Bruno Blog

I was convinced that the day I would write about Francesc Miralles and Álex Rovira’s new book, ALEGRÍA (Joy), I would do it with a smile on my face because it’s a book that, that using the letter format, gives you guidelines to discern what is really important in life and to overcome the adversities and sad moments we all experience at some point in our life. I must admit that this week I’m sad and I can’t write with that smile on my face because of all of that happened last Sunday in Barcelona. I’m not going to talk about politics, but I just want to say that violence has always saddened me. I would never accept it as I have always defended dialogue. To have this dialogue you need two interlocutors willing to talk to each other, but there are fewer and fewer people who want to do so, and fewer people who want or know how to listen, therefore I don´t think we are going in the right direction. This is why reading ALEGRÍA again has given me serenity, perspective and calm. I think we could all use a little in our daily life, this week.

According to the authors, many of us miss out on the small moments of joy looking for happiness, and they are right, because we do have these joys, however small they are, but it’s possible that sometime we don’t value them as such, so we should make a list of these joys to overcome the sad feeling that sometimes embraces us in such an overwhelming way that we can´t even think. This is why I´d like to share with you my own little joys, they are just small things that make me smile, such as watching the sunrise by the sea with my friends or meditating listening the waves. The smile on my son´s face when he looks at me also makes me happy, so does the fact that my friends are family are able to achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams, however small they are… The list could be much longer I assure you, since sometimes a stranger´s smile can also create joy. Since I´ve read the book, I think I have enjoyed these moments much more. I have been doing some of the exercises that the authors propose, thus turning the book into a small treasure that helps me getting up every morning with the conviction that there will be sad moments, but that I must know how to manage them because sadness is part of our emotions and we can learn to fight it and even to live with it, always with a smile which will open other horizons, because we must always look further and move forward.

Congratulations to Álex and Francesc for once again being a terrific duo with the ability of making us feel optimistic even in challenging moments, and of helping us to cultivate JOY. So thank you for a book like this, now and always.

This Tuesday was the presentation of the book EL HOMBRE MÁS RICO DEL MUNDO (The Richest Man in the World) by Rafael Vídac, author of the agency since not too long ago, and therefore I was thrilled to go to his premiere; to his debut, for which I’ve done my bit to help. And the truth is that I was pleasantly surprised with the number of people Rafael was able to summon, we all know that presentations are difficult right now and filling a room is difficult, but almost finishing with all the books in the bookstore that same day, is almost more difficult, and the stand in Casa del Libro was starting to empty. All his followers were there unconditionally, and maybe they bought more than one because this is one of those novels that are perfect to give as a gift to someone who wants to exceed, who gets excited, who feels.

So the beginning was really extraordinary. The truth is that the book is worth it, prefaced by Álex Rovira, it’s an “inspirational” book from which -when I was reading it- I couldn’t stop underlining sentences, and I say that I wasn’t the only one, because one person who was there confessed. People are very emotional creatures, and if we’re not alright emotionally, everything else doesn’t work. That I’ve been sure about for quite a while, but my question is always the same. What should I do so my emotional deposit doesn’t empty out? Rafael gave us a lot of clues in his speech, and reading this good novel you start a path next to the characters, from who, without wanting to, you learn how to apply a “good” philosophy to your daily life. Nicolás, the main character, could be any of us, because he’s lost his job in the middle of the worst crisis in his life, but he gets an unbelievable offer that nobody has given him before: to work for the powerful business group owned by Daniel Weelock, one of the richest people on the planet. Nevertheless, he’ll have to get over a strange personal preparation process  first, with the eccentric and charismatic billionaire. Throughout a long unpredictable trip that he’ll never forget, Nicolas will transform his body, will heal his forgotten wounds from the past and will start to be aware of the true potential in his own mind. Everything will change forever. Daniel is a lighthouse for Nicolas who will make him see, what he refused to see or couldn’t recognize.

To me, richness, in the shape of money, has never been what moved me in life. We have to make money to live, because the capitalist society has been built this way, but being truly rich means something else to me. I’m really rich when I feel fully happy, and I’m content with what I do. And to me the lottery I won with my family, is unbeatable, and being able to work with them in something that I love, books. There are always moments in which that emotional warehouse is low, because human beings are almost never sure that everything is going well.  It happens to me often, and when one thing doesn’t go wrong, it’s the other, and it’s complicated to know how to handle these emotions and balance them, it’s part of the learning experience in life, the same way you have to take care of yourself so your emotional strength doesn’t go down.

Being The Richest Man or Woman in the World is only up to you and of knowing how to answer one question: WHAT DO I WANT IN MY LIFE? Check and you’ll see that maybe a lot of you don’t know the answer. Reading this novel will certainly help you, and it will help you achieve a goal and take control of the gears in your life. We all can do it, we just have to try.