The Day I Found Joy

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." -- Oscar Wilde

One of the things that has always puzzled me is human nature, our joys, fears and madness. The very source of the painful cramps of the soul that we call sadness, and the source of the multicolor soft parade that we call happiness. Those feelings have been with us since we saw the light, and are going to be there until the dark and graceful death decides to cover the light of life with her soft wings. They shape everything that makes us, our face, our expression, our spirit, our minds, our future and our past. Those feelings are what drive us to construct and to destroy, make us love something deeply, or with a little bit of poison (like one of the Borgias), make us hate something with passion. The source of happiness and sadness is the missing link that I've always looked for, something so strong that will wake up my senses and show me the mystery that surrounds life. And one day, I found IT.

It happened almost a year ago, on a bright spring day. The name of the day was Saturday and the place was Smallville, the city where I was born and raised.

I woke up early for a Saturday, around nine a.m. I had breakfast and decided to go downtown for a walk. It was a very beautiful morning, a very beautiful sky, birds singing over the trees, falling in love because of the spring. It was as good as it was going to get in a big town. Of course I wasn't alone; there were hundreds of people walking in those same streets. There were young people, businessmen, many different people, and they were all in a hurry, probably to go to work.

I could hear short steps, TAP-TAP-TAP, and I could see many feet walking fast, very fast. Wh...

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...all of that but the only thing I could say was, "Yes, brother, do it, dance, dance!!"

We smiled together; the people around did too. It was glorious! I don't know if he was an angel, a dream, or a real person, I never will, but that Saturday morning he taught us all a lesson of life, of love, of all the beautiful things that exist in the world.

He reminded me of the words of Jesus Christ: "Heaven is not here or there, it's inside of you." It's a state of mind, it's the ecstacy of breathing, is inner peace, is happiness.

So you, whoever reads this, smile, hug a friend, go home and kiss your parents, the ones that gave you the great gift of life. Shake hands for no reason--maybe he needs it. Be thankful for everything that you have, for your eyes, for your legs, for your existence.

Be joyful and be in peace.

And have lots of faith, please.