THE PASSING YEAR, THE NOW THAT REMAINS

“The present is the stage where all possibilities become real; it holds the key to who we are, before we become what we dream to be.” – Marcello de Souza

We are beginning the month of December 2024, with the new year just around the corner. A perfect moment to reevaluate the paths we’ve chosen, the decisions we’ve made, and, above all, the way we’re living. It’s not about waiting for the future to arrive, but understanding that everything happens now, in this very moment.

Therefore, I invite you to reflect: Life unfolds while we lose ourselves in the endless pursuit of our plans. A simple phrase, yet one with a profound and transformative truth. Often, we are so immersed in what we want to achieve that we forget to live what is already before us: the present. The now.

The Value of Now: The Present as the Scene of Life

We spend a lifetime projecting, chasing a purpose, designing an idealized future. However, we often forget that the purest essence of existence doesn’t reside only in what we plan, but in what happens in the unpredictable realm of the present, where the real reveals itself.

“Life doesn’t happen tomorrow, nor in what has already passed. It unfolds in the present moment, where we are challenged to be, to do, and to live.” – Marcello de Souza

We are often swallowed by the whirlwind of life, by the great waves of events that seem to define our destiny, like relentless tides that pull us along without asking for permission. And, while we let ourselves be carried away, we forget to notice the stillness of the present, which is already rich in its entirety, full of moments capable of transforming everything.

Making plans is necessary. Having a purpose is the fuel that drives our steps. But it’s crucial to remember: life doesn’t wait for our projects. It happens with every breath, in the spaces between what we imagine and what truly unfolds. It resides in the unexpected, in the unplanned choice, in the surprise that destiny offers us when we least expect it.

There are moments when the boundaries between the grand and the trivial fade, like a veil dissolving, revealing that what once seemed distant and unattainable begins to become part of our everyday story. The story of the world, the story of the nation, the story of society—all of this intertwines with the personal dramas of our lives, bringing up issues we sometimes avoid confronting.

It’s not the grand historical events that truly define us, but the subtle and intrinsic way in which we choose to position ourselves in the face of them. In the unceasing surprises of life, where everything seems to unfold with the force of a whirlwind, there are fleeting, almost invisible moments when internal and external chaos intertwines delicately. And it is exactly in those silent pauses—in the almost imperceptible gaps between major events—that the true alchemy of transformation happens. Where were you during the last great turning point in your life? I’m not talking about the visible milestone, the great external change, but those rare and precious pauses, almost like the gasp of the universe, where everything silences for a second—and it’s in that vast empty space that life recreates itself.

These moments, fleeting like the breath of a breeze, are where your soul finally has the chance to reevaluate and perhaps redefine itself. What have you made of yourself in this interval of time, which, although it seems insignificant, carries the finite weight of life? It was there, in the temporal instant between a dream that fades and one that is born, between the safety of the plan and the fragility of the crisis, that you truly confronted your rawest essence. In this moment, it becomes clear that it is not the grand victories, the likes, nor the applause that shape our souls, but rather the way we respond to the unforeseen, the unexpected, the fragility of being human.

“The true voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

Did you allow yourself the vulnerability to breathe deeply, to simply be, without rushing to rebuild yourself? Or did you hastily, almost desperately, try to fill the void with temporary solutions, ignoring the profound serenity that resides in the present moment? Every great turn in our existence is not, in fact, a breaking point, but rather a unique opportunity to reconnect with our truest and deepest nature, to look inward and find, there, in the most subtle recesses of the soul, the true transformation.

So, take a pause. Again, I invite you to think about this very moment, with all the depth of your soul: how did you respond to the last great turn in your life? What did you make of yourself at the moment when the world seemed to fall apart, and the only possible comfort lay in the radical acceptance of the present moment, exactly as it is? For believe me, it is in this space, between one dream and the next, between one plan and a crisis, between certainty and doubt, that life reveals to us the purest truth of who we are. And when we can look at that moment with the eyes of someone who understands the magnitude of their own journey, it is there, and only there, that true transformation unfolds before us.

Perhaps, like all of us, you have experienced moments of profound discomfort, when the world seemed to conspire against your inner peace. And it is in those moments of crisis, pain, and uncertainty that true transformations occur. What I want you to understand is that it’s not the scars that remain, but the lessons that emerge, shaping who we are, while the world, indifferent, continues its march.

