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The richest beggar on earth

He looked like he was about to die. Great. A dying beggar in my room..

He was lying on his bed, looking like someone who won't see the dawn of the new day.

I felt sad for him. Very sad. But I also felt embarrassed when I caught myself thinking these kinds of thoughts.

These kinds of thoughts somehow pop up magically. All of a sudden. Out of the blue.

These thoughts when we see someone, put a label on that person and it stays there. Forever. No way out. Prison. For life.

But sometimes we change our minds because that person surprises us so much that it simply blows our minds.

And this is the story about how I had to change my mind. How my mind got blown away.

This is the story where I learned a very valuable lesson about myself. And life itself.

A lesson that might stick with me for the rest of my life. Maybe not. I really hope it will.

But now back to the story.

After a while I started talking to the old man.

He looked like he was 80+ years old. He looked like Santa Clause. Long beard. Long hair.

He actually looked like a very, very worn out version of Santa Claus. Probably 100kg less. And less nicer clothes. And less happier.

I don't know why, but I just started talking to him. Maybe I felt sorry for him. I don't know.

After talking for a while about this and that he told me he was from Denmark.

Wow, so he came all the way from Denmark to Poland for his last days.

But here's the thing I never ever expected.

He came all the way from Denmark to Poland.. BY BIKE!

Blew. My. Mind.

I actually just searched Google to see what the distance between Denmark and Warsaw is.

It's 1000+ km.

So here was this guy lying on his bed (it was a hostel in case you wonder why a strange guy was in my room), that I thought might not see the dawn of the new day. And he just did a 1000+ km bike trip.

Oh boy. I guess I've never been more wrong in my entire life than this time.

This guy. This guy that I thought won't be able to move anymore at all, was probably in a better shape than I am. Or ever was in my entire life. Or ever will be. 

And he wasn't just telling a story.

I saw his bike.

And one day I saw him riding his bike in the middle of the city.

But it gets even crazier.

He does this trip every freaking year!

I have no clue how long this trip takes by bike. Maybe 4 weeks? Maybe one year? I have no clue. Maybe I'll do it one day. Just to know. Maybe not. Who knows?

But why the hell am I telling you all of this?

Because I had to think about this story the other day. I almost forgot about it.

The other day, someone wrote me an email.

It was from someone who attended two of my talks.

I didn't know that person.

Unfortunately that person didn't think very well of me.

This person thought that I was a selfish, a self loving, egoistic person that has no clue about life.

To put it short: this person thought I was a complete asshole.

Maybe that's true.

But luckily, I was given another chance (without even noticing that I messed up the first two times).

I held another talk where she was in the audience. Again. The third time.

Wow, if I think about it. Listening to me talk three times must be very painful.

I would probably hate me as well. And think that I'm the world's biggest ass. I can in fact be pretty annoying.

Surprisingly, this person somehow decided to remove the label.

The label she put on me a while ago. The label that was destined to stay there. Forever.

And then she wrote me an email about it.

She told me how much she didn't like me.

And how I magically made her change her mind.

All of this made me think of this old Danish guy again and the lesson he taught me.

The thing is that I tend to forget life's biggest lessons very easily.

Or try to blend them out. Or try to ignore them. Or try to not even pay attention to them at all. I really don't know why I do this. Maybe it makes my life easier. Maybe not. Probably not. Anyways.

Thank you for that email.

And thank you for reminding me of this valuable lesson.

Thank you for reminding me that everyone deserves a second chance.

And if they're really, really lucky they might even deserve a third chance..

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