English Paper Edit

The term was born focused on the marketing area because it looks for the precise moment in which people start or stop using a certain product. For example, analog cameras that used Kodak film. It is the moment when a product, brand, idea, company or person suddenly achieves success and goes from a secondary level to being fashionable, to being massive and viral.

The Tipping Point is a concept that takes on great importance with the birth of the internet. With the advent of the online world, the viral takes on a new dimension and users promote, through their actions, the instantaneous dissemination of something that was unknown the day before.

Here in this book, as in my lecture,

I'm going to use the essence of the term tipping point

73

understood as a key story and miracle. I want you to understand the word miracle on a spiritual level but not with the traditional definition of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy as "Fact that cannot be explained by natural laws and that is attributed to supernatural intervention of divine origin" but with a new and true definition in the sense of being alive, feeling today, talking, thinking, being able to breathe, walk, have food on the table and even die and transcend the memory of our family and society. When we become aware that our life is wonderful, regardless of current circumstances or day-to-day events, and whatever happens we are grateful for it, at that very moment they will turn their lives into a factory of miracles.

I want you to look for those key stories of your life, those miracles to which we owe you gratitude. That precise moment in which his life changed: when he saw his wife for the first time, when he decided what he was going to study, when he was saved from that accident or when he had an accident and that doctor is now his partner. We all have many key stories.

One day a person asked me what it was

what made my message different from that of others

74

andrés jaramillo

lecturers, speakers or coaches that exist and the difference is that I want to lead people to change their lifestyle now, make them understand that all life is a miracle and that the younger they are, the better. In general, people understand the true meaning of life only when they see death nearby, after a chronic illness, an accident or a great loss that leads to bottoming out, sadness, depression and being on the verge of death or suicide.

A third book that gave me the tools to shape this message, which I discovered through a blog for coaches called Impulse, which helped me arrive at the formula for happiness and which inspired me, was “The top five regrets of the dying” (in Spanish "Honest and frank confessions of people on their deathbeds") that compiles the testimony of hundreds of people who before dying regretted not having followed their dreams, not having risked or not having made an effort. Its author, Bronnie Ware, is also an Australian songwriter and motivational speaker who gathered these statements after caring for the terminally ill for many

75

years. She states that the most common regrets people have before leaving this world for good are:

1. "I wish I had the courage to do what he wanted to do and not what others expected him to do."

This is the most listened to reproach according to Ware since “when people realize that their life is almost finished and they look back lucidly, it is easy to see how many dreams have been cut short. Most have not made even half of them and must die knowing that it is due to the choices they have made or have not made.

2. "I wish I hadn't worked so hard."

It is the second par excellence regret because according to Ware that leads to "losing their balance and as a result many things in their lives." It is more common in men because "they all deeply regretted having used most of their lives in the work routine, they missed the childhood of their children and the company of their wives."

3. "To be able to express my feelings",

Ware assures that it is the third regret because “many people repress their feelings

76

to stay at peace with others. That is why they settle into a mediocre existence and never become what they truly are capable of being. Furthermore, "many develop illnesses related to the bitterness and resentment they carry."

4. “More contact with friends” since, as Ware explains, “many have been so caught up in their own lives that they have let golden friendships get lost over the years and this directly carries a very deep regret for not having given those friends the time and effort they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

5. "Have been happier" is the last regret. According to Ware “many do not realize until the end that happiness is a choice, they have become stuck in old patterns and habits. The fear of change has led them to pretend to others, and to themselves, that they were happy. When inside they longed to be able to laugh heartily and take life with humor.

You, me, we are all an endless factory of miracles: you have to look in your key stories from the past and you will find several because the whole story of our life is already a great miracle.

77

2

Key 6

All the people next to him are angels. God places each one where he is and with the person he is: no one comes into his life by chance.

81

My first years

I tell my story not because it's perfect Not because I want to be arrogant putting biographical data as if I were a celebrity, but because the objective is to show the key stories that I have had in life. This way they will be able to remember theirs, when they see life go by like a movie while they read, and that seems spectacular to me because they are doing it now, in a conscious way and not when there are only a few moments left to live.

I was born on April 18, 1976. Once a veteran octogenarian astrologer, and a very good writer, he told me that he was an Aries with a Gemini ascendant. I will not say his name yet because he is a particular person from whom I have always liked to hear his experiences since he is a very wise man, who hates to ride a plane and hates to leave the house, but read, read and read. I will only say that he is more than a grandfather, he is my children's great-grandfather.

82

andrés jaramillo

Entering the subject of grandparents, I am the grandson of Luis Alfonso Jaramillo Valencia's father. A good man who lived on a farm, in the Colmenas village, from where his nine children had to walk an hour and a half in the morning and another hour and a half in the afternoon to go to study. My grandfather played tiple, bandola and guitar, he was part of several musical trios and he did it so well that he was invited to play in various cities of the Coffee Region.

The memory that comes to mind when I think of him is of seeing him lying on a well-made bed with white sheets and blankets. I still perfectly smell the characteristic smell that his room had, clean and peaceful. My grandfather spent his last 20 years lying in bed and, my father says, he never denied his situation. He always accepted God's will and was an absolutely happy person.

On my mother's side, I am the grandson of Mario Álvarez, José Mario actually because on one of our walks we went to La Ceja to get a civil registry and we found out that his name was José Mario.

My grandfather Mario should be the co-star of this story because without him I would not exist and I would not have the wonderful life that I have. He was a

83

Entrepreneur having a bakery, biscuits, oil sales, candle factory and the Heladería la 12 store, a mini market where he sold everything.

It is impossible for me to write his name without shedding a tear and that is why I do not mention it much since our relationship was so deep and so special that sometimes I just want it for myself. Let no one else know what we live. It has been many years since he died and it seems to me that it was yesterday when I closed my eyes on him in that intensive care unit and told him to go easy and rest that his legacy would be immortal. His heart and his lungs shut down early because he was a tireless worker who fought to raise his ten children. He worked long hours in factories that worked with oil stoves without caring that this smoke, by which he fed his children, was the smoke that was going to end his life.

2

At the age of five I entered kindergarten at the Simón Bolívar school where my aunt Mery was a teacher. She had a degree in preschool and specialized in personalized education, she was a teacher all her life and although she did not have children, she had 14 nephews to whom

84

She taught and acted as a second mother by caring, loving, and taking the place of matron in the family after the death of her grandmother. The school was a bit far from my house so when I entered the first grade, they transferred me to the Pedro José Rivera Mejía school. Amparo Posada was my teacher from first to fourth. I remember that she invited me along with Guillermo Humberto, some mornings, to her house, which was a few blocks from the school, for breakfast.

Years later, one Friday, when I was nine years old and we lived in a green house over a bakery on Carrera 12 between 16th and 17th streets, I was playing with my younger sisters, Lina María and Luz Ángela, (whom I apologize for so much that made them cry) to being the postman. The game consisted of going out on my bike, going around the block and arriving with a letter. But that day, the postman nothing came, something had happened, and my sisters looked and looked out of the balcony and nothing appeared. Suddenly they saw me appear on the corner, dragging my bike and a little lame, I got to the house, went up the stairs and lay down. My parents were not there and it took them a while to get there, so I got to sleep for a couple of hours.

85

When my mother arrived and entered my room, she was surprised to see me asleep, almost dead, toothless, with burst lips, bloody knees, and my whole face swollen. She tells me that even today she feels the anguish that she felt that day.

We immediately went to the hospital and, after taking half an hour under review, the nurse told my parents that I was miraculously alive because sleeping could have been fatal due to the risk of going into a coma or having had internal bleeding. Further investigation revealed that I had been hit by a Land Rover and was left on the hood. I don't remember anything, just that I was taking the curve at a corner. Nor did I feel pain. If I had died that day you would probably be reading Paulo Coelho but I was saved and this is the first miracle I can remember.

To my mother Carmelita, I want to thank him again for the special care he took with my sisters and with me. She decided not to work, to be a full-time mother and homemaker. Thanks to her effort, dedication and commitment to help us do our homework and study, we were

86

the best students. My family and relatives say that we looked like cakes, always well dressed, neat and with hairstyles.

I assure you, without fear of being wrong, that if it weren't for my mother's care and education, I would not be what I am today.

89

A scholarship to enter college

I was a normal student, I didn't stand out

academically. There are many good companions that I had. I remember Cifuentes who raised the flag and his mother who, being the owner of the La 13 stationery and china shop, she gave us many materials for all our jobs. I also remember the father of someone who had a jeep and, as he was a neighbor, many times he would take us and pick us up at school as well as always making him available for walks.

In fifth grade, our last year before going to school, my schoolmates Alberto and Eduardo, from well-known families and with good economic status, were going to enter the Salesian College in the municipality of Dosquebradas. It was private, expensive, and in addition to the pension, you had to pay for transportation. I listened to them talking wonders about that school, about how they had reserved

90

andrés jaramillo

He was available many months ago because at that time it was fashionable for upper-middle-class families in Pereira to enroll their children there. It was a religious education for Salesian parents of Italian origin who were based on the beliefs and doctrines of Saint John Bosco. In Santa Rosa there were two public schools: the National and the Industrial. I was more inclined to the first because my mother had studied there.

One day, I remember it was a Saturday, she was playing at my house and there was a knock on the door. When I looked out the window I saw that they were the mothers of my two friends and I was a little worried because I did not know what could have happened. They wanted to talk to my parents because they wanted me to enter the Salesian College with their children. They had found out that they gave scholarships to the top three students in each class and that they paid for their first-year uniforms and notebooks. They were sure that if I committed myself to studying responsibly, I would surely win one of those scholarships. My parents and I were totally impressed with the generosity of these two ladies. I admit that I was somewhat worried because although I had all the desire and willingness to study, day and night if necessary, to achieve the objective.

91

God enlightened me and showed me the way and only the first semester of sixth year of high school did I occupy second place in the class, Alonso snatched it from me. Believe it or not, the competition for those scholarships was fierce and winning them was no easy task.

