By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

by Paulo Coelho

“If you have only two opportunities, learn how to turn them into twelve. When you have twelve they will multiply automatically. That is why Jesus says: ‘he who has a lot will have a lot more given. He who has little will have that little taken from him.’” “That is one of the harshest sentences in the Gospels. But I have noticed throughout my life that it is absolutely true. So how can we identify the opportunities?” “‘Pay attention to every moment, because the opportunity—the ‘magic moment’—is within our reach, although we always let it pass by because we feel guilty.’” “Pay attention to every moment, because the opportunity—the ‘magic moment’—is within our reach, although we always let it pass by because we feel guilty. So try not to waste your time blaming yourself; the universe will see to correcting you if you’re not worthy of what you’re doing.” “And how is the universe going to correct me?” “It won’t be through tragedies; these happen because they are part of life, and they should not be thought of as punishments. The universe generally shows us that we are wrong when it takes away what is most important to us: our friends.