We are commemorating four years of the Warrior of Light Online, which currently has almost 100,000 subscribers. Many thanks for your constant support! We celebrate this number with a person who left a deep mark on my life. I suggest that each one of you look into your childhood to find the character who helped to forge the sword of the Warrior of Light.
My unforgettable character
When I was a child I used to read a magazine that my parents subscribed to, which had a section called “My unforgettable character” for common people to talk about other common people who had influenced their lives. Of course, at that age (nine or ten), I also had already created my influential personality. On the other hand, I was certain that over the years this model would change, so I decided not to write to the magazine and submit my opinion (today I wonder how in those days they would have received the collaboration of someone my age).
Time has passed by. I have met many interesting people who have helped me at difficult moments and inspired me and shown me paths that had to be traveled. However, the great myths of childhood have always proved more powerful; they go through periods of devaluation, contestation and oblivion, but they remain, appearing on necessary occasions with their values, examples and attitudes.
My unforgettable character was called José, my grandfather’s youngest brother. He never married, worked as an engineer for may years, and when he retired he decided to live in Araruama, a city near Rio de Janeiro. That is where the whole family went to spend the summer holidays with the children. Uncle José was a bachelor, so he probably did not have much patience with that invasion, but that was the only moment when he could share a little of his loneliness with his grandnephews and nieces. He was also an inventor, and to accommodate us he decided to build a house where the rooms only appeared during the summer! He pressed a button and the walls descended from the roof, the beds and cupboards emerged from the outer walls, and there we had four bedrooms to lodge the newly-arrived! When Carnival was over, the walls were raised, the furniture went back inside the outer walls and the house was once more a big empty shed where he kept material for his workshop.
He built cars. Not just that, but he made a special vehicle to take the family to Araruama Lake – a mixture of jeep and train on tires. We went swimming, lived close to nature, spent the whole day playing, and I always wondered: “But why does he live here all alone? He has money, he could live in Rio!” He told stories of his trips to the United States, where he had worked in coal mines and ventured to places never visited before. The family used to say: “It’s all lies”. He was always dressed as a mechanic, and all the relatives commented: “He should get himself some decent clothes”. As soon as television came to Brazil, he bought a set and put it on the sidewalk so that the whole street could see the programs.
He taught me to love things done with the heart. He showed me the importance of doing what you wanted to do, regardless of what the others said. He sheltered me when as a rebellious adolescent I had problems with my parents. One day he told me: “I invented the hydramatic (the automatic gear shift in a car). I went to Detroit, got in touch with General Motors; they offered me US$ 10,000 on the spot or one dollar for every car sold with this new system. I took the ten thousand and lived the most fantastic years of my life.”
The family used to say: “Uncle José is always inventing things, don’t believe him.” And although I felt deep admiration for his adventures, for his style of life, for his generosity, I did not believe that story. I told journalist Fernando Morais about it only because Uncle José was my unforgettable character.
Fernando decided to do some checking and here is what he came up with (the text has been edited, because it is part of a long article):
“The first automatic gear shift was invented by the Sturtevant brothers from Boston in 1904. The system did not work satisfactorily because of a problem with weight. But it was the invention of Brazilians Fernando Iehly de Lemos and José Braz Araripe, sold to GM in 1932, that contributed to the development of the hydramatic system launched by GM in 1939.”
With millions of hydramatic cars being turned out every year, the family who never believed in anything and thought that Uncle José dressed badly could have inherited an incalculable fortune. How good it is to know that he enjoyed some happy years spending his ten thousand dollars!
my unforgettable character is my dog, she has spent 10 years next to me offering me the best when I most needed it.
I miss her very much, I want to respect she had to go.
Cintia
Paulo you are my unforgettable character! I will always admire you. I want one day to be a writer like you.
un beijo
comrade paulo ,
we all have an unforgettable character in our lives. but i like to think of them as comrade’s , as equals. we need people to look up to and this helps us become a better person , the better a person we get , the more people look up to us and become better themselves. maybe thats why many people look up to you paulo , because you are a truly good and humble person.
The Path with Heart (Don Juan) by Carlos Castaneda
(The best use of the personal energy)
Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary.
This question is one that only a very old man asks. Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long long paths, but I am not anywhere. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn’t. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.
Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.
I have told you that to choose a path you must be free from fear and ambition. The desire to learn is not ambition. It is our lot as men to want to know.
The path without a heart will turn against men and destroy them. It does not take much to die, and to seek death is to seek nothing.
For me there is only the traveling on the paths that have a heart, on any path that may have a heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge for me is to traverse its full length. And there I travel-looking, looking, breathlessly.
Thanks for creating such a wonderful books!
your words of wisdom speaks a thousand languange and flow to everyone that reads with their hearts, that’s why your words will always be alive
thank YOU!
Some traditional types of eastern gardens, such as Zen gardens,
use plants sparsely or not at all. .….
dear paulo.
I am a humble teacher far away in India,but I keep my eyes peeled for your one liners,I use your uncle’s story to tell my 10th std kids about the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
Here in India its an invasion of western intent and consumerism,but through it all,every week I give to my boys one sentence of yours.Strange how your words speak truths about life and learning and living.I tell my kids example is a lesson all men can read:you Paulo are the modern day example,of the mendicant who houses a messiah!
Thank you for who and what you are to the world!
Some day when I write a book I hope you will hear about it and read it!
Bless you for all that you are,
Uma Nair
India
[quote comment="316"]Dear Paulo and the warriors of light,
thank u very much in restoring my faith .
god bless u .
charu.[/quote]
Dear Charu,
your support is priceless.
Thank you
Love
Dear Paulo and the warriors of light,
thank u very much in restoring my faith .
god bless u .
charu.