The school was spectacular. It had all the sports facilities: soccer fields, microfootball, basketball, coliseum, swimming pool and gym. A dream. But more than an athlete, I was a nerd with thick glasses, side-combed and skinny. I still remember all the bullying they did to me when they said that I was stubborn with nicknames like microphone, Bon Bon Bum, lollipop and toothpick for my false teeth.

I spent day and night between chess books and academic books. I dreamed of being Karpov

Kasparov, I read Capablanca, Bobby Fischer, Boris Spasski and I thought that my way to succeed was to be a world chess champion. At the age of 14 I was a national intercollegiate chess champion and I had my first bus trip to Bogotá where I almost died of cold. It was a week of competitions that ended with the last game that would be against a young man from a school in Tunja. He played chess day and

92

night: I was leaving school in Dosquebradas, the bus would take me to Pereira's minor coliseum to train and from there, at night, I would take an urban bus to the Pereira terminal to catch the Pereira lines to Santa Rosa. Mentally and economically it was very difficult to sustain that rhythm of life and I was very hesitant to continue playing chess professionally because it was a sport that no one supported. Even today no one supports him and no one would know that there were championships if it weren't for the Netflix series "Lady's Gambit." To give you an idea, going to a championship cost 300,000 pesos, including hotels and food for a week, and the prize was 100,000 pesos and a trophy. A sadness. Sometimes I got excited because Pony Malta, a drink from the Bavaria group, tried to sponsor chess but in the end it switched to cyclocross.

Another of my dreams was to study at university and be successful in some field but I loved chess and it was really good: that was the first dilemma of my life or the first important decision I had to make. As always God sent me the answer and it was just a matter of

93

wait with Emuná1 for the right path to open before our eyes.

As he had become an intercollegiate champion, he had the right to participate in the National Championship the following year, which would be in Bucaramanga. The training sessions were more demanding, since there are chess games that last up to eight hours, and physical training is essential, so it alternated swimming and ping-pong. Everything was ready: the Risaraldense Chess League, through Coldeportes, had assigned me resources for the trip and the plane ticket. The travel expenses were missing and there was a day left before I left, so I was very worried and made what became the most hopeless call that I have memory of in my more than 40 years. I had the suitcase ready and the dreams on the surface when the voice on the other end of the phone answered me without regret, and without regret, that they had decided to send someone else to the tournament. Although I have the ability to block negative memories, which in addition to preventing me from thinking about bad times prevent me from holding a grudge, I know that I cried three days in a row and did not

It is a Hebrew word that means faith and in Jewish culture

it is related to taking action.

94

Andrés Jaramillo.

I could believe that an institution of the State as Coldeportes was not serious. With the days I learned that in my place they had sent a training partner who was a son of a colonel or a general, I do not remember well, and he studied at the Rafael Reyes school. Every year we played in the intercollegiated championship, he never won me in chess but he was very friendly and we were friends.

Today, after several years I take this opportunity to thank the people who participated in that plot because that was God's response to my question between chess and the study. Since that day I never played chess again, although the departmental leagues of Caldas and Quindíío will call me and offered to continue playing by their departments. The decision was taken: I would focus on studying and my goal would be to earn a scholarship to study at the university.

At school we had a club that directed Professor Ricardo with the aim of studying to have the best results in the ICFES tests. The day they invited me to participate and be part of that group I felt very proud. The headquarters could not be another than the school library. And the idea was to learn and practice all the techniques

95

of questioning questions. We invented exams, we performed similar tests and everything was very well structured because the school was interested in obtaining the best results in the tests as well as being recognized by its moral values and its high academic performance.

96

Chapter 10

97

Panic on the 36th floor

everyone said I should study engineering

oil because it was a career for smart people and because they earned the best salaries in the world. I do not know when I was convinced because today I think that this was not a career for me since, for the most part, oil wells are far from the cities and people live in camps far from the family. I got carried away by others and by the thought that brings people and society the most problems: believing that money and material possessions are the answer to happiness.

As a result of my effort and the dedication of Professor Ricardo, I was not only fortunate to be the best high school graduate but also the best student in the entire department of Risaralda. I won one of the scholarships that Ecopetrol awards to each of the best high school graduates

98

from the country and thus God had fulfilled another great dream for me: to study at the university. He could choose between the Industrial University of Santander in Bucaramanga, the National University in Medellín, or in Bogotá.

Ecopetrol would gather all its scholarship recipients in Bogotá, to acknowledge them, give other prizes and raffle off some more complete scholarships that included maintenance. In a few days the air ticket and the respective documents for the trip would arrive by return of mail. It was December 11, 1992, and I was at home watching the news on a black-and-white television with a knob, when I heard that the eln had detonated several bombs in Bogotá. The first were at the Orquídea Real hotel, where the most serious events occurred, and the following were on the tenth and eleventh floors of the Tequendama hotel where there were no victims. At the Orquídea Real hotel, the explosion on the 36th floor caused panic and many guests ran down the emergency stairs while those attending the Ecopetrol party recovered from the effects of the explosive wave and started a stampede in search of the Street. There were four seriously injured, among them, Jorge Villamil and his daughter

99

Six-year-old Juana. There was also Julián Sosa, the best bachelor in Boyacá, who suffered serious injuries. The other injured were a guard and a waiter.

Ecopetrol, party, best bachelor in Boyacá, he listened very attentively while he thought that I was supposed to be there, that was the meeting he had been waiting for months.

What would happen now? There were many questions that morning along with a mixture of uncertainty, disappointment and the happiness of not having to listen to that bomb closely and suddenly having to leave this world forever.

I was very affected by the story of Julián, one of the high school graduates who was seriously injured in the explosions, because we had a lot in common. We were from small towns: he from Belencito and I from Santa Rosa, both quiet and peaceful places. We study with effort and dedication to be the best high school graduates in the departments of Boyacá and Risaralda. We also studied in religious schools and we were excellent athletes, one in swimming and the other in chess. And just on the day we were supposed to meet for the first time, God protected me. That day in

100

company of 30 other students from the country Julián was faced with death and I did not. Julian's life, like mine, had passed from challenge to challenge. We had always wanted to be the first in everything and we had succeeded.

Julian is alive but he never walked again and I mention him here because there are two great paradoxes. The first is that all the effort and dedication that he had during his first 17 years of life led him to be on the 36th floor at the exact time the bomb was supposed to explode. Was it bad luck? or was it fate? The second paradox is that it was due to good luck or the same fate that I was not in the place that I should be since the invitation and the Avianca ticket had been recast to the secretary of my school. A mistake by the secretary, a woman I knew and helped me for six years, saved her life and today I thank her and God for that.

I entered to study petroleum engineering at the National University of Medellín and, since I was not in the raffle for the full Ecopetrol scholarships, I only had the value of the tuition so between my father, my uncle José and my aunt Mery they helped me support me . I knew they made an effort

101

superhuman to consign my spending money on a monthly basis and I was scared because it was a very large university for a 16-year-old villager.

I remember that we were presenting the first partials when a student strike started and the national rector was Antanas Mockus. In fact, one Saturday, while we were in technical drawing class, a group of hooded men burned a Coca-Cola car and we were tucked under desks for four hours. The problem worsened, the permanent assembly was decreed and classes were suspended indefinitely, so I took the opportunity to visit my family. When I think about it today, that strike was the best thing that could have happened to me in life and another of my miracles.

Upon my return to Santa Rosa, while the unemployment in Medellín was being solved, I began to work at the gas plant owned by the parents of my best friend, the same ones who helped me to enter the Salesiano school. My friend and I were inseparable during school and his parents treated me like just another son: if they bought their children clothes, they also bought me and

102

They took me for walks constantly. When we graduated from school, they sent him and his brother on his excursion to San Andrés. They left on a Friday and that day at night they called to tell them that on Saturday they were going to send them money with a lady and that they would pick her up at the airport. It turns out that the lady who arrived was me: her parents also sent me as a graduation gift to San Andrés and I was surprised.

My friend was studying agro-industrial engineering in Armenia, the same career as his brother, and at the end of his first semester he went to the United States for an exchange year to study English. His parents were left alone but as he worked with them he filled the void left by his children. Almost every night I went to his house to talk to him in the United States1 since cell phones did not exist at that time.

One night, while eating lasagna at his house, we talked about my career on hiatus due to unemployment and the effort my family was making to cover expenses. Then they came up with a very

103

good idea: there was an empty room in your children's apartment and they suggested that I change careers. I remember not having closed my eye all night, I was tossing and turning because deep down I didn't want to study oil but at the same time it was my family's hope because they said that with what they paid in the oil companies I was going to be a millionaire . As a soccer player or a gold medal winner at the Olympics, I dreamed of the day when I could give my parents a home. It was a very difficult decision and I remembered that when I had left chess, I had turned over the same thoughts and had anxiety but fortunately I had never regretted that decision.

At 8 in the morning the next day they picked me up to go to work because they always picked me up and took me back home. I confessed that the proposal had seemed tempting to me but that first I was going to find out the costs of the semester. Two hours later we were entering the Universidad Gran Colombia to inquire about the requirements and scholarships for the best students. The maximum scholarship was 50%, everything was already resolved in my mind because the idea was to continue working that year and with the wages saved to pay the first semesters,

104

then he would continue working on weekends.

In order to study, I washed cars, I was a waiter, I loaded gas pipes and I was an executive on duty in hotels. I like to remember, after the years, all those jobs and all the people who reached out to me and helped me.

So I decided to enter the first semester of agro-industrial engineering and when my friend from the United States arrived, to do the second semester together. I spoke with my family about the decision to withdraw from Medellín, they understood perfectly and continued to give me their unconditional support for whatever I needed from then on.

Everything I had planned came true: we continued studying and graduated from university together. We were so inseparable that when I turned 18 I waited for him to get the identity card the same day. The numbers are consecutive and hardly anyone believes us when we tell the story.

