I followed what I would call a successful path in my career — at least according to what I once expected from life.
Years ago, I dreamed of and embraced a military career (Brazilian Police Officer). After 33 years of service, I eventually reached the highest rank in that journey: Colonel.
And that’s when the real question begins.
But when I finally arrived at what had once been the ultimate goal, a question began to echo in my mind: Now what?
In midlife, I refused to accept the idea that a long journey had simply come to an end — that the only thing left was to grow older and wait for time to pass while enjoying the remaining days of life.
After some reflection, I realized that the pages already written in my life could open space for new chapters — chapters built on experience, lessons learned, and above all, maturity.
So I decided to close those chapters of battles and struggles and open new ones.
I retired from the military and began a new journey in the corporate world, where I took on an interesting role and new challenges.
In many ways, I can say that I was successful in what I did. I consider myself fortunate to continue moving forward on a new path.
But I also realized that something was still missing: understanding what it truly means to live a well-lived life.
What does a well-lived life actually mean?
During my career, I had a stable salary, security, and the ability to support my family. Today I have new sources of income and new perspectives.
But is that what “living well” really means?
At some point in life, these things — although still important — stop being the only questions that matter. Thoughts about purpose, happiness, and health begin to speak louder.
When success arrives, another question often begins to appear:
what is the real meaning of life?
So here is the provocation: are money and success everything in life?
Looking honestly at my own life, I realize that if I cannot answer a deeper question — perhaps the only one that truly matters — then maybe I cannot fully say that I succeeded.
Did I live well?
We wake up early, we cultivate discipline, commitment, and responsibility. But in the end, how was my life actually lived?
And perhaps the more important question:
How are we living right now?
At some stage of life — often after reaching stability, raising children, and building a career — we find ourselves face to face with this question.
Perhaps the answer lies in what we added to life along the way.
Did we help others?
Did we participate in something meaningful?
Did we add value to our own existence?
Or did we simply move from one day to the next — receiving salaries, paying bills, eating, taking vacations, and waiting for the weekends to arrive?
Does life become a weekly race toward Friday evening, or is there something deeper within the routine?
What does it take to live well?
These reflections are natural and understandable, especially when we begin to lose the sense of meaning in the life we are living.
As I reflect on all of this, one question continues to guide me:
What do I want from this point forward?
With each passing day, I find myself thinking about this more carefully and reaffirming new directions.
And you?
Do you see meaning in your life?
Or are the days simply passing by?
If these questions feel unnecessary to you, that’s wonderful. I’m genuinely happy for you.
But if they resonate, then perhaps they deserve your attention.
Until proven otherwise, life — at least in this form — is finite. And perhaps the best we can do is try to live it with the greatest possible quality: with happiness.
Maybe we followed the dreams of our parents, the advice of friends and relatives. But the real question remains:
Are we truly happy?
How many talents have been wasted?
How much life has been left unlined?
The good news is that there is still time not to become part of those statistics.
So if I could offer one piece of advice — and if it might help redefine your life — it would be this:
Listen to your heart. Listen to your inner voice. Listen to what your soul has been trying to tell you.
Is there still time?
Of course there is.
Life is made of cycles, and every moment holds the possibility of a new beginning.
Even though life unfolds within communities, careers, and relationships, every success and every ending ultimately belongs to one single life: yours.
And that life is yours until your final breath.
Sometimes we live lives that never truly flowed — lives filled with struggles and obstacles. But I like to think that:
life is like a river, always moving toward the ocean.
When we allow it to flow — when we follow what connects us to our true self — life moves naturally.
But when we resist, trying to live a life that is not truly ours, something inside begins to tighten. And eventually we realize that we have been swimming against the current.
So one final piece of advice: listen to your heart.
Choose the life you truly want.
Want to dance? Then dance. Want to be an artist? Then be one.
In the end, follow your own path.
CHANGE DOES NOT NEED TO HAPPEN ALL AT ONCE. SOMETIMES IT BEGINS QUIETLY — LIKE A SMALL CRACK IN A DAM THAT SLOWLY GROWS UNTIL THE WATER FINALLY BREAKS THROUGH.
And one day you may suddenly realize that you are finally living well.
Success builds a career. But only a well-lived life builds meaning. And sometimes the second journey begins precisely when the first one ends.
The world changes when you change.
