which I thought was nice.
I wasn’t expecting this, but it will come in handy to maybe buy some things in the future, including a camera, before returning to Brazil. I opened the deposit book, and there was £620 in the account, about R3600 Brazilian Reais, enough to buy one of the cameras I would like.
I thanked her for the gesture.
Later that day, my mother went to the village and withdrew £100, which I had asked her to do. When she gave me the money, I offered to give her £50 for food, upkeep, etc., but she denied it. As we were going out for a pub dinner, I suggested that I would prefer to pay, and she agreed.
Later in the evening, after the pub dinner, which was better than I expected, I had to give an online class to Dona Regina. She is 84 years old and an ex-ballerina from the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theatre. Dona Regina was once married to one of the richest men in Rio and Brazil, who later committed suicide due to depression.
After being swindled and deceived by her stepchildren, she lost everything. However, she managed to turn her situation around by making money from the only thing left to her—a house. She began organising parties and events in the home, and through this new venture, she met her second husband, Roberto. They have now been together for more than 30 years.
The story is fascinating to me, as there are two interesting points. The first is that she married one of Brazil’s wealthiest men. They lived in London and Paris for 10 to 15 years, alternating between the two cities. Who wouldn’t want a life like that? Although he was a good man, her husband struggled with depression, often threatening to take his own life and ultimately doing so.
We live in a society that is so obsessed and addicted to money, and yet a man, a self-made millionaire, even a billionaire, took his own life; he had money, status, was married to an extremely talented and beautiful woman who loved him very much, and still it was not enough.
Money is not everything!
The second point is that Dona Regina was swindled into signing documents that legally transferred her inheritance to the stepchildren, resulting in her losing almost everything. The only thing left was a house in Jardim Botânico, a middle to upper-class neighbourhood in Rio.
To survive alone and without any help, she started hosting parties, weddings, and events at the house, her only remaining asset. For over 20 years, she had to scrimp and save, working by organising parties, events, and weddings in an area where she had little experience to make ends meet.
Life and circumstances pushed her in this direction.
After 20 years of sacrifice, she eventually lost her house to the local council. However, she met Roberto, her second husband, during this difficult time. With him, she finally found a sense of security and stability she had been missing for a long time.
She was furious and disappointed about being swindled out of her inheritance, but she never once complained about her situation after having to work to make ends meet. This is why I believe we should never complain about what we have. Even though we may feel we deserve more or should have more, we should never complain, because if we complain about what we have, how can we expect to deserve more or better in the future?
Stop complaining!
The class went very well. She always talks about her experiences as a ballet dancer and her life in general, which is always interesting and a source of wealth of knowledge. At the end of the class, she told me that she would make an extra monthly payment since it was December and for Christmas. I was surprised and grateful for such a nice gesture; I said it was unnecessary, but she insisted.
In Brazil, if you receive a salary and are officially employed, the company must pay you a 13th salary at the end of the year. This salary is intended to help individuals cover expenses during the holiday season, which includes Christmas parties, the extra cost of the end of the year, gifts, etc. Since I am freelance and do not receive a salary, I do not qualify for a 13th salary nor charge an extra fee from my pupils in December.
Maybe I should, but I have never done it. Doing it autonomously is wrong. However, her kindness will help me pay for and buy things during the Christmas period, and because of that, I am very grateful.
So, what is the moral of the story?
Last night, I went to bed concerned about money; today, I received two unexpected sums that temporarily changed my plans and greatly helped me. We don’t know what tomorrow holds; no matter what the problem is, we must deal with it positively and think positively, as then the universe will conspire for us to find our own way, or the universe will find it for us.
We can only overcome our obstacles by being positive, perhaps by focusing on solutions or thinking positively. However, suppose we only concentrate on the problem and dwell on it like a hurdle, without finding a solution, simply hitting the same obstacle repeatedly like a wall. In that case, we will never move forward.
Be and think positively all the time!
Successful people lead the world, and many of those successful people are positive thinkers and/or serious problem solvers.
In bed by 11:00 p.m.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