They were good times, I liked agro-industrial engineering, although it was a career that I never thought to study, but it must be remembered that God's plans are not the same as men's plans. At that time I talked a lot with my grandfather Mario and he told me that life

105

go back to follow the path that God shows us. The time in the university flew by and in two by three I was in the sixth semester. I was doing very well, it was a happy and quiet time where I worked and studied a lot. The pace of life was difficult for someone so young but that was not a problem for me, a humble person from Calle 12 and 8 in Santa Rosa de Cabal who, against all odds, was already in college. I could not help but thank because I was the first to enter the university from that bar of my childhood, from the combo of Makanaki, el Mono, Esquilachi, Marín, Benny Hill, Adolfo, el Burro, el Negro, Peluche, Pechené, Julio, El Nene, Astullo, Rodrigo, Daneris and Arnobis among others, all proudly of the 8 bar.

106

Chapter 11

107

The job I inherited from my grandfather

It was clear to him, from the classes he had received,

that the best and most important agroindustries in the country were sugar, dairy and coffee and I was investigating which one I was inclined towards to start looking for work.In sixth semester we had a subject called coffee technology and they took us to do an internship business to Almacafé SA in the city of Manizales.

It was a company of the National Federation of Coffee Growers created in 1965 that was established to provide logistics services with strategic and management characteristics. For me it was like arriving at Disneyland and even a thousand times Disneyland. I got to know the most modern coffee threshing plant in Latin America, managed automatically from a programmable logic controller where all the equipment was controlled with a single click. I was in a quality laboratory with a taster

108

An expert whose name was Felipe and he was very kind to attend us and explain everything to us in the greatest detail. That day and that experience were another miracle because I fell in love with coffee. I wanted to work in the National Federation of Coffee Growers and in Almacafé in particular. I remember that I closed my eyes and saw the future pass in front of me, I felt the aroma of the soft and spectacular Colombian coffee coming out of my pores, I visualized exactly what I have lived, learned and enjoyed around this wonderful world.

That day I made a great decision: I would dedicate myself to working for the 550,000 Colombian coffee families that, throughout the country, grow the best coffee in the world. I read everything I could about the cultivation and about the companies associated with coffee, I wanted to be prepared to go to Manizales again and apply for the business internship that was done in the ninth semester and it was an essential requirement to obtain my engineering degree. When the time came, when I found out, I found out that the practices and main offices of the National Federation of Coffee Growers1 were in Bogotá. So,

In 1927 Colombian coffee growers came together to create a

109

loaded with hopes, dreams and well prepared, I embarked on an adventure: to go to the capital to find my future job.

I left for Bogotá on an Expreso Bolivariano bus, with little luggage and a folder with my resume, school notes, university notes and several letters of recommendation from teachers. The cherry on the cake was a tie from a friend lent me. I remember that the people on the bus complained because it smelled ugly: it was the dress that had been put away for days and they had put camphor on it. It didn't matter to me because I was only thinking about my future, about getting there and being able to talk to someone who understood dreams and helped me fulfill them. I spent eight hours going over the words I was planning to say one by one and spent the night awake. At 8 in the morning I was on 72nd Street with Carrera 7 and the doorman who attended me was good people because he helped me find the person in charge of assigning the practices for the new engineers. You can't imagine how awful cold I was and how anxious I was. I saw workers coming in

organization that will represent them nationally and internationally, that will ensure their well-being and improve their quality of life. It was the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (fnc) that today is considered one of the largest rural ngos in the world with the aim of positioning Colombian coffee in the national and international market.

110

with impeccable ties and each with large umbrellas as if they were parasols.

While I waited I kept going over my speech. Time seemed eternal, my future depended on what would happen in those next few minutes, a visionary from a small town had traveled 317 kilometers to that goal with a folder full of notes and dreams to fulfill. Just remembering, my heart is racing and my body trembles when I feel that capital cold.

The doorman let me enter the reception to explain what he was coming for and I forgot everything, I no longer knew what he called me, or where he came from, by a pure miracle I did not lose the folder of the scare. As I could, I made the receptionist understand that she had been on a business visit to the Manizales plant and that she wanted to do an internship there to graduate as an engineer.

From there they sent me to the industrial relations office for the doctor to attend to me. Hearing that he was a man, I felt more nervous because I had imagined that it would be a woman who would interview me. I already had the tear ready in case it got too difficult. I confess that for me crying is very easy, I cry watching a cargo plane take off.

111

dazzling. They were two buildings connected by a tunnel.

Once I explained the story to the secretary again, she spoke with the doctor who very kindly treated me. He was sitting at the desk and greeted me very politely. He was born in Tolima, today he is 74 years old and it did not surprise me at all that years later he turned to politics because of his great gift of people and empathy.

He asked me to tell him what he was doing there because he had not been able to understand. I began to tell him that he came from a municipality in Risaralda called Santa Rosa de Cabal when he interrupted me to tell me that he knew him because he had wanted to be a priest and was studying at the Apostolic School that is there. The ice broke and from then on I was calm and I was able to tell my story very well. I told him that I lived near the School, that I was part of the missionary childhood and that I was an acolyte in the Church of the Miraculous Virgin. Also that, at some point, I was waiting for the call to the priestly vocation but it never came and I told him that I studied in a Catholic school.

I was about to tell him about the ice cream parlor 12

112

when he interrupted me again to tell me about Mr. Don Mario and began to cry because he remembered that when he was a Vincentian seminarian he was very poor and the times he went out with his companions, to walk around town, they spoke a lot with Don Mario. He gave them soda with bread and although they sometimes paid him, most of the time it was he who gave them everything. When he asked me if he suddenly knew Don Mario

I could help locate him, I was already crying more than he was and was no longer able to speak. Between sobs I told him that Mr. Mario was alive and well and that he was the most wonderful person I knew, being an entrepreneur, humble and wise. I stopped talking, because I couldn't keep crying, and a few seconds later, whispering, I told him that he was my grandfather. The doctor pounced on me and we hugged each other as we cried for a few more minutes. He told me that it was amazing to have found us and that he never had the opportunity to thank my grandfather for all that he had done years ago so that he told him that he needed. Thanks to the fact that my grandfather Mario many years ago had selflessly made a

113

good deed, years later I was able to reap the blessings. That doctor, who could have been a priest, helped me and I did my business practice in the city of Manizales. That was 22 years ago and since then I have worked in that spectacular company. If this key story of my life is not a miracle to thank God, what else could it be?

114

2

Key 7

Meditate, visualize the future and live that longed-for moment as if it were passing. It will surely arrive soon and it is just a matter of waiting.

2

Key 8

Read, study, prepare for what you want. So when the key moment arrives, the opportunity

or what some call luck, you will be prepared.

2

Key 9

Being altruistic and dedicating our time, effort or money to others makes us happier, it comforts us. By giving, our brain feels pleasure, stress lowers, self-esteem is strengthened and personal well-being is increased.

116

Chapter 12

117

Dying for the thesis

The business practice was in the ninth semester

and I did it in Manizales between January and June 1998. The Colombian coffee industry was hit at that time by a very serious problem, which was the increase in the infestation of coffee crops by the plague of the berry borer. This harms by attacking the cherry and reproducing internally in the endosperm, causing the total loss of the grain and, in many cases, the premature fall of the fruits as well as reducing the quality of the final product. This plague had arrived in Colombia in 1988. My job then consisted of creating software to control mechanical sorters, called steels, which were in charge of removing defective beans from excellent export coffee. I was accompanied by the engineer Héctor Jaramillo and the manager of Almacafé Manizales, Dr. Carlos Hernando Duque.

118

andrés jaramillo

To give you an idea of ​​the problem, an excellent export coffee normally had 60 beans minced or bitten per bit in one pound of coffee. At that time and with the help of controls and software, these excellent exporters came out with approximately 300 brocaded grains.

My work was so good that the manager even asked me to stay with the company for once. The problem was that I had to go back to do the tenth semester and do my degree thesis in order to graduate. Do not think that I was not tempted to stay working all at once. After thinking about it very well, I decided to finish my studies first and with the title and a good recommendation, go back to apply again for a job as an engineer.

In July 1998 I attended my last academic semester and I still remember that I did not believe it: I was already one step away from finishing my studies and finally starting work. I presented my thesis that it was a feasibility project to sell all the threshing machines in the Coffee Region the software that I had created in practice. I did the market research by visiting all the threshers one by one, collecting information and showing my software.

119

The university assigned me two juries who were constantly reviewing and correcting. My idea was to finish courses in November 1998 and, with the thesis finished, to be able to graduate that same year.

I was urged to graduate because, while I was in the tenth semester, I received a call from Dr. Armando Cortez Sábala, the National Port Manager at Almacafé, who on the recommendation of my fellow practitioners in Manizales wanted to interview me for a position in the Qualities office. I met Dr. Armando in the interview he conducted with me in Pereira and he became a very important person in my life because not only did he give me a job but he became my friend and even saved my life. Dr. Cortez was later appointed National Director of Qualities and was my boss until his retirement. I never saw him angry or short-tempered, I never heard him raise his voice and he was always kind and friendly. Dr. Cortez is without a doubt another great miracle of my life.

2

All the corrections and suggestions that the thesis jurors gave me, I made them and I was very grateful for them because they made my work

120

was getting better and better. One of the professors gave me the letter of approval of the thesis at the end of October and I only needed the letter from professor Jorge to be able to pass all the documents, pass subjects, obtain my degree at the beginning of December and, with the title in the hand, call Dr. Cortez to fulfill my dream of working at Almacafé.

I looked for Professor Jorge to give me the approval letter and, after many days without answering the phone, I was finally able to speak with him. He told me that he was not going to renew his contract with the university for the next year so he could not write me the letter. He could tell that he had had some problem with the university because he was somewhat upset and he was not nice or cordial as he used to. He told me that there was nothing to do: he had to go to the dean and request a new teacher.

I lived a block from the university and ran to the college to ask what I should do. The secretary confirmed to me that the professor no longer worked for the faculty and that I only had two ways: to convince the professor to give me the letter, because they understood that his approval was fair.

121

taking into account that I worked with him throughout the semester, or wait until February when the university entered on vacation and a new professor would be assigned to me who would review the thesis again.

