THE TWENTY-TWO LIFE CHANGING THOUGHTS
By Leonardo Contreras

Copyright © 2021 by Leonardo Contreras. All rights reserved.

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Leonardo Contreras
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Author:
Leonardo Contreras

Date Written:
11/21/21

INTRODUCTION

The first days in the hospital were complicated and confusing because mentally and emotionally I was in bad shape due to severe pneumonia. Emotionally, I am grateful to all the people who cared and prayed for me, I trust that their prayers interceded beyond this world to save my life. I thank God and the universe for divinely aligning everything along the way for my salvation and recovery. I share great admiration and gratitude to the hospital for having the appropriate staff, all the equipment and medications necessary and available to attend to my situation. I am grateful to the doctors, the nurses and all the people who gave me their help and wisdom from the hospital staff team. They treated me with an attention that I recognize was beyond their jobs and made me feel protected and safe, they gave me exemplary care and thanks to their efforts I was able to recover, and they saved my life. On the third day I received the first sign of relief when I received a different and beautiful sigh in my chest, this was around 5 and 6 in the afternoon, something happened after this sigh, and I began to breathe more normally, I was able to move and got out of bed for the first time, cleaned my body and was able to eat normally. In the next three days I felt improvement and I began to recover, actually the first three days in the hospital I did not have much consciousness and even as I tried, I could not even think, it was something very strange that I had never felt any other time. It is there when I begin to recover that I am able to think again, and it is there that I reflect on the trajectory of my life. Upon returning home I was filled with joy and rested with my family peacefully. The next day I felt a spiritual connection with God and the universe, and with humility and simplicity I confess that the thoughts that I wrote, I elaborated without having to think anything, I simply wrote them, it was part of destiny to live these moments in order to share my lived thoughts of a life up to my 40s, all written in a passage that happened in a moment. Between dusk of 11/20/21 and dawn of 11/21/21 I finished writing the twenty-two thoughts and details for this mini-series book. I thank you with all my heart for taking the time to read my thoughts and I respect all opinions related to these thoughts.

Respectfully,

Leonardo Contreras

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN SPANISH TO BE TRANSLATED INTO VARIOUS LANGUAGES

In adverse and complicated moments, I was seriously hospitalized for pneumonia, reality came to me and among all the confusion of feelings, seeing myself with the possibility of being able to die or live, I reflected on the trajectory of my life. I decided to write my thoughts for myself and to share with the whole world. I humbly wrote the following twenty-two thoughts with the intention of being able to value myself and others. For the acceptance of my realities and to find internal peace. I will continue my studies in the area of psychology to later be prepared, to write studies with deep elaboration of each of the following twenty-two thoughts.

Firstly,

Thought 1
It is necessary to know how to speak with quality and clarity, and to know how to be patient to be able to listen clearly and understand what they speak to us.

Thought 2
Accept the past, respect that the future is uncertain and insecure, learn to forgive and be forgiven, we are human and not perfect, we were created in the image of the creator but we are not God, we have the capacity to think freely with an unlimited mind capable to think and decide to do good or bad, accept that we all have the potential to make a mistake, and that we are not controllers of destiny, so things can be done or not, and you will have to have faith and trust in God that this was the way it was meant to be, and you will respect what is as it is, as you have no control over such things.

Thought 3
Be fair and consent at all times and in all decisions, treat everyone as you would like to be treated, do not take advantage of anyone, or allow anyone to take advantage of you, be firm in your decisions and values, do not belittle yourself or stoop at any time to anything that you know is not good for your person, remember not to mistake ignorance for stupidity, that ignorance has a cure, it is remedied with wisdom, handle your person in the best possible way with education, preparation , principles, discipline and consistency, and fulfill your obligations and commitments.

Thought 4
Be respectful, principled, and affectionate towards everyone and let yourself be loved by those who give you their affection, and likewise learn to know how to show them your affection.

Thought 5
Learn to carry healthy, simple, and common talks with everyone, be limited with your words and opinions since it is not necessary to have to talk more, or less, nor is it good to try to impress, or to look good with anyone.

Thought 6
Preserve your opinions, thoughts, beliefs, values, visions, aspirations, experiences, creativity, wisdom, and advice with all people, since not everyone wants to listen to you, nor do they seek something from you, nor need anything from you, simply if they don't ask for your opinion, don't give it.

Thought 7
If someone asks for your opinion, first measure the weight and seriousness of the commitment that you are about to speak, that your words will affect surely and you will have to live with the result, behind an action, you will always have a reaction, and you should be careful with this.

