Harold's story, follow your passions without sacrificing what's most important.
Good morning friends, what a beautiful day, isn't it. I hope you are having a nice day in your life outside the networks and of course here in Buskeria too, which is everyone's home. Well friends on this day I have decided to bring you a new story. In this case I have chosen the letter 106 Harold. This story will be about him and the things he has faced in his life, as well as the things that will come later. I hope you like it. So without further ado, let's begin.
Image created by me in canva
Friends know Harold had never planned to be a deliveryman. Sometimes, when his mind gets carried away, he thinks that life has dragged him into that job by inertia, as if it were the only path available. The truth is, though, that everything happens for a reason. The truth is that in his town that was one of the few jobs available. Of course there were more jobs, but if he took them he would have to move house, and that was something he was not willing to do at the moment. Besides, his job as a delivery man was stable and secure because he was permanent with that company, the other jobs in the area offered lower salaries and were temporary, so it wasn't worth moving away from home for them.
But not everything is rosy as they say. This job takes a lot of wear and tear. He has a long routine, getting up early, carrying packages, weaving through traffic, making deliveries and, when he got home, waiting for exhaustion to drag him to bed. The weeks pile on top of each other without anything really changing. But you know within all this vicious cycle there are 2 things that keep him focused. First his family, which he has to support, he has a wife and 3 children, plus his bedridden mother who he has to support as well. He fights every day to keep them going, that is his first motive. But he has a second reason to move forward, a dream that is more frustrated than anything else, the desire to learn to play the piano.
This desire, which is more of a dream given the circumstances in which he lives, he has never told anyone, not even his wife or his mother. The truth is that sometimes he thinks there is no point in talking about it. The truth is that in that situation, dreaming about the piano felt like a silly luxury, as I would say a childish illusion. Still, when he was alone, at the end of the day, he would think about playing the piano and what he never was.
This routine continued like this for many more months, until one day came, which turned out to be different. It was a gray Wednesday, as ordinary as any other, the kind we all know to be dull and boring. Then Harold was delivering a package to a house near the park. Nearby he heard a beautiful song played on the piano. He didn't know the song or the tune, so he assumed it was an original piece. When he looked he saw a woman nearby who was playing the piano. It was on the other side of the park, she was playing from the balcony of her apartment. He thought the song was so beautiful that he handed over the package and sat down in the park on the shore to listen to her play. For a while he even forgot about the van and the packages he had to deliver. When he saw that he was going to be late he got a little scared and continued with the routine, but that moment changed something.
That night, after putting the children to bed, he sat at the kitchen table with an old notebook he had. It was like a to-do list he had. He wrote two words, Learn piano, then closed the notebook and put it in a drawer, as if nothing had happened. But he had unknowingly taken the first step and the seed was planted. In the following days, he couldn't stop thinking about the only thing he was missing to complete his to-do list, was learning to play, it made him uneasy to know that that was the only thing he was missing. So he said, “No way, I can't take this anymore, I have to do something”. So the next day, since it was Sunday and he didn't have to work, he spent the day looking for options in town to learn.
He found some, like private lessons, private music school, but almost all of them, if not all, were out of his reach. Lessons were very expensive, and his salary no longer provided for much more than the basic necessities. He thought of his family, his three children who depended on him, and Marta his mother who was bedridden and expected him to be the pillar of the household. What was the point of pursuing a dream at this age? But you know as the days went by, the desire grew, as if he could not stop it and simply did not want to let himself be defeated so easily.
Then he began to think about what he could do to study how to play. After a while a couple of ideas popped into his head. He said, “bingo” that's what I'll do. So the next day he decided to talk to one of the teachers at a nearby private academy. He proposed a deal. Since he knew they needed a new janitor on Sundays and afternoons he told the teacher, who was also the director of the school. “I'll clean the studio after school, if you give me a few lessons and I can do it several times a week.” The truth is that the teacher was very surprised, because no one had ever asked him for such a thing. But in the end, because of his insistence, he agreed. From then on Harold began to practice in secret after work or on weekends after cleaning, because he didn't want anyone to know what he was doing, at least not for the moment.
But they know that fatigue began to weigh on him. Marta, his mother noticed that he was falling asleep later, that he was more irritable during the day. She saw him less present, as if something was stealing his attention. So she became suspicious, because he is always very attentive to the family and follows the same routine every day. But for the moment she didn't think much of it.
Some time after that, while he was making a delivery, he met someone. At one of the houses he was scheduled to deliver to, he ran into an elderly man. After giving him the package he noticed that at the back of the house he had a classical piano. Harold told him what a nice piano it was. The man realized that he liked pianos and said, “Well son, if you want it you can take it with you just this week I wanted to get rid of it, the truth is that I no longer have room in the house to keep it”, “Besides, you like them, so if you want it you can take it with you in your truck. Harold almost wanted to drop dead, because he didn't expect that. So, super grateful to the man, he accepted and put the old piano in his truck and took it home.
You wouldn't want to see the look on the faces of his children, his wife and his mother when he arrived with the piano. “What are you bringing that for? they asked him. He just answered, it was a gift. From then on he continued giving lessons on weekends and practicing at home. A few months later he gathered them all in the house and told them the truth, his dream of being able to play the piano, and the desire he had to tell them. He also told them why he was late. But the best part was when he told them that just the day before he had already graduated and was qualified as a pianist. The whole family celebrated the occasion. Of course, both his mother and his wife later told him that he could have confided in them earlier about what he wanted and what he was doing. They told him that he would have had their support without any problem. He was simply too happy to say anything back, he just said thank you very much.
With that new perspective, Harold began to involve his family. He taught his children their first notes, and music became a shared thing, no longer a secret. Everyone began to support him and it really brought joy to the house. A few months later, Harold organized a small concert at the local café. His family was in the front row, very happy, because it was his first public concert. And when he played, he didn't care if he made mistakes. The important thing was to be there, with them, playing for the simple pleasure of doing it.
After that day, Harold no longer dreamed of being a famous musician. In the end he continued with his job as a delivery man, but now part-time, because now he started giving piano lessons in his neighborhood. He realized that it was much more pleasurable for him to share this art with others than to simply play in big concerts. There were many people out there wanting to learn and based on his experience he wanted to help them. So he got a small place where he gave lessons for a low price and accessible to everyone. That place was filled with laughter, and with people who, like him, had let their dreams get left behind because of their responsibilities. And Harold, seeing his children asking him to teach them new songs, realized that he had succeeded. Not as he had imagined at first, but he had found something more valuable, the peace of having followed his passion, without sacrificing what he loved most.
Friends, this has been my story for today. I would really love to get your opinions on it and let me know what you thought of it. So I'll see you soon with a new story.
sub>
Translated with DeepL.com
Join hive's most incredible game, @risingstargame , today.
Don't miss the opportunity to become a Rising Star.