Competitive people

Am I a competitive person? Some people say so, and eventhough sometimes i think the same, i wouldnt use the term “competitive” to describe one part of my personality but more “self improvement feeling”.

I do like to strength my weakness, to get better day by day in every possible aspect of my life. When i am with other people, i see in them things i think i lack of and the feeling of “if he/she can do it, why not me too?” comes up naturally. This is not just talking about sports or doing stuff like cooking or playing, but also in other levels.

If i am around a person who is very extroverted and like his attitude towards life, i want to get some of that, improve that part of me to become more like the other person, and then make it part of me in my own way.

That’s how i’ve became the way i am today. I have become along the years a much more spontaneous, active and extroverted person than i was before. And i think it’s good.

If i see something in a person that i like and that maybe i dont have, i take it and make it part of me. At the same time if i see something i dont like about a person and realise i am the same way, i try to get rid of it. I guess that the way it goes is something like this:

-Hey, i like/hate the way he/she does this or that

-Am I like that? Could i be like that? Would i like to be like that? what can i do to make things the way i would like them to be?

I know it sound very much like programming conditions, but i believe that in a subconcious level, we all make these sort of yes/no self-questions to choose in daily situations. People just havent really stopped to think and written down how their decission making system works.

Its obvious that if you like a person, the personality, the attitude… you spend more time together and at the end, both people tend to act alike, because they have both “improved” themselves taking and leaving the things they liked and disliked from each other.

So, am I competitive? somewhat. But its my aim to be better. A competition with myself between the person i am today and the person i want to be tomorrow.

August Postcards

The month is about to finish and I feel September already waiting to get started. I havent done much, or at least it hasnt felt like it. I have travelled a bit and sent a few postcards to people, which is always good. Writing postcards is a great thing people have stopped doing because of internet chats, sms and mostly emails.

Someone told me once that reading an email from someone is good, but its much better to receive a postcard. I totally agree with this, and so i try to write postcards to my friends whenever i’m away somewhere. Its a way to say “i’m thinking about you”, without having to buy expensive gifts or spending a lot of money. The postcard itself has a meaning whether it has a message or it’s just blank.

In these days where everyone is one sms away, no matter where you are in the world (as long as you have a good radio signal) a postcard means more than whatever it’s written. It means “i am taking some time to write you a few lines, because i appreciate you”, it means “i want to keep in contact and let you know where i am”, it means “i wish you were here with me now to share what i’m living”.

I think we should all practice more this great way of communication. Yes, it does take more time than an email, and sometimes you see the other person before the postcard, but as long as i know, nobody i’ve written a postcard to has ever told me to stop doing it. That must mean something…

As for me i LOVE to receive postcards, specially from places i havent been to yet. I am putting the ones i’ve received so far on the wall and i hope to get it all full of good memories from friends pretty soon. Full of thoghts and good vibes.

Lyrics

I was driving back to Madrid after a week to remember in barcelona and toulouse when i heard this song on the radio from a group called Velvet. I liked the lyrics, so here you go the whole video. Check it out.

Goal setting

I am in Toulouse at the min, spending a couple of days at my brother’s with my parents.

I will be stopping by in Barcelona this weekend before i go back to Madrid. The last day there, i set myself a goal. A short-term goal for now and which I will have to accoplish within a month from now.

I have read a lot of literature about how to set goals, and so far, what i have found to be the best way is a step by step procedure:

1-What do you want to get. Being as specific as possible

2-When do you want to get it. Set a date in the calendar.

3-Which will be the benefits/Why do I want to get the goal done

4-What are the inconviniences

5-What am I willing to give in return.

There is never such thing as something for nothing. If you want to get something in this life wether is something material or non physical, there will always be something one has to do that is not easy to get done. There is alays an effort to be done within every goal that is set, and for me, the reason why I set myself goals is purely for self-motivation purposes. To give an endline to my actions and to focus my efforts to accomplish whatever I decide to get done. Is not always easy and I have failed many times. To get to a goal, many factors have to be in the right place, not only setting the right goal or having the right motivation, but also the timing of the circumstances that sourround us.

I think the goal i have set to myself is affordable, the motivation is right and so is the timing.

We’ll see . I’ll tell you in a month.

A quiet sunday afternoon in Barcelona

Its 18h45 and im in Barcelona. There is a breeze running down the street that makes the courtain of the livingroom draw some waves on the hot air in this summer day.

Before I was 26 or so i had never come to Barcelona, and now i feel i come back every 3 or 4 months. Different reasons bring me here every time, and each time i leave, i wonder when will be the next time i come back. What will be the next reason to bring me here.

To be honest, I havent been here so many times. Maybe 6 or 8, i cant remember. But each time was so intense, so special, i can remember it as if it was yesterday.

Everytime i come to this city, i discover something new. I always find something interesting, visit new places and meet new people. I havent seen this city as others, following the “standard tourist procedure”: Go to an information stand, get a map of the place, draw a circle or a cross over the most interesting/important places of the city and see them as quick as possible. I know this might sound familiar to some of you.

With Barcelona its different. Im taking my time. Im giving myself the pleasure to discover and rediscover the city slowly. Doucement.

Every place I visit is unique in its own way. The importance of the place lays more in the person im with at that moment or the people I talk with. Everytime i walk around the city through places I’ve already been to, I get a flashback of when I was with this or that person. I stop for a split second and remember.

This city is getting drop by drop full of thoughts, moments and experiences. Those little drops are like a perfume I keep dearly. There is still a lot to come and everytime i walk in the streets, i hope the next drop will be as unique and different as the ones that came before.