I insisted calling the professor during the last week of November and a few days in December, when the degrees were being carried out at the university, but he never answered me. I begged and pleaded with the faculty to graduate with a single concept and they did not agree either. I had to wait for January to come and the university assigned me a new jury. I remember that I was somewhat sad but my grandfather always told me that things always happen because of something and so I tried whatever it was to graduate that year, it was not possible and the decision did not depend on me so it only remained to wait. Whenever I could, I asked God to help me fix that problem quickly so I could graduate.

All of December passed and January was about to end when I received a call. It was Professor Jorge who had been thinking a lot about the approval letter and he agreed with me because he had worked hard and presented everything he had asked me to do. We made an appointment at the cafe in front of the university to have him sign the letter.

122

My mother remembers that I would jump and scream with happiness. I bathed, got ready and called my uncle José Hernán to see if I could go in his car to Armenia. He said no, because they had a plastics factory and had to deliver orders, but he called cousin Omar who very kindly lent me a yellow Renault 18 to go to Armenia for the letter. I left very early so that there was no possibility of breaking the professor and that he went to Mexico without leaving me the signed letter. I arrived in Armenia at around 1 in the afternoon and I thought I had plenty of time to walk around the center, because I had not gone for three months and once the letter was delivered I would leave for Pereira again.

I remember being on 19th avenue, across the street

from Telecom, when suddenly I felt a noise

very strange, as if a stampede of galloping horses were approaching. I looked for

the rear view mirrors and I saw nothing but the noise

I was getting older and from moment to moment

another saw how the cars in front moved: it was as if a giant child was playing with them and was passing them from one place to another on the road. As if cars and buses were tiles on a parquet or a chess set

123

because everything started to fall. The Telecom antenna began to move, all the electricity cables were on the ground and I think that what helped me was being on a three-lane avenue because no building fell on me. In the midst of the shock I had, I started the car down the avenue and the light cables, which were already on the ground, got tangled in the tires. The car skidded and once the cable broke, due to the force of the car, I was able to move forward. Many people were crying out for help with bloody faces, I heard screams and there was dust and bricks everywhere.

It was total chaos. Every day I thank God for having survived that day the most ferocious earthquake that Colombia has had so that I could not keep the appointment with Professor Jorge. What's more, he was never heard from, we looked for him with the help of the university and we couldn't find out what happened, if he was able to travel to Mexico or if he is still in Armenia. Hopefully he's alive.

The university had to be rebuilt in its entirety and I was finally able to graduate on February 26, 1999 in a small ceremony in a Corpoica building.

One more of the key stories that fully complies with the concept of a miracle. Do you remember what you were doing that day?

124

Chapter 13

125

The boss who saved my life

August 2, 1999 I started working on

Almacafé in the main office in the city of Bogotá. I entered at 7:30 in the morning through the same gate where I entered the day I went to seek the business internship.

It is incredible how it feels to accomplish a goal as important as that. Today, after 22 years working in the company, I see how I was right to put all my efforts to get a job in this company that I carry and will always carry in my heart.

2

After an induction of several months in Bogotá, I was assigned to the Buga branch in Valle del Cauca, and my boss was the engineer Oscar Jairo Ramírez. I am fortunate to still be his friend even though he years later he retired from the company and went to live in Pennsylvania, United States.

126

Oscar Jairo retired being the national director of Special Cafes, but not before training very well. He was somewhat strict but he was the one who taught me how to taste coffee and develop the shrewdness it takes to handle the problems and situations that, as a professional, I have had throughout my career. The friendship I have with him is so important that it is another very valuable miracle.

2

He lived in Buga in a room that a lady rented me and he tried to travel every weekend to Santa Rosa to visit my family. He took advantage of the fact that Dr. José Eduardo Mejía worked in Buga, who traveled every week to Santa Rosa because his family was also there. He very kindly picked me up and we traveled together on Fridays at 6 in the afternoon and on Monday at 6 in the morning. He drove extremely fast and loved cars. Sometimes traveling with him made me nervous but he was a man of great qualities and the conversations were always very pleasant. He went through all the positions of Almacafé until retiring in 2020 as manager of Buga.

Twice a year a meeting is held

of all analysts or tasters in Bogotá

127

in order to unify criteria and carry out the necessary calibrations to be certified as coffee experts. My first invitation was from Wednesday 8 to Saturday 11 March 2000 at the La Fontana hotel. I have always liked those meetings a lot because experiences and knowledge are shared. For me, who was a beginner with a few months of training, everything I learned was essential. For example, we should not consume alcohol, because within our characteristics as professionals we should take care of taste and smell, we should not smoke or eat spicy food: we should lead a very healthy life.

On the second day of the meeting, I had learned that there was a very serious problem in Armenia and the two engineers who worked there had left their positions. As I mentioned earlier, coffee growing was going through a very difficult time due to the poor quality of the coffee due to the CBB plague and that made our work as controllers and responsible for it very complex. I understood that they were looking for two experienced colleagues to go to Armenia to replace them. Friday night during

128

A dinner that is customary to have on the last day as a final integration, from one moment to another, Dr. Armando Cortez sat at my table. He asked me how I felt at the first meeting and how I was doing in Buga. I replied that he felt excellent, that every day he was learning more and being happier. I also took the opportunity to thank him again for the opportunity he had given me.

In the distance I saw Oscar Jairo making faces at me and insisting that I say no, but he did not understand what he was trying to tell me, they were confusing signals. I kept telling Dr. Cortez that my boss was demanding but that I liked him, that in Buga he lived with a family and traveled to Santa Rosa on weekends. Until he asked me if he would agree to transfer me to Armenia. I didn't even stop talking and I imagine my eyes shone. I was fine in Buga but I had never had much contact with the culture of the Valley and being a little different from the Paisa culture in terms of food and behavior, I did not feel integrated. I had studied in Armenia, had many friends and was much closer to Pereira. I replied that it would be very

129

well the transfer because he knew the city well. That was when I understood the signals that Oscar Jairo was giving me: to answer no, not to accept to work in Armenia since there were many problems and I was still a novice to be able to carry out the office. I found out later that I was the last option, because all my colleagues had refused the offer, but I was very happy and had no doubts.

Dr. Armando told me that he would have to appear in Armenia on Monday because Buenaventura's colleague would hand over the office to me. I suggested that I arrive first thing in the morning on Tuesday to say goodbye to Buga's office, square up some earrings, and pick up the few clothes I had. You cannot imagine how much I begged Dr. Armando to let me arrive in Armenia on Tuesday and not on Monday as he wanted, it was the least he asked for a transfer so fast and to a job site that nobody wanted. I got a little frustrated but there was nothing to do because the boss commanded and I had to obey.

The next day the meeting ended and in the afternoon we traveled from Bogotá to our respective cities. On Sunday I called Dr. José Eduardo

130

to tell him that that Monday I would no longer travel with him because I had been transferred to Armenia. I remember that he told me that the right thing to do was to go with him to Buga and then go to Armenia. And when I told him what Dr. Armando had said, he wanted to call him to ask him to change his mind. I told him no, not to make me scold, that he would receive the office on Monday and on Tuesday or Wednesday he would travel to Buga to say goodbye.

On Monday, March 13, I got up early for the city of Armenia and around 7:30 a.m. I received a call from Olga, the secretary of Almacafé Buga. She asked me what had happened to me and I replied that I had been transferred. She asked me about Dr. José Eduardo and how we were because of the accident, she was almost crying and I did not understand anything. Olga then told me that the doctor did not answer and that they had been told that we had had an accident on the road. I replied that she was answering him from Armenia, that she had not traveled with the doctor and that she was going to call him. I began to call with great insistence and nervousness because I realized that I must have been riding in that truck on the way to Buga and that only because of the stubbornness of Dr. Armando, who was not convinced, I had saved myself from that terrible accident.

131

Once again, God and my boss had saved my life because the truck crashed into a bus: it got in from behind and half of the passenger's side had been totally destroyed. Only the part of the driver who was magically saved was left intact.

There are many times that we have talked about the subject. I call it the day we were born again together since many aspects, many situations, many breaking points and miracles occurred the week before the accident so that life still has me here today: if my colleagues from Armenia had not lost their works; if only one of the ten engineers who were offered the position had accepted; If Chief Armando had not trusted me for the position and had not forced me to be there on Monday. This moment that we are living together would not exist. Remember that the important thing is not that you think about my story but that you look for his stories, his miracles and thank God for everything he has given you.

I am sure that reading this you have already remembered and met many people to whom, like me, they also owe their lives so call them and thank them for existing.

132

Chapter 14

133

A friend found the love of my life

his name is Carlos Eduardo and I mentioned him in

the first chapters because we study together from the first year of primary school to the last year of high school. He is a lawyer, father of two children and son of Doña Bernarda who helped me to enter college. Carlos is an exemplary human being and I hope that he will be a senator in the future because he has politics in his blood and most of his life has been dedicated to the good of others, developing as Family Commissioner and Representative. No one has doubts about his honesty and his great gift of people and it is a pride not only to be able to call me his friend but to always be able to count on him. Caliche, as we used to say to him when we were young, is unconditional and a great believer in God, it is to that same God that I thank him for having put him in my path almost 40 years ago.

134

Carlos has an overwhelming personality, he is a man of good looks and elegance. He has always been very well received with the female staff. We hung out a lot. He worked in the law office of his father, Dr. Luis Eduardo Castro Montes notary of Santa Rosa.

We were 24 years old when one night in June 2000 Carlos told me that he had met a woman to introduce me: she was cute, intelligent and lived on the corner of a bar called Happy Days. He made me laugh a lot and I didn't care but insisted that she was the perfect girlfriend for me. I asked him if he thought I was desperate and he told me that it was not like that, that it just seemed to him that he should know her. He sensed that she had locked up a cat. Who knows what mess or trouble he was going to get me into, he was thinking to myself, and I didn't pay any attention to him. The issue died there and we didn't talk about it again.

I had been working in Armenia for several months, I had bought an off-white chevrolet sprint, as my friends used to say because it had already gotten a lot of old stains. I went to pick him up with Carlos in Manizales, at Autos Galelo, and upon arriving at

135

Santa Rosa Carlos had told almost all of his friends and they were waiting for me on a corner to congratulate me. To my anger they also waited for us to bathe me and the bone white with beer as a kind of baptism. Initially I did not like that disorder or how they left the car inside, but then they explained the reason to me: almost all my friends had a car for a long time, and much better than mine, but that was the first car of all that had been bought with effort, work and it was not a gift from parents. I think it is a very beautiful anecdote about the value of things that are obtained with dedication and as a result of reaching goals and dreams, one by one and with patience.

