* Celina Moraes, writer
on my walks, I observe the “step the dot” signs, that can mean “I pass my life project” or “the business has passed the point” because it does not thrive in the digital age, and I think that many of the people who worked there fell into the misfortune of unemployment.
External factors, out of our control, as crises that impoverish a country and its people, they can take everything from us, minus our enthusiasm, that depends only on us. We have to fight so that economic tragedies do not impoverish our spirit and enrich our disbelief in life..
In 1989, I asked for the accounts of a multinational to open an events agency. Then came the Collor Plan and the events I most organized were “lack of money”, “lightning bankruptcy” and “fear of eviction”.
To increase the misfortunes, the hood of my car, I broke my collarbone and got a body tattooed with bruises. No health insurance and bankrupt, a doctor recommended a three-month bed rest. I didn't even consider that option.. Rest was a luxury for me.
There were so many stones in my path that I thought of building a cave to hide myself there.. No money for driving, spent hours looking for a job. One day, saw an ad for “Marketing Assistant” and went to the agency. The selector thought I was qualified for an administrative-financial manager vacancy because I had been a businesswoman. amazed, I replied that if I had the talent to be a businesswoman, I wouldn't be applying for an assistant position.. But she persisted in the madness of nominating me for the position.
I went to the interview and when I introduced myself to the director of the company, I thought I was looking at another crazy person, who smoked a pipe, when he told me we had a mutual friend. But he knew my ex-boss at the multinational and already had my references. I remembered the old saying of always leaving a little door open when we go out..
However, I told him, honestly, who abhorred mathematics and was incompetent with numbers. Unmoved and smoking his pipe, he asked me if i had enthusiasm. I replied that even too much. So, he said he mastered math and had plenty of patience to teach me if I had the enthusiasm to learn. I accepted the challenge and the numbers changed my life.
If you ask me what is the recipe to motivate yourself in the face of life's obstacles, that at all times makes us choose between acting or complaining, I would say that, in my case, is unshakable faith in God, love of life and wisdom quotes, like albert einstein: “Remember that people can take everything from you, minus your knowledge” and I would add “minus your enthusiasm” too.
(*) Graduated in Letters, Celina Moraes is a writer and chronicler. Author of the novels “Never underestimate pedestrians” and “A place full of frogs”, who won the “Lúcio Cardoso” Award in 2010 for 3rd place in the international literature competition promoted by the Brazilian Writers Union of Rio de Janeiro (UBE-RJ). There was also the short story “Towards the top in a broken canoe” selected to compose the anthology of UBE, "Tales: Love and Pain Story ”.