Life, then, is not just about plans and more plans. It expands and overflows in the interstices, in the invisible spaces between major events, in the tragedies that tear us apart, in the explosions of joy that lift us from the ground, just as in the disillusionments and disappointments that teach us the depth of our being. It manifests in the minutiae of everyday life, in the simple gestures we often overlook, but also in the actions that, due to their complexity, cause us fear and hesitation. It is there, in this commotion of emotions and experiences, that the true essence of life reveals itself.

It Unfolds in What We Feel in Our Hearts When We Observe What Happens in the World, or When We Dive into the Deeper Layers of Ourselves, Those We Fear and At the Same Time Long to Understand.

These discreet, almost imperceptible moments in their beauty are where, in fact, the greatest transformations reside. This is because these experiences touch us in an immutable way, shaping our soul with a delicacy that transcends time and space. They reshape us, without us even noticing, and often lead us, without choice, to a new level of understanding about ourselves and the world.

Lessons from the Past: Transforming Mistakes into Bridges

“Between the plans we make and the dreams that still escape us, life unfolds, silently, in the small choices, in the pauses we ignore.” – Marcello de Souza

Although the world is in constant transformation and the news seems to drown us in a sea of uncertainties, the secret lies in how we choose to navigate through it all. We may lose much, but we must never lose our ability to be present in what really matters: our essence and everything we can do for it, with each new dawn.

Sartre left us his famous phrase, “Existence precedes essence.” Sartre’s philosophy suggests that we are defined by our choices and actions in the present moment, and that our essence is not something fixed or predetermined, but something that is constantly being built through how we live. In other words, it is in the present that our life unfolds, and it is through our choices and actions now that we truly become who we are. The connection between the end of the year and the beginning of a new cycle brings the idea of a “new beginning,” always possible, with each passing moment.

Yes, it is possible that, at the end of another year, many may feel guilty or defeated for procrastinating, for letting life follow its course without taking the reins. Perhaps you feel this way, thinking that you could have done more, dedicated more, lived more fully and happily. And sometimes, the feeling of failure weighs even more when we realize we made selfish or misguided decisions, perhaps because we didn’t know how to deal with our own desires, insecurities, or the voice of the ego or our shadows.

What we need to learn, however, is that life is made of choices, and every choice carries some type of gain. No one consciously chooses to regress, suffer, lose, or shrink. On the contrary, we seek, even unconsciously, what we believe to be best for us at that moment, with the resources and understanding we had available.

Just as we have difficulty understanding that after choice comes action, and after action comes the result. When the result does not match our expectations, it is natural to seek justifications and answers. But see, this process of review and analysis is only possible because something has been learned, because time has allowed us to see other possibilities that were not clear before. This is where the true magic of life resides: it is a continuous learning process, and even mistakes help us grow and move forward.

As the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard said, “Life can only be understood looking backward; but it must be lived looking forward.” Therefore, embrace and learn from the choices that didn’t work out. They represented the best decision you could have made, with the resources and understanding you had at that time. Nothing could have been different from what it was, after all, if you’ve made it this far, you must have realized that life does not follow a linear logic of intention, action, and result. There is something in it that transcends our control, what Epictetus called “chance.”

For Epictetus, “chance” is not synonymous with luck or random fate. It is the understanding that, no matter how much you plan and prepare, there are forces beyond our ability to control. He teaches us that, instead of resisting the unpredictable, we must accept and learn from what happens without our direct intervention, and it is in this process that the greatest lessons of life are often revealed.

Therefore, what truly matters in our story are not the mistakes or successes themselves, but the lessons we manage to extract, turning them into bridges for the future, and not anchors that imprison us to the past.

Life, after all, is not about the absence of failures, but about how we use every experience — good or bad — to shape the path we walk. It is this constant learning that transforms us and leads us to a more authentic and meaningful existence.

Building the Future: Transformation Starts Now

The indisputable truth is that life does not wait for our plans. With every passing second, it is an irreplaceable second, lost in the immensity of what has already been and will never be again. It unfolds while we look fixedly at the future, but it is in the exact now that it truly happens. True transformation does not arise when we imagine what will be, but when we accept, with humility and depth, what is. When we can live the present moment in its entirety, without rushing to move beyond, it is in that instant that life reveals itself – exactly as it should be.

Life is not made of exaggerated optimism, positive thinking, or the law of attraction, as we are often led to believe. This incessant search for happiness, this need to see everything from a constantly positive potential perspective, can actually be harmful. In a world where we are constantly bombarded with promises of perfection, we become prisoners of the ego and the toxicity of “having to be happy at all costs.” We are led to ignore the reality of challenges, difficulties, and the imperfection that are, in fact, essential parts of our journey. What truly builds life is not the frantic pursuit of an idealized future, but the willingness to accept and act in the face of the challenges of the now.

