6

Being invisible is an art and perfecting it requires many years of practice and dedication. The sooner you learn, the sooner you can masterfully navigate the world of the visibles. If you think I'm talking about a paranormal phenomenon, you're off track.

I am sure that many of you practice this art every day without knowing it, perhaps you perceive its hidden power but are unaware of the consequences of being invisible over time.

 

I started being invisible as a child when, instead of my dreams, I chased those of my family. There's nothing wrong with it, in fact, it keeps you focused on the goal you want to achieve.

 

"All for one and one for all!"

This is what I have always repeated to myself in difficult times.

It was a popular motto in those years, from the three musketeers and D’Artagnan.

I was D’Artagnan, my father, my mother and my younger brother, the three musketeers.

But I was young then, and I had strength and hope to spare.

 

You may wonder what invisibility has to do with all this, well, be patient for a little longer and you will eventually understand.

 

Over the years, the family had become a successful company. Success is like a drug, the more you have, the less you care about yourself, focusing only on what could hinder it.

Invisibility can turn into a double-edged sword, however, I hadn't experienced it's consequences yet.

But I was young then, young inside, and I had strength and hope to spare.

 

I changed that motto into

“We are a family-company. I am the family-company”,

more suited to my role as leader, entrepreneur and father of the family-company and my private family.

The company expanded, production and revenues increased, and it’s international reputation and success too.

The family grew and divided into two families, then into three and into four and, finally, into five.

The new musketeers were looking forward to becoming commanders and establishing themselves as leaders.

That was natural for them, you might say. Of course, but the fact that it happened without my consent didn’t come naturally to me.

And the time to make choices arrives: business choices, family choices. And you realized that invisibility has no weight in making decisions.

The other blade of the sword was starting to cut into my flesh.

 

But I was young then, young inside and I had strength and hope to spare.

And so, you kept going, repeating to yourself

"We are a family-company. I am the family-company”.

But it wasn’t true, I was no longer young, not even inside; for the first time I had lost my strength, and with it the hope of being visible to the others, the family-company.

As I said, invisibility has no weight in decision-making processes.

 

Other years passed spent losing credibility as a leader, as a brother, as a father, and as an uncle.

And so, you kept going, repeating to yourself

"We are a family-company. I am the family-company”.

...

Extract from the book “We Cannot Escape from Ourselves”.