One white envelop got me thinking. It contained my Portuguese residence card. After 5 years, the embassy certificate that was given to me saying I was a local resident expired, and I was asked to book an appointment to get my card.

Appointment was booked after 10 days I called, i brought my basic papers, and my card arrives 5 working days later in my mailbox.

What’s so strange and what got me thinking?

I have a lot of Africa and Brazilian friends who migrated to Portugal, more than a few with a regular working contract, and at least a third of them is waiting for over one year to get summoned by the Immigration Services. Same services that got me an appointment in two weeks.

What was a 30 min line up and a 15 min appointment, is the Sacred Graal for thousands of people I cross path with every day, conditioning their lives, and making them being uncertain about their future.

Have you ever come across that “if you have a roof over your head, food on your table and a bed to sleep in you are better than 75% of the world population”?

If you look close enough, your life is full of overlooked privileges that you rarely appreciate, and the paradox is that this is true for most humans.

So this is a self reminder to:

• learn and never forget to be grateful no matter what
• it could have been you, me, any of us in any of these situations: we didn’t ask nor deserve to be born here versus there
• you don’t need to live your life feeling guilty to be luckier that other, but you can’t just take credit for it
• never take anything for granted, because you don’t know what’s the story of the person in front of you

Going into 2023 with an open heart, and the promise also to keep this newsletter journey as real as possible.

I won’t care about readership, statistics, engagement or validation, but simply share my thoughts as they come through, hoping to be of service.

Rebelliously yours

Matteo