Fifteen years ago, when my parents had left this world already, flying on aerostatic balloons became popular in Mexico.
My heart was sad and I thought there was no more reason for