- Limitations make us grow. That accepting limitations has both a painful and a liberating side. You let go of the weight and can pour yourself body and soul into what's left, if you learn to stop mourning what you lose. When one door closes, a whole bunch of windows open on their own.
- Kindness is the best contagion effectThat kindness can be the most revolutionary idea. It has the transformative power of people who wear a smile, who transmit optimism, who make us laugh, who improve the atmosphere wherever they go.
- The Body is like a dog. Instead of complaining when our body complains and saying "damn knee," we should value the years it has supported us and bent in our service. Instead of cursing the bones, we should celebrate that this skeleton does what it can and more to keep us standing.
- That the Joy of living has no methods but it has teachers. While awaiting contagion, it's worth reaching out to ordinary people, whose focus is kindness, esteem, and care for others, who go unnoticed in a world that rewards cynicism more than naiveté.
- We are here to take care of each other with great tact.That we've come here, though we hide it too well, to love and be loved, and therefore, to care for one another. And that caring for people is the most important task in the world, and the least appreciated.
- Never argue with an idiot. The key is to detect and stop them early, but this requires a mature and respectful society that ignores cheap provocation and admires values more than results at any price.
- Why do we ask for forgiveness for crying?A person who doesn't hurt to cry with you and who keeps you company is bound to be a very good friend. Especially if you also know how to laugh together.
- It's never too late to learn to walk That with the friend I walk with the most, we are much better friends since we walked together: you are more sincere, more direct, deeper.
- That without trust there is no motivation, because trusting often bears more fruit than watching.
- That optimistic workers are more attractive. Those who know that everything is a disaster and everything could go seriously wrong if we don't remedy it soon. And that's why they roll up their sleeves. And they maintain that necessary degree of naiveté to believe they can. Because without confidence there is no conviction, and without conviction there are no results, and without results there is no reason to maintain hope.
- That prioritizing means discarding. In order to give an enthusiastic and possible yes to the one you love, you must say a resounding no and exonerate the one who is not suitable.
- That the worst thing about fear is when it controls us, when it settles behind the wheel. Because fear can turn us into traitors and can completely paralyze us. The fear of the truth makes us liars, the fear of feeling strong emotions makes us cold, the fear of risk makes us throw in the towel too much, and the fear of dying can prevent us from living.
- That we are more what we do than what we sayWe are more what we decide than what we think; we are when we act, not when we reflect. And since we came here to connect, education is the sublime art and craft of learning while teaching, and of teaching while learning. Only by being there, truly, from the heart, and always, can you learn and teach how to be there.
- We need more bad temper and more hope. We need to be both more angry and more hopeful. We need to point out and denounce the culprits, look them in the eye, not assume this is our problem, show them all the rage we feel. And simultaneously, we can fix our daily lives with our own hands, from a place of nonconformity, with ambition, and with the absolute certainty that it is possible.
- They need doctors and teachers with vision at the head, Instead of dedicating themselves to a small, but sufficient, portion of their lives, they are capable of stepping back and caring for the whole person, from head to toe. Caring is much more than healing.
- That beauty is in the eyes, And there's no more beautiful privilege than being observed with unconditional love and the joy of living. There's no safer and more profitable investment than surrounding ourselves with people who love us just the way we are, who find us beautiful regardless of what the mirror tells us. Who always look at us favorably.
Carles Capdevila (December 30, 2016)
Translated by Cristina Oroz Bajo
Original Source: 16 things I learned in 2016.