By having my own vehicle, I traveled more easily every week to visit my family and to go out and have fun with friends. Two of my friends, who have dedicated their entire lives to music, and today are excellent producers and singers, at that time they played on Thursdays in a well-known bar in Armenia and on Fridays they traveled to Santa Rosa to play and sing in their own Temples bar. We almost always arranged to travel together on Friday afternoon after work was done.

136

One of those Fridays we came from Armenia, with a rumba atmosphere as always and beer in hand - because at that time there was no problem in driving while drinking and it was not clear what poison alcohol was for the body - and I decided to stop, as always , on the side of the road in a kiosk where they sold very pretty flowers and roses to take to my mother. Week after week the color of them changed, my mother put them on the table in the living room and it was a way for me to know when looking at them that her son was close to her and thinking about her. It was our way of knowing that in the distance we were together. When I got out of the car to buy the flowers, one of the friends told me to buy him some red flowers to give to a Santa Rosa who had a crush on him. I asked him if they were already dating and he said no, that until now they were chatting and were friends, so I suggested that he give them yellow, pink blue He agreed to wear them pink and we continued on our way. When we got to Santa Rosa, the first stop was to drop off the pink flowers and what was my surprise when I found out it was on the corner of Happy Days. I was very intrigued because it was the same person that I had

137

Carlos spoke long ago. What was it about that woman that was fashionable these days? So I thought it was time to meet her.

I parked in front of her so I could see her but they made me go down to the middle of the block because my friend was sorry to be disturbed. I reluctantly agreed because even though I was dying of curiosity I knew there was a fast food restaurant in Happy Days so later, when I took a shower and dressed up, I would go out to start the investigation. It couldn't be a coincidence that two friends took me to the same place and to meet the same woman. At 8 o'clock I was sitting eating my first hamburger in the restaurant, which was not called Happy Days like the disco on the corner but Pecoso, and it belonged to the mother of the beautiful woman who already had a name, her name was Catalina.

That wasn't the first day I saw her. Later we remember that when I sold quail eggs, I sold them there. When I was in college, I had 500 quail in my backyard and sold the eggs house to house. When he took them to her house, he sometimes received them, but he would have been around for 10 years.

138

That wasn't the first day I met her but it was the day I fell in love with her. I was talking to her mother Helga about her and she came out beautifully dressed in a black shorts, a blue blouse and black platform shoes. I remember it perfectly because I have a photo of her, not taken that day, but taken on the day of her fifteenth birthday. I don't remember if days later he gave it to me or I stole it.

Nor do I remember the exact date of that day, I reckon it was late July or early August 2000, but I do remember the date he agreed to be my girlfriend on September 29, 2000. That was the day of our first kiss and That could be the most important day of my life, the day that everything changed. We were young, we did not know each other well, we did not know what fate would bring us, but traveling these 21 years together has taught us wonderful things and has filled us with the greatest happiness.

This morning, before going to a cafe where I am writing the book, the four of us were embracing in bed: she is my Catalina, the light in my eyes, the angel who hugs me every night and gives me peace and tranquility to sleep; Juan Juan and Alicia, my beautiful twins. I closed the eyes

139

for a moment and I thought about all the things that have happened in everyone's life, how much water has had to pass through the bridge, as the saying goes, for that magical moment, that hug of love to happen: many, many, many and it is the message that I want to give. If it is not the existence of a God that brings us so much magic, I do not know what else it could be.

140

Chapter 15

141

The miracle of Alicha and Juan Juan

one night we were hugging in our

bed I told my wife that I believed that the time had come to make an important decision for our marriage, and for our happiness, because I was over 40 years old and we had to consider if we wanted to have a child. I had been reading and researching and I found that a new trend was brewing in the world: dink1 couples. This lifestyle is very common in couples between 25 and 40 years old who, after studying and analyzing very well the advantages and disadvantages, choose to be a family without children. Studies indicate that these couples put motherhood and marriage aside and only 75% have children after 3 to 8 years of being together. The main characteristic in these relationships is to be little attached to the traditions

142

where the most important thing is to get married and have children. They are couples who prioritize other types of experiences such as traveling, studying or investing in technology. This trend occurs mainly in upper-middle socioeconomic levels, since more than 59% of Dinks have a university degree or higher. And according to a survey, published by the Ignis media agency, they buy a lot of books: 28% read daily and like to be informed about relevant news and facts. Another vast majority choose to have pets and spend time together by walking, cycling or running.

I asked my wife the question in January 2017 when we had been married for five years. I had no doubt that we fit together like dinks. I had the blessing, and the fortune, of being the father of Santiago, who was five years old at that time, and with his birth he had saved my life by teaching me the true meaning of happiness and love. It is my warrior and life partner who forced me to slow down through the world.

My wife has always loved him very much, she has cared for him like hers, her son and I even think that Santiago awakened in her the maternal instinct since before she had some doubts about having children.

143

However, when we got married and decided to buy a house for the family, always on the plans, and when referring to this, we called it the Alicha house because that was the name we liked for a girl.

I think that for a week we talked a lot about Alicha and it was very easy to make the decision. We were a very happy couple, blessed, with good jobs and family, we had already traveled a lot together and we felt that the time had come to travel with cars and a diaper bag.

Then the "Alicha's dream" operation began. We went to the specialists to start the process in a suitable way: we took exams, I, being a smoker and drinker of social liquor, I quit permanently and Catalina had to suspend the contraceptive pills, we both had to wait at least six months while our bodies.

We knew that Catalina had some fibroids, which are benign and frequently asymptomatic tumors, which should be monitored because they could increase bleeding during menstruation, complicate pregnancy and childbirth. We went to one of the best gynecologists in

144

I didn't like the city very well because during the evaluation he gave my wife an exam that we later learned shouldn't be done without anesthesia because it was painful. I saw my wife suffer so much that I passed out and they still bother me so much about it. Once I came to, the doctor told us that he had to perform a surgery that cost ten million pesos to remove the fibroids. We had prepaid medicine but this doctor was not among the authorized doctors in our plan. We realized that by purchasing an additional policy we could authorize this operation within six months, the right time for detoxification, and be ready for "Alicha's dream."

In July 2017 we made an appointment with the gynecologist and after several days without an answer, they told us that the doctor would only do the operation as a private individual and it would cost ten million pesos. God took us away from this doctor, He knew that surgery was not convenient for us and that is why we should not deny

or curse for the bad situations that happen to us

or when what we want is not fulfilled. Negative situations are also sent by God to take care of us and give us something better.

145

There is a surgeon in our family, Dr. Enrique Salgado Roa, so we called him and asked him which gynecologist he recommended. He immediately said that Villegas.

At the appointment with this doctor, for the evaluation of the surgery, he told us that before giving us an answer and making a decision about the surgery he wanted us to go talk to Dr. Camila. She had just arrived from doing a specialization in France and when she attended Catalina, and performed an ultrasound, she told us that she could not do the surgery since the fibroids were attached to the walls of the uterus and would have to be removed, thus preventing her from having children someday. It had been a miracle not to have performed the operation six months earlier. We had given it a lot of thought and were about to pay for the surgery with our savings. We were terrified and grateful for not having done the operation, although somewhat concerned because it was not clear what we should do to remove the fibroids.

The doctor told us about a new treatment to reduce fibroids that, she assured, would lead her inventor to win the Nobel Prize. It was ulipristal acetate and the idea was to take it

146

so that the fibroids were reduced in size and there try to get pregnant before they grow back. There were three intermittent cycles of treatment: he took a pill a day for a month and rested for a month. The results that had been observed in the studies of the European Medicines Agency, carried out up to that moment, indicated the average reduction in the volume of fibroids, observed during the first cycle of treatment by 30%; during the second cycle of 45% and after the third cycle they would show a reduction in volume of approximately 70%. However, Dr. Camila made it clear to us that these results were different in each patient and that the result of the treatment was not guaranteed. The treatment had a monthly cost of one million pesos and, after placing a guardianship, the pills were provided by the eps.

After a month of treatment and a month of rest, at the end of August 2017, we were in the first control ultrasound and Dr. Camila, after measuring the fibroids very well, told us that the largest had been reduced by a 70%. I was squeezing my wife's hand and we couldn't leave

147

to laugh at happiness.

The treatment was being a total success and every day we were closer to "Alicha's dream." However, the doctor recommended that we continue for another month and asked us for permission to use Catalina's case, and her medical history, in world congresses. Of course we accept. That happiness and that treatment should spread throughout the world.

Two months later, at the end of October, we returned for the second check-up and the results were still surprising: the reduction was 90% and we were ready to start ordering Alicha. We said we wanted a girl but we had no problem if she was a boy so we didn't have the name in mind yet. They recommended us not to be very anxious about the subject but the days and months passed and Alicha did not arrive, we knew it was when God wanted. On April 18, 2018, the day of my 42nd birthday, I received from my wife a very well packed box with an elegant bow and in tissue paper. I started looking for a watch, because I was sure that was what it was, but in the background there was a photo: it was the first ultrasound where a tiny dot showed my Alicha. We were

148

pregnant and the dream had come true. We hug, cry and jump. That emotion is not easy to describe and only people who are fortunate enough to be parents will understand me.

We were a month pregnant, my wife knew three days ago and she was waiting for my birthday to surprise me. The doctor had told her that there were apparently two babies there, but it was common when ultrasounds were done so quickly. She also told him that initially almost all pregnancies are double and then one embryo absorbs the other. During the second ultrasound it was clear that we would have twins and on December 2, 2018, Juan Juan and Alicha were born.

That day also was born this whole new project of conferences, books and consultancies that I want to turn into the new purpose of my life. That day I understood that I was here in this world to carry a message of gratitude, love and happiness. More and more people are receiving the message and the teachings to climb to an extraordinary, happy and purposeful life. If I can achieve and understand it, you will do it all the more. Welcome to this new lifestyle.

