It was a miserable day in Sao Paulo with rain being chucked down from the very grey clouds above. Night soon followed, but the heavy thunder storms kept hurling momentous outbursts of downpour onto the street below Malcolm’s 11th floor room; it looked like he was going to be stuck indoors all night!

After three hours of writing and playing backgammon online, answering emails and composing his own jargon for diverse personal activities he became impatient in his hotel room, so got dressed and took the elevator to the ground floor. Quite a few people had gathered around the reception and toward the dining area, but he wanted to go out. He loves walking and then stopping at a small culturally friendly place, or clean posh bar known as padaria. It’s a cross between a café, sandwich store, and bar, but most certainly not a pub although bottle beer and spirits are served. 

It was raining too strong to go out, and without an umbrella it just wasn’t going to happen. He hanged around in anticipation for ten minutes before there was a break in the weather. The heavy rain was reduced to drizzle momentarily when he decided to dart over the road to a padaria by rushing across, treading carefully to avoid the puddles on the uneven pavement and road surfaces. This one wasn’t a place he would normally hang out at; the food was greasy and it encouraged dirty workman who ended up later in the night getting drunk and disorderly. Well that was his assumption based on the appearance of the spot. 

As he got closer he saw a long oblong table below a street canopy, a kind of sunshade, surrounded by a large group of people, and he could distinguish the sound of an acoustic guitar and a man’s gentle voice. The bar was pretty full, but a few tables remained. Before sitting he checked out the joint to judge if the experience would be a worthwhile one, or to the opposite it would become a nightmare. Isn’t it strange how people often assume things before finding out for sure! 

It turned out to be rather hospitable, so he ordered a Serra Malte beer, a sturdy pilsner from the region, and a cheese tudo (all), every ingredient including thick oily burger, cheese, fried egg, bacon, lettuce, mayo, tomatoes, and bits and pieces. A table near the exit was vacant, so he sat close to the guitarist singing Brazilian love medleys in low voice while sipping a bottle of beer he hadn’t drank for a decade. It was a very cold and enjoyable occasion not on his list of to do during his trip, but a pleasant surprise.

A neat appetizing burger arrived and almost at the end of his 600ml bottled of beer it came out at just about the perfect time; his stomach was rumbling from hunger. It was cut in half and the first part was guided soberly into his mouth. He tried to eat slowly to savor each mouthful and not end up ordering another from rushing the first; his mother had always told him to chew slowly so food digests, which is better then simply filling one up for partial satisfaction. He managed to control his urges, but as soon as he finished ordered another beer to seal the empty spaces.  

By this time he realized two guitars were amongst the group of young and old natives on the pavement edge to the padaria. One gentleman who had that Brazilian look, into what Malcolm predicted was late 60s or early 70s took the other guitar and started strumming. He played forcefully and stunningly with deep sounds from strong plucking. Then the man began to sing presumably Brazilian popular music, as many folk in the bar and passers by showed emotions of happiness, and many accompanied him vocally.

The Brazilian musician joyfully played music for the next 40 to 45 minutes while Malcolm continued swigging his beer, and felt his whole body moving to the rhythm until the very last gulp. At that point it had stopped raining, so content and emotionally sound; he got up, paid the bill, and strolled back to the hotel. 

So the moral of the story is that we shouldn’t focus on negative issues; to the contrary we should expect them and let life flow into positivism. That doesn’t mean to say just sit back and wait for finances to fall from the sky; have a plan and stick to it!

The law of attraction comes with many faces!

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