“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
It was a perfect day. I was traveling through Peru's valleys, and in my train car there was a group of more than 30 elderly friends — men and women in their 70s. They knew that it would probably be the last time that all of them would travel together, but they were still singing, dancing, and laughing with the same joy and enthusiasm of the happiest children in the world. Their eyes were shining and their voices made all of us join them in song. You could see a sense of peace, calm and contentment in their lives.

It is difficult to describe the feeling that swept over me at that instant. I felt a more tangible, immediate connection to my life and to the ones I love. I thought about how much I still owe to the child that lives inside me, and how I never want to lose him.

I will try to live my life thinking of that child, measuring my success by the number of laughs I will share with my mom and brother, the churros I will eat in a park, the friends who will come to visit me from all over the world, the sunsets where I will be hugging my wife, the stories I will tell my kids, and the number of dreams I hope to help others to achieve.

And hopefully 50 years from now, I will be the one contently laughing and singing with my loved ones on a train in the countryside.

— Eduardo Weinstein