149

2

Key 10

Also be thankful for the bad things that happen. It is very important for a simple reason: they are not bad, they happened for our good and in the future you will be able to understand why.

2

Key 11

Look for the ikigai or life purpose. That is the secret to a long and happy life because your life will have direction and meaning, you will live with energy and passion, you will easily understand what is important and what is not.

151

Part 3

153

in this third part I will tell several key stories

miracles that the participants who have attended my conferences throughout these two years have told me. They are wonderful key stories that remind us that there is a God, that angels take care of us and that above all, absolutely everything that happens to us, be it good or bad, there is a reason that always turns towards our good and towards our growth. that you are full of miracles and have never been attentive to them. They have gone unnoticed, we have been high thinking about other things and we have left them. We often lose the opportunity to grow as people because we are not attentive to the present and this book is precisely for you to find, remember, and thank you for.

154

Chatper 16

155

Yeisson Tobon

He had given several lectures in the city

of Pereira when one day, in a conversation with the manager of Almacafé, I realized that I was telling my story outside but I had not told my story inside: in the company that had seen me born and grow as a professional and as a person.

So we organize everything to do it with my colleagues. When there are few people, and with the help of the human resources area, we look for a contact in the family to provide us with a photograph of when they were children and to collect messages of gratitude, love or whatever they want to say to that person among all the members. . All this without the participants realizing it. These messages are delivered at the end of the talk, closing with a flourish and creating a magical and special moment.

156

They had just hired Yeisson Tobón to handle the file and courier work because the previous person had had a motorcycle accident and had been disabled for many days. Since he was new to the company, we were wondering if we invited him because we didn't know if he would feel comfortable as there was not much trust and camaraderie yet. We also did not have a way to get a relative's phone number to obtain the photo and the letters, we could only have the data by asking him and damaging the surprise.

I don't know how the person in charge of human resources, who is very diligent, got the phone number of Yeisson's mother, Dona Maria Piedad, a lovely lady. When I met her I felt a good energy, she seemed like a good woman but we didn't talk much about her story and she just handed me the envelope with the messages for her son. I had no idea what would happen on the day of the meeting.

One of the most beautiful activities at the time of holding these conferences in Pereira is that I call and go secretly to all the participants' homes and thus at the conference I already know something about them because their parents, husbands, children or friends

157

They have told me some anecdotes that help me to direct my message very well.

Collecting all that information in my free time is hard work but when I see the results and the faces of astonishment and happiness when they open the envelope, I forget that great effort and it is enough for me to remember everything I learn from people to feel encouraged. to follow.

Sometimes I think that it is more what others contribute to me than what I contribute to them: they are magical moments of a lot of learning. On some occasions, certain people have made fun of what I do and asked me if I want to save the world. I answer that it is the world every day that saves me.

2

I remember that it was a very cold day, perhaps it was the harbinger of how cold we would all be before Yeisson's intervention. The talk had reached the point where I ask the audience if anyone wants to tell a key story or miracle and Yeisson started with his.

With the following code you will hear it from

her own voice.

158

On March 23, 2007, Yeisson got up because his brother woke him up with a kiss on his forehead and, looking into his eyes, told him with tears that he loved him very much. His reaction was to tell her if he was drunk or what was wrong with him. He didn't tell her that he loved him. They went downtown all day, made a few laps and when they returned that night his brother was shot in front of the house.

Picking him up almost lifeless and taking him to the hospital, where he clung and hugged them as if wanting to cling to life, was the turning point of his life and thought. That is why he gets up every day and lets those close to him know that he loves them and is proud to be part of his life.

The most important thing is to remind the people we love because we do not have bought time, nor do we have bought life and we must be aware that we do not know if we will return. So to hug tight, to hug with a lot of love and to give affection to the people we love without holding grudges or anger and always remember that the important thing is that we are alive and that we have survived many things.

Despite the bad things, one lesson remained: to unite more as a family and grow more as people.

159

For me, he embodies the desire to improve, the boar, entrepreneurship and drive of Colombians. He is 32 years old, he is a theater actor and literature student. He is a conservative in many aspects of life and a faithful believer in family construction.

His key story shows us that life can change in an instant. That is why we must make the most of the family, show it and tell loved ones every day how much we love them because tomorrow it may be too late.

160

Chapter 17

161

Jorge

My Monday started with Hector's call, a great friend who did the experiential and emotional marketing diploma with me at Eafit University. Héctor had seen on social networks that he was giving some talks and wanted him to give them to a group of his students on Thursday at 6 in the afternoon. I told him that he would agree to any day he wanted but in the morning, and even on a Saturday, because at that time people's brains were already tired and if they also studied at night it was because they worked all day and they weren't going to take care of me. On the other hand, I also worked all day and at that time I no longer had the necessary energy to convey the message well. I was also traveling to Manizales to work that week and I felt exhausted.

Héctor understood but he asked me to reconsider and to let him know if he changed

162

opinion. I believed there was no chance because it would go against the principles I was teaching. I really liked the Saturday morning talks because it is a day that the mind associates with low stress and from experience I had seen the participants enjoy and concentrate more.

The next day Héctor called me again and told me the truth: that Thursday was his last day as a teacher, at least for the moment, because he would travel abroad to do a specialization. She had known Héctor relatively recently but she knew that he was a good man, dedicated, studious, responsible and could attest to the passion and how much he loved his students. He took me by surprise about his trip so I suggested that I take the materials for the talk on Thursday and be prepared: if I could leave early, I would. Over the years he had understood that everything had to be left to God, it is not in vain what one learns from grandparents, and older ones, when they always say "If God Wants." "If God allows it". They are very wise words. I would be prepared, but I would let God show me the way. And he showed me an eight-lane highway.

163

On Thursday I got up early for Manizales, I said goodbye to my beautiful wife and the twins who were still sleeping. He had a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm and had the déjà vu that something spectacular would happen that day. I decided to call Héctor and tell him to organize everything because we would see each other at the talk since God had organized everything for me to do so. The day went very well, my work in Manizales flowed without problems or setbacks, my coworkers, as usual, were doing their homework excellently and as Confucius was once supposed to have said: «Choose a job that you like and you won't have any. than to work a day of your life ». I chose the best job, in the best company, with the best people and every day I wake up happy to fulfill not a job but with my life purpose.

They arrived at 6 in the afternoon and I was disguised in an auditorium in front of 20 people. I was asking the public to write down three things I wanted to thank for that day, I was telling them that it was a personal exercise and only whoever wanted to talk about it could do it. I also added that at the end they could take everything so that they could continue thinking about the topics of the conference.

164

As they always get very thoughtful, and sometimes they don't know what to write, it occurred to me to say that being alive and waking up in the morning was a reason to thank.

As soon as I said it, a young man stood up like a spring. His name was Jorge and he was 20 years old. I could see that his eyes were somewhat crystalline and watery but his expression did not seem sad but rather amazed. We all put our eyes on him. He thanked Hector and then asked if he could give me a hug. I felt my ribs break and at the same time I felt a great healing energy. I will never, but never, forget that hug. Almost the entire audience was a single cry and no one knew why, only Jorge who was about to tell his reasons after a few moments of silence. He said that the night before he had tried to commit suicide but had not been able to and that that day he was about to try again when something inside him told him to come here to this room, for the last time, to say goodbye to his classmates and as a last chance to try to find meaning in your life. He thanked me for being there and for the message because he had understood that life was very beautiful and that we should move forward as

165

outside. I hugged him and we cried together for a few minutes. I looked at Héctor and we didn't know what to do.

That was not a message only for Jorge or for the others who were there, that was a direct message for me. That day I understood the importance of my message, that day I discovered that that was my mission and my life purpose.

That day was not just a miracle for Jorge, it was God's message to tell me that I had to dedicate myself to that from now on. There are many people who have yet to receive the message and who will surely change their lives once they internalize it.

166

Key 12

Do not press anything: the secret is patience.

If it does not pass or does not arrive, it is because it does not suit him since God's times are perfect.

2

Key 13

Pick a job that you enjoy and you won't have to work a single day in your life.

168

Chapter 18

169

As I said above, I work

For 21 years in the coffee union and once we had an activity with the coffee growers of the municipality of Apía in Risaralda.

I shared the stage with my friend, partner and professional presenter Carlos Armando Uribe. He is a renowned agricultural engineer, specialist in the evaluation of agricultural and agroindustrial projects who has been in the service of the country's coffee union for 38 years and who for 17 years played the character of the esteemed Professor Yarumo.

I was a bit nervous to share the same stage with someone with so much experience but being surrounded by coffee growers, humble, honest and hardworking people gave me as much energy as giving lectures. There were about 50 coffee growers and the majority were women.

170

As usual, after telling my miracles I ask people to think about theirs, write them down and only if they want to share them with everyone. There were stories of cancer remission, misdiagnosis, and the most unusual: smoking saved my life.

Don Arturo said that he served in the military at the time of violence, when the guerrillas were in all their splendor and the fighting was every day. The soldiers were forbidden to smoke at night because the small light that the cigarette gave would expose them to the enemy, make them visible and inform them the exact position. One night he was on guard duty, it was very cold, and he was very bored, and it was very difficult to live in those mountains and there was a lot of fighting. Every day he was an anxiety thinking that he was already ambushing them and killing the guerrillas. He couldn't take it any longer and got a Redskin without a filter, which were the cheapest. Even his hands were shaking from the cold. He smoked the first, the second and was already in the third when he felt calmer. Suddenly he dropped his cigarette and since he was barely lit he wasn't going to let it go so he bent down to pick it up. And he rang the shot that he hit right in the tree where

171

he was lying down, right at the height of his head. The guerrilla sniper had him in his sights and thank God he dropped that cigarette. From that day on he never ever smoked again.

I told Don Arturo that this was a miracle but that he had also been disobedient. Something as simple as dropping a cigarette saved Don Arturo's life.

Smoking should be totally prohibited. I smoked because I had times of great anxiety and consumed more than 20 cigarettes a day. I also smoked while consuming alcohol and as a young man I smoked to impress women and think I was very big. He is one of the worst vice.