Thought 8
Sharing whatever kind of opinion, could open the door to be personally judged, do not allow that by speaking a few words on your part, you open the door for someone to define you to a type of character or type of person, I assure you, they will measure you and compare you to their personal expectations, and rate the quality of your person at the criteria of their own person, their way of being and living, and this is not the best at any time.

Thought 9
Shut up and listen, respond with prudence, respect, and simplicity, carry the talk without cons, since it will not be worth complicating yourself with things that are not for you to begin with, and if they are for you, learn to be prepared to respectfully and intelligently defend yourself, as long as you are in the context of reason, if it’s not then its best to avoid conflict.

Thought 10
Simply if your person is pleasant to someone and your sincere and respectful friendship is accepted by that person, this will be all that is necessary to grow a healthy and sincere relationship, and you will be able to maintain a long friendship.

Thought 11
When someone asks for your opinion, primarily give quality opinions, with calculated thinking, clear and prudent words well thought out, if you are not sure of what you are about to talk, sometimes it is better not to say anything, do not speak just to speak neither well, neither bad, nor of anything, nor of anybody, that this could cause to be evaluated as a person who judges and criticizes.

Thought 12
Make of your friends sincere and lasting relationships, do not get involved in other people's things, rather do not get involved in anything, nor of anyone, do not talk about your ambitions or achievements, your regrets or situations, or your business, or your income, or your projects, forget about your problems, and keep a healthy margin of words all the time.

Thought 13
Do not lend your money, nor enter into deals or businesses with friends, since things do not always go by expectation, and it will be more favorable to maintain a friendship between anything else.

Thought 14
If you feel the need to open your heart and mind with someone to find internal peace, be careful and prudent when choosing with whom you are going to share your thoughts, you must be sure that this person sincerely appreciates you and respects you, with whom you feel the security that they will know how to listen and understand you, and that their opinions and advice you know will help you with your situation, and always make of these talks a commitment of privacy, since what is spoken should never be known by any other person.

Thought 15
Do not confuse dreams with realities, everyone can speak with inspiration but very few can do what they speak, nor can they actually carry out an inspiration into a reality, since nothing is easy and everything requires a lot of effort and discipline, something that not everyone has.

Thought 16
Remember that dreams and visions are always going to be the most difficult obstacles to conquer, but do not forget that all the things that exist in this world were created from the vision of someone, so never stop dreaming and creating, do not stop looking for what you are looking for and try to find balance and stability in every aspect of your life, smile at life, be grateful to God and the universe that you have life and provide us with what we need, and live happily in every moment.

Thought 17
There are people who do not know about business, who are not professionals or specialists in any field, so be careful with whom you make deals, since a business inconvenience could affect your personal relationship with someone, opening the possibility of losing that friendship forever.

Thought 18
Remember that everyone wants to win, they accept to win but not everyone knows how to lose or knows how to accept a loss, and sometimes losing is winning, only that time is necessary to be able to heal and reflect on the path traveled in the past, by accepting your realities whatever they may be, you will clearly see the reasons and motives as to why that bad streak, or grief, or problem, or loss, or even something good that happened, was necessary to be where you are at this moment.

Thought 19
The march of time is necessary to see your steps and to see where you aspire and are headed, to reflect on your past decisions, and to be able to see the strengths of your relationships with the people closest to you, whom you respect, admire and love, and it is necessary to qualify yourself, evaluate yourself to see if your words, commitments and obligations have been fulfilled, try not to make the same mistakes and you must know how to learn from all your good and bad experiences, that these are the ones that will form you as a person.

Thought 20
Do not make someone waste their time unnecessarily, you well know that time is the most valuable thing for everyone, in the same way do not allow anyone to take your time, or make you waste your time, or your moment, since life is short, and you only live once.

Thought 21
Accept that in reality time does not exist, it is used as a way to collect moments that one lives in this life, it is to write the things that happen and the things that other people live, the future is uncertain and it does not exist only until it happens, so do not exhaust your life trying to understand what should not be known, one only lives in a moment at all times, and as long as you are breathing you are alive and you must be grateful that you have life.

Thought 22
It is impossible to know everything, although what one knows may be all that another needs to solve an impossibility.

— Leonardo Contreras

Notes:

Each thought has the potential to be broken down into individual sections, these would be the phrases and words that collectively make each thought, containing small pieces of extremely important content to open large topics and conversations with our esteemed psychologists. Being able to study the disaggregated content of each thought in conference with different psychologists would be ideal to see the different points of view of each psychologist towards a particular thought. Each section would be interpreted personally from the point of view of the interviewed psychologist, I would do the interview, would let the psychologist read the thought under discussion, and then listen to their interpretation of it. The psychologist will speak and relate their opinions and comments on each section of the thought. At the end, I would add an additional comment in review of what was spoken after each interpretation of the phycologist.