As we wandered through a large bookstore in our city, we came across the table of practical guides and found books for all needs: how to be happy, how to be unhappy, how to laugh, how to be healthy, how to be famous, how to put on weight, how to lose weight ... and we realized that there was no guide to the emergence of the moment: the first week of classes.

Damn it dear reader!

We ran to the nearest terrace to write our tips. 

Guide for parents. 

The kids want that backpack, that computer and a new smartphone.

Take a deep breath.

My wife is asking me all the time if I have dealt with the pass, the enrollment at the language centre and at the pool.

Take a deep breath.

My son's class is the worst in the school. The kid cries and says he doesn't want to go there.

Take a deep breath.

My boss has noticed that I arrive constantly late. I still can't organize myself with the kids' school schedule. 

Take a deep breath!

Guide for students.

I hate this class. 

I want a phone like John's.

I shouldn't have let my mom buy me this horrible bag in the hypermarket.

Will I have to put up with this teacher all year long? How boring!

The food in the school cafeteria is horrible! Now I have to go eat hamburgers and sweets. 

Dear student, don't make a fool of yourself. Life is fantastic. Study!

Guide for teachers

My schedule is terrible.

I have to teach at two different schools and I have a 15-minutes break to get there.

I am in charge of a class, responsible for a project, member of a committee and various work teams.

My students must hate me, because I will not let them do what they want.

My department colleagues look at me weirdly as I suggest some innovations to use in the classroom.

Dear teacher, smile. The world is in your hands. Teach your students to live, to be free and critical citizens. Everything else will come in addition. Be happy! Only this will make your students happy!

PS. All of these tips are free. In short, take a deep breath, relativize your problems, smile and live.

Note: Watch the video below if you want to know the neurological processes associated with stress.

How to stay calm when you know you'll be stressed | Daniel Levitin

by influenciadores | work in progress

I reach the meeting point, the usual hotel, with a smile on my face... we haven't seen each other in 15 days. I miss  the touch of the skin, the warm kiss.

I see her and smile. I'm tired, I had just been with Madalena. Today she was blind with passion. I'm going to invite Maria for a drink at the hotel bar, so I take a deep breath in. Isn't that weird? But I need some time to compose myself.

He kisses me and, strangely, invites me over for a drink. I was surprised, but disguised it. I say yes, but thoughts take over me... what will he have to tell me?

I see her, I feel her apprehensive, what is going through her head? Possibly the fact that we have the time counted. I hug her tenderly and direct her to the bar.

Dear Reader, this is a story that is certainly familiar to you, as it describes the secret life of many Marias and many Carlos.

The taste of conquer has already led him to intimacy with many women. Maria was seduced by the moves, first timid, then spicy, of Carlos, who she met on Facebook. At home, both have their spouses and children waiting for them.

They do not want to endanger their home, their family, but the taste of conquer, the illusion created by the ephemeral pleasure of a few hours, in which they surrender without thinking about anything else, completely overwhelms them.

Why does this happen, dear reader?

Due to fading marriages, relationships that become hollow ... or is it because of a society that sells us "the lovers"? On dating sites, in luxury motels, willing to reproduce stereotypes, mimicking the love and futile life of celebrities.

Although we complain, we have never had so many material possessions, which we accumulate unnecessarily, tryingto fill in the blanks of our lives.

What is missing, dear reader?

Dissatisfaction leads us to seek... incessantly. That is why, many times, we focus on the other, because it spices up our lives. 

The seduction process was trivialized with the boom in mobile communications and the advent of virtual messaging. We write the things that we would never have the courage to say face to face. Flirting with sms, with emojis, exchanging photos... it's what we call sexting. It's the result of the impact of social networks.

You are certainly smiling, dear friend, because this is a practice that, think well, is not unfamiliar to you.

These secret lives, because of their danger, give meaning to life, due to the pleasure, the risk, the desire, in the incessant pursuit of what we lack, which is nothing! That's why they also take the meaning out of our lives.

Contradictory, yes, dear reader.

PS. Maria and Carlos went up to the hotel room. They both knew it was the last time. In the list, they already have other probable Lovers. Both knew it. The cycle has restarted.

by influenciadores | work in progress