I want to write a book to teach why it is bad and how to quit smoking. I also want to talk a bit about the harms it has and the benefits of quitting. Tobacco smoke contains many chemicals that are harmful to both second-hand and second-hand smokers. Breathing just a little tobacco smoke can be harmful as it contains 7,000 chemicals of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and 69 to cause cancer. Smoking does not make you happy and shortens life by an average of ten years.

172

Chapter 19

173

Doctor Téllez

a terrible tragedy occurred in Pereira: during

one week several students from a public school in the city committed suicide and a psychologist from a private school created a campaign called "Hold on to Life." They asked me to give one of my lectures at that school for all the children.

Again, and without thinking, I immediately said no because the audience for my talk were adults, people who had already forgotten how to be happy and who lead a life dedicated to thinking about money and working. Adults living in a total imbalance between work and family life. Children do not have that problem, I explained that they laugh an average of 400 times a day while adults only 12. In any case, and in order not to sound like bad people, I agreed to go to school to talk to the directives and explain my refusal.

174

In the meeting they explained to me what they wanted, I told them the dynamics of my talk and I emphasized that in the closing the idea was that each participant had a letter, a note or a message from some members of their family, something that would make them feel good and where they explained how important they were to that family nucleus. They told me that they were doing this activity for “Hold on to Life” week, that they asked the parents of the 200 high school students to write a letter telling their children how much they loved them, how proud they were of them and what qualities they had, among a thousand other things that a father can say to an adored son. You might think that it is an easy activity but apparently it was not because they called the psychologist and the person in charge of collecting these letters to come to our meeting. The rector asked her about the development of the activity and she sadly said that she had been writing for more than a month and calling the parents to send their writings and she could only show a bag where there would not be more than ten love letters.

I want to take this opportunity to remember that family unity and communication with

175

Do the children know where they are right now? Did they already tell you today that you love them?

To be honest, I was shocked with that result: Are we parents so busy that we can't take a minute to write a love letter to our children? Could it be that family values ​​are running out? Could it be that we dedicate ourselves to our companies, our jobs and put aside the truly important thing that is the family and the spiritual? Could it be that the struggle for power and having is ending us, is it making us cold, inhuman and unhappy? Faced with such dire situation, I agreed to do the talk for parents and seniors just on graduation day.

The conference was a success and we were able to collect many letters from families for the participants and even photographs of the graduates when they were five years old. Everything went very well, many participated and in the end we all danced to the rhythm of the song Happy by Pharrell Williams.

When I was putting away the material and organizing the auditorium to leave, I heard a voice. He was one of the parents who wanted to thank me and tell me his story. His name is Carlos Alfonso

176

Téllez, is a neurosurgeon and he told me that he had studied medicine at the University of Caldas and had the great dream of studying neurosurgery at the Universidad del Valle. Being in my talk had taken him to the past because many and very important memories, many miracles, came back to his mind.

That was the first of many conversations, some face-to-face, others over the phone, that gave rise to this chapter. Dr. Téllez's life, mine and, most certainly, his are full of miracles and stories worth telling.

2

Dr. Téllez was doing an internship in Manizales and one day five coastal students arrived. It was very rare to see a coastal man in Manizales because it was a very cold city and much rarer to find one doing boarding school or studying. When they organized the groups to work, they did so in order of the list and Téllez ended up as a partner precisely with one of the people from the coast. Thus Francisco Alberto Soleiman Carmona became his colleague and, against all odds, one of his best friends. He came from Cartagena and due to destiny, he had reached the coffee lands.

177

One day Dr. Téllez's uncle, who was also a doctor, told him that in Cartagena there were five places to do the rural but he did not want to do it there because the customs of the coast were very different from those of the coffee zone and it was not very convinced. Faced with pressure from his family and his great friend Francisco Soleiman, he agreed to go look and learn what his stay in Cartagena would be like. Francisco, or Pacho as he affectionately calls him, had gone to his rural area in Acacias, Meta, but had organized everything for Téllez to stay at his house. He even asked his sister to take care of him and be his host. It was a very pleasant stay, he met all the family of Pacho and decided to make his rural there.

Téllez returned to Pereira to organize everything and continued in constant contact with Lilia Yasmine, Pacho's sister, because she was in charge of getting him a pension to live in. January came and it was time to travel, he had not found a pension so Lilia Yasmine and her family offered to live in her house in the meantime. Téllez traveled with his grandmother, who wanted to be sure that her adored grandson would be in good hands. And indeed his grandson was in good hands, so

178

good that he is still in them, because he fell in love with his host Lilia Yasmine, later they married and had four children.

Téllez's dream was to be a neurosurgeon and in Cali, at the Universidad del Valle, there was only one place to study while for all other specialties such as pediatrics, psychology and radiology there were always eight places. Applicants were required to take a written exam and the top five scores went to an interview. Téllez was among the five and was calm because he had a lever with whom he had been head of service for 25 years, Dr. Arnoldo Levy. Dr. Levy came up with the brilliant idea of ​​telling the other five doctors who were interviewing to do the interview in English because the university had agreements with universities in the United States and students could travel to do internships and exchanges, giving prestige to the university. University. As they had not demanded English again, they did not have bilingual specialists studying or exchange and they all thought it was a great idea so the interviews began and the only one who spoke English was Téllez so he won the quota.

179

It was January 1993, the Universidad del Valle had 180 residents, of which 3 were married, the specialty lasted three years and the last six months the rotation was in Bogotá. They said it was like a vacation semester to have a good time and rest from so much work, but Téllez did not want to go to Bogotá but to the United States to make international connections. Although it was a long time away, he spoke with his uncle, Dr. Henry Téllez, who had studied neurosurgery at the University of Michigan, but it was a dead end because his professors had retired or had passed away. Only Dr. Carlos García, a neuropathologist at the University of Louisiana, remained. At that time, cell phones did not exist and e-mail was just beginning to be used.

It was May when Téllez first wrote to Louisiana, a week passed and nothing came back so he kept forwarding the mail every day. He arrived July and was informed that someone was looking for him at the front desk. He went downstairs and saw that he was a man just like Santa Claus: short and gray-haired but without a beard. It was Dr. Carlos García who was coming for a walk and had decided to meet

180

to Téllez. Once he verified that he was bilingual, he told him to have his studies in Louisiana and that in due course the documents would reach him. And in October 1995, he got an envelope from Louisiana State University saying they would sponsor him for the neurology, neurosurgery and neuropathology rotations. It is important to note that a sponsor acts as a representative of a person before the United States government to acquire a visa. With that letter he requested an appointment at the embassy and in January he would travel to New Orleans.

But on December 20, 1995, an event occurred that changed his life: That night while Dr. Téllez was on duty, American Airlines Flight 965 bound for Cali crashed into a mountain in Buga.

That flight had taken off from Miami with 163 people on board, including passengers and crew, and had been delayed due to a storm. It was a Boeing 757, the safest and most modern aircraft of its time, piloted by Captain Tafuri and First Officer Williams.

The route was to fly over the Caribbean Sea, enter through Cartagena and then pass over the mountains of Antioquia.

181

And due to a misunderstanding between the captain and the control tower, a series of key mistakes was unleashed that led to the deaths of 159 people.

Téllez found out immediately what had happened because all the hospital's emergency protocols were activated and from his friend and colleague, Dr. Laureano Quintero, who ran the emergency service. What ironies in life because he was just training a team of doctors in rescue work.

Only until the next day did the survivors begin to arrive as the area was very difficult to access and the helicopters were never able to land near the bodies or the plane. That is why all the experts who were in rescue came down with ropes and with baskets that were the stretchers for the patients. A helipad was improvised at the Pascual Guerrero stadium where they treated the eventual survivors. The first survivor was 19-year-old Mauricio Reyes Dorronsoro. He was the brother of Dr. Carlos Alberto Reyes, an ophthalmologist at the hospital. Then came Michelle Dussán Delgado, five years old. Then came one of the hardest cases, which was Gonzalo Dussán, 14 years old. He was alive but when he arrived at Pascual Guerrero

182

had a cardiorespiratory arrest. Then Gonzalo Dussán, the father, and Mercedes Liliana Ramírez, 28, arrived. Those are the names of the four survivors of Flight 965.

The United States embassy in Colombia moved from Bogotá to Cali to attend to the emergency and help to recognize and repatriate the bodies. Ambassador Myles Frechette, who served from 1994 to 1997, went to the city and even visited Cerro San José, site of the tragedy. Téllez and all the doctors and specialists at the Hospital Universitario de Cali, worked very hard with the utmost commitment and professionalism to treat, operate and cure all the survivors.

However, every time she had free time, Téllez called the United States embassy in Bogotá to verify her appointment on December 27, and they responded that the embassy was closed and that if her case was urgent she could call a special number. When calling, presenting his case and explaining that he needed a visa to travel in January, they replied that it was not urgent and that he call again in February.

On December 24 he came to work and saw that

the hospital was totally militarized, something

183

very unusual. The watchman told him that it was due to the ambassador's visit who wanted to see Michelle Dussan. Téllez was the chief resident in charge because the incumbent chief was in Bogotá. He thought it was his chance to get the visa and went for all the documents that he had ready to present at the embassy. He sat at the pediatric entrance, where the ambassador had to pass, who did indeed arrive.

The director of the hospital introduced him as chief resident and as the person in charge and the main person in charge of the miraculous recovery of Michelle Dussán. The ambassador listened attentively to all the stories and explanations that Dr. Téllez gave him about the interventions that kept her alive.

When he was already leaving, Téllez asked him about his visa. The ambassador looked at a lady next to him, a consul carrying a satellite phone, and told her to take care of it. She asked for the folder, made a call, and told him to keep her scheduled appointment.

Dr. Téllez traveled to Bogotá, they verified

his name, he entered through a different door than the one

184

it is used normally and the consul, who he recognized immediately as the voice on the phone, received it and asked him about the accident and then returned his passport along with his wife's with the respective visas.

