The festive season is a complicated one. We really tend to see things through a magnifying glass:
- Your bucket list seems longer, so does your list of bills to pay;
- Countries still fight each other in meaningless wars, so do you and your spouses;
- You are hopeless because some of your dreams didn’t come true while other dreams will never come true;
- You feel ugly because your wallet got skinnier and your waistline got fatter;
- You feel old because your hairline has receded or you can’t keep up pulling out all the white hair you see in the mirror;
- You are frustrated because you didn’t get a better job or a bigger house or that limited edition Ferrari.
And the list goes on and on…
Then you get a day like yesterday: Thursday, December 27th.
If you were in Miami and not too busy with your magnifying glass you may have noticed how gorgeous the day was. The sun was shinning, not too cold and not too hot, just nice and warm. The blue sky and the blue water of the bay were even bluer.
The beauty of Thursday transported me back many years ago. It was the holidays, just like now.
I guess back then I was too young to see the sad things in life or I just didn’t have a magnifying glass.
However, the bad things, when you are younger, are of a different nature. It normally involves romantic entanglements.
But I will spare you the details and try to be brief.
The holidays were approaching and out of the blue skies my Prince Charming becomes an ugly toad and makes me feel like a post-Halloween pumpkin.
I had the option of spending the holidays crying and facing friends and family with explanations of the inexplicable. Instead I decided to invest a month’s salary and checked in to the fanciest hotel in town.
After all the pampering available I joined the hotel’s New Year’s party. Among happy strange people, including gorgeous men, I anonymously had one of the most fun times of my life… I will spare you the PG-13 details.
The next day, January 1st of a new year, I dreaded opening my eyes and facing reality.
But again, when you are young, fighting back also feels easier. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. I had forgotten the shades open. The sun was shining. The blue sky and the blue ocean were even bluer.
How can’t life be good and the future bright when a beautiful day welcomes you?
Booze and Coffee 
Right on. New Year’s in the tropics is so much more hopeful. Even when the sky is kind of grey, there are rays of light reminding you of what’s hiding just behind them.