It is in the present that we find what really matters — the moments of failure, of defeat, of learning. True transformation does not come from forcing a state of happiness or success. It comes from honestly facing reality and accepting that each experience, good or bad, is part of a cycle that pushes us toward something deeper, something truer.
As another year approaches its end, we are reminded of how quickly time slips away. The year is leaving, and with it, moments that will never return. What have we done with them? How much have we truly lived in the now, and not just projected ourselves into what is to come? What lessons have we been able to extract from this year that is ending, to help us live the next one with more presence and truth? The answer, once again, lies in the present. In this moment, and only in it, can we transform and begin anew, if we so wish.

Finally,

If you’ve made it this far, I invite you to reflect: what does the present really mean to you? In a world where haste is the norm and the future constantly calls to us, how can we anchor ourselves in the now? Time is running, and life doesn’t wait. It’s not enough to just plan or wait for the ‘right moment’ — true change begins with what we do now. The end of the year, often seen as a milestone of celebrations and promises, is, in fact, a subtle and powerful invitation to return to the essentials: the being, not the doing.

We are closing a cycle, a year that ends with its lessons, victories, and losses, but also with a unique opportunity to reflect on what truly matters. The end of the year is not just the turning of a page on the calendar, but a mirror that reflects what we can be if we know how to look within with honesty.

The temptation to project our hopes into the future is constant. We promise ourselves change, but most of the time, we fall into the trap of postponing the now. The present is the only moment we truly have. It offers us the chance to change, to rescue the noblest part of ourselves — our humanity in its purest form. The end of the year calls us not to reflect on what we have passed through, but on who we are becoming.

Don’t fall again into the illusion that true transformation will come from a distant future. The future starts now, and true change lies in the choices we make, moment by moment, in the now. The greatest challenge is to stop waiting for the perfection of tomorrow and start living with more intensity, more authenticity, more presence.

To be intense doesn’t mean to live in frenzy or exaggeration, but to be fully immersed in what truly matters. To look around us with a deeper gaze, more attentive, more conscious. We live in times when fear, selfishness, and sameness seem to dominate, but the end of the year is a reminder of what we truly need: a rescue of humanism, the true essence of being human.

Passivity imprisons us, but in the present, we have the freedom to act, to rethink our choices, and to reframe them. What are we creating with what we have now? Are we just letting life drag us along, or are we shaping the path we want to follow? Every step is an opportunity to rescue something profoundly human within us.

Just as life is not linear, it challenges us, teaches us, and often knocks us down. What matters are not the victories or defeats, but how we deal with them. Constant learning, the evolution of our being, is what makes us truly human.

The end of the year is about love. Love, in its purest form, sustains us — love for ourselves, for our capacity to evolve, but also love for the other, for relationships. This love reminds us that despite difficulties and challenges, we are not alone; we are systemically connected.

Therefore, having arrived here, understand that the end of the year, far from being just a milestone of parties and empty promises, is a moment of return to the essential, to our sacred, to the ‘Human Being’ in its true essence. The transformation we seek doesn’t come from grand events, but from the simple act of living with more authenticity, more awareness, and more love.

And, more than any promise, the end of the year invites us to agape love, to forgiveness, to respect, but above all, to the recognition of our deep humanity. It challenges us to look at the other and ourselves with more empathy, understanding that true transformation comes from acceptance, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

This is the moment to look courageously at our own feelings, to question the way we have been living, and to make a clear decision: will we continue the same way or will we choose to change now? The end of the year should not be a reflection of what we want in the future, but a portrait of what we already are in the present, and how we have chosen to live until now.

The end of yet another cycle on the calendar is not just the mark of a new year, but an invitation to open our eyes to what we already have before us: the now. Every second spent projecting the future pulls us further from the present moment. Don’t wait for an idealized tomorrow to take the reins of your life. True change happens when we stop postponing the now.

The end of the year, then, is much more than a reflection of what has passed. It is a mirror that reflects the opportunity for rebirth within us, the chance to reassess our choices and make peace with who we are. It’s not about being perfect, but about being whole, in all our human complexity.

Now is the moment. The future begins in the now. True revolution starts within you, and in this cycle that is beginning, you have the chance to live in the fullness of your being. Because life is made of moments, and it is in the now that it reveals itself.

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