When he arrived in the United States, Dr. Carlos received him and introduced him to Caroline who would take him to see all the facilities and gave him two checks, one for $ 1,000 and another for $ 600. He also told her that they had to get the social security number and the permission to formulate control medications. Téllez thought there was a mistake because the students couldn't formulate medications. Caroline replied that he was wrong because he had the type of full resident visa that gave him the right to stay up to 12 years and to apply for residencies without having to go back to his country of origin. Not everything stopped there as they took an exam and, due to the knowledge acquired in Colombia, he was appointed head of third-year residents. It was the time of violence and the Cali cartel, so he was used to operating many gunshot wounds to the head and spine and that knowledge taught him where this type of violence was not common.

185

injuries. Since his arrival, Dr. David Kleine, head of the neurosurgery service, invited him to operate with him every day. A great team of Colombian experience and gringo technology was formed. As a result, Dr. Téllez earned his degree in neurology from Louisiana State University.

Téllez returned to Colombia in mid-1995 and began to apply all this knowledge and new technologies in Cali because in Colombia there were still no titanium implants for highly complex surgeries. They had to go to mechanical workshops to make the parts.

In 1996, his grandmother called him to tell him that she had seen an article in the newspaper El Tiempo where they talked about 20 places for a scholarship in Germany to study modern methods in neurosurgery at the Free University of Berlin: it was to study those new implant inventions and innovative technologies. They asked as a requirement to be young, to know English, to be a neurosurgeon and to have written at least one scientific article in a specialized journal. Dr. Téllez fulfilled almost everything because he had not graduated yet and had not written any scientific article. The grandmother insisted so much that Téllez wrote and filled out the documents

186

in English and sent them by Avianca to Germany. He was crazy about the scientific article. He knew that he had lost the money because he was surely not elected, but at the beginning of 1997 an envelope came to him saying that he had been the recipient of the scholarship that included food and a stay in Berlin. Once he arrived in Germany, he investigated and asked the admissions office why he had won the scholarship and they told him it was because he had published two scientific articles. Upon deepening that answer, he discovered that having been chief of residents in Louisiana, two of his students had published articles and it was customary for the chief to be a co-author.

Today, Dr. Téllez is one of the most important neurologists and neurosurgeons in Colombia and the world, and he continues to be studious and professional. I am sure that even without the help of the ambassador he would be just as successful and he would have traveled months later. An event that for 159 families was a tragedy, led him to fulfill his dream. 159 people died, he helped keep the four survivors alive and thanks to that he has been able to save thousands and thousands of patients in his long career.

187

2

Key 14

Stop thinking that happiness is in the material. It is actually in the family and in spiritual wealth.

2

Key 15

Being happy only depends on you and it is free.

188

THE 15 KEYS

189

Key 1

Be thankful for how much or how little you have.

Being happy is simple: it is a matter of positive attitude towards what we have and what happens to us.

Key 2

Identify the key stories - those events that build us and to which we owe gratitude. Find the path to happiness by understanding that life is a miracle factory.

Key 3

Seek happiness in the simplicity and simplicity of life.

190

Key 4

True well-being, or happiness, is obtained when you have a true holistic view of your life and when you are in balance in all dimensions: physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual.

Key 5

Get adequate sleep and rest. Having a good night's sleep is closely related to living a healthy life. People who sleep more enjoy greater well-being and a better quality of life.

Key 6

All the people next to him are angels. God places each one where he is and with the person that he is: no one comes into his life by chance.

191

Key 7

Meditate, visualize the future and live that longed-for moment as if it were passing. It will surely arrive soon and it is just a matter of waiting.

Key 8

Read, study, prepare for what you want. So when the key moment arrives, the opportunity

what some call luck, you will be prepared.

Key 9

Being altruistic and dedicating our time, effort or money to others makes us happier, it comforts us. By giving, our brain feels pleasure, stress lowers, self-esteem is strengthened and personal well-being is increased.

192

Key 10

Also be thankful for the bad things that happen. It is very important for a simple reason: they are not bad, they happened for our good and in the future you will be able to understand why.

Key 11

Look for the ikigai or life purpose. That is the secret to a long and happy life because your life will have direction and meaning, you will live with energy and passion, you will easily understand what is important and what is not.

Key 12

Do not press anything: the secret is patience.

If it does not pass or does not arrive, it is because it does not suit him since God's times are perfect.

193

Key 13

Pick a job that you enjoy and you won't have to work a single day in your life.

Key 14

Stop thinking that happiness is in the material. It is actually in the family and in spiritual wealth.

Key 15

Being happy only depends on you and it is free.

194

Epilogue

195

In the two years that the writing of this

book, God sent our family a great test since my father was diagnosed with head cancer.

My father, Luis Alfonso, is a spectacular human being because since I can remember, I remember feeling him go out to work at dawn and come back at night. He was a butcher and it didn't matter how tired he was, it didn't matter how his day had been, I have never but never seen him in a bad temper or angry about something. He has always been kind, he has always been honest and he is the most hard-working, helpful and diligent. He has been the best example he could have and the best father in the world.

I did not want to include his story or his miracle of life because they are subjects worthy of a book that I hope to write soon. Today he is cured and it is proof not only that the formula for happiness exists but also of the importance of applying it to be able to turn our lives into a factory of miracles.

196

2

This book almost until the last moment was going to be called "The Formula of Happiness" but I was not very convinced, I was waiting for the editor, me or someone to light the spark with the right name. I knew that, like everything in my life, from one moment to the next I would have a sign or a guide from above, so here is the story.

I had read that a book should only be read by the publisher before it comes to life in print. Books are considered art and the fruit of creativity that should not be subjected to democracy because in the end the author's vision will not be captured, but rather a mixture of the visions of those who read the book during the time of its creation.

To better understand my point of view and why I had not even let my wife read the drafts, I will tell you the parable of ice cream: If ten people are asked to think about their favorite ice cream flavor, each one will choose your taste and a great variety of flavors will be answered. But if they are told that each one will give a flavor and democratically eat the ice cream that wins in the vote, the mind does not

197

You will choose the ice cream that you like the most, but the ice cream that everyone likes and that that person will not have a problem eating. Most of the time vanilla or chocolate is chosen.

As the book was finished and my wife saw that she was already sending drafts to the publishers, she saw her becoming more and more restless and worried about the names that were going to appear whether they were real or not. They are real because, whether they are family, friends or acquaintances, they are all people to whom I owe my deepest gratitude. Many will not remember, nor will they know how important they were in my life, but it is a way of saying thank you for existing. I wanted my wife to be calm, so I made the decision to let her read the book. She and her grandfather Jorge hers, whom I also asked to write the foreword, would be the only ones who read the book before it was published.

I sent the draft to Grandpa Jorge at 5:59 in the afternoon and called him to explain that I wanted him to think about the title very well because we weren't very sure. He accepted not without first telling me that he did not feel he had the right to write the prologue because he should write it or the author or a writer

198

important and recognized and he, within his humility, did not want to accept that he is an excellent writer and reader addict like me. We talked for half an hour and apparently we were on speakerphone because his wife overheard our conversation and sent me a message saying that she had also read the draft and she had really liked my story. He agreed with changing the title and suggested "Find happiness on the road" or "The miracle factory" because nobody has the formula, it is individual and in the course of life there are different experiences and moments of happiness that they do not obey a single way of doing things.

I started thinking. "Factory of miracles" I liked because it is a phrase that I use a lot. We all have an endless factory of miracles in our lives and the more we understand the importance of gratitude and a positive attitude, the more miracles we make every day. I have among my great friends, Catholic priests, nuns, Christian pastors, spiritual advisers and even a Jewish rabbi, but I do not want my message to be pigeonholed in a particular religion or belief. I want my message to be universal: we can all speak directly to God without

199

an intermediary, we have a direct line with Him.

I went to bed and told God, in my last meditation of the day, that I put in his hands what the book should be called and that it enlighten me as always.

At 3 in the morning I woke up, as I do many mornings because at that time the most important answers and ideas arrive as if by magic.

"The keys to happiness".

It was perfect because I love to tell stories and the book is precisely a part of the story of my life. In addition, teaching through stories makes the message better remembered.

At this point I am sure they have remembered their entire lives. I want them to be able to correct the course of this, to be able to call the people who have been important and tell them. To have time to be grateful and to realize the beautiful things in life, today and now, is to have time to change history, its stories.

We do not have to wait until one day, in a medical office, the doctor diagnoses us with a serious illness to understand the true meaning of existence. You have to change today, today

200

It is the first day of the rest of your life. Take advantage of it 50,000%!

I hope you enjoyed the book and applied its messages and teachings. Just as I was able to turn my life from a miracle factory into an intensive care room, I hope I have helped you to start the factory and start making your own.

God bless you.

202

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

203

BOOKS

Gawdat, Mo

2018

The Zenith Happiness Algorithm (Grupo Planeta)

Gladwell, Malcolm 2014

The Tipping Point Debolsillo (Penguin Random House)

Ware, Bronnie

2012

The top five regrets of the dying - A life transformed by the dearly departed. Hay House Publishing

Walsch, Neale Donald 2014

Conversations with Key Pocket God (Penguin Random House)

ARTICLES

“Historia de una infamia” published in Semana Magazine on 01-17-1993.

“El‘ karoshi ’, death from overwork” published in Revista Semana on 10-10-2016.

“What is‘ karoshi ’, death from overwork that in Japan

it is a public health problem ”published on BBC News on 10-09-2016.

“Albert Einstein’s happiness note sold for $ 1.6m” published on BBC News on 10-24-2017.

"Flight 965, memories of a trip that did not reach its destination" special published in El País in 2015.

08-04-2018 "The businessman Carlos Enrique Piedrahíta, former president of Grupo Nutresa, has died" published in La República on 08-04-2018.

"Press Bulletin 659" of the Ministry of Health of Colombia published on 09-10-2020.

"Suicide Prevention" from the World Health Organization published in 2001.

"Why does a good night's sleep make us happier? published in ABC on 6-09-2017.

"Health risks of using tobacco products" published in the American Cancer Society on 10-28-2020 ..

For more information you can find me on the website www.andresjaramillo.net

Also in social networks

Or by scanning the following code

14