The man who thinks he can

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will;
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outclassed, you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.

-Walter D. Wintle

Earthlings

This is a highly disturbing but terribly true video...

From the heights

This post was supposed to have been published while I was still in Madrid. However, the usual lack of time has made me finish it while already being in Geneva.

A habit I've now picked up in my new flat in the centre of Madrid is to sit in the terrace at night overlooking the Plaza Mayor and watch passersby. Doing this, I have noticed something that I've specially noted in people from Madrid, that is: they don't look up. Maybe it's just the inhabitants of the huge capital or, more likely, in my opinion, it's related to big cities.

I remember coming back from Berlin and looking at the buildings and the sky of the Spanish capital with awe. I realised then how the anonymity of the city had made me slowly and silently turn my head from the heights and focus on the far more mundane floor, minding my own business, reaching my destination as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Now I have learned to look up, to take life less stressfully and contemplate the quiet beauty that awaits us in the heights. To stop and think, stepping back for a few minutes from the everyday routine that tends to engulf us and belittle our world, makes us grow personally. We are so focused on the tasks the society places before us, that many times we forget to take our time and dedicate it to the contemplation of ourselves and the life we're living. I guess that, since most of us are unhappy with who and what we are, we fill our days with many nonsensical activities to avoid these thoughts. However, it is only through introspection that we can really say that the life we live is our own.

Everyone should lift that heavy weight from their shoulders that makes them look down and let themselves, if only for a short while every day, admire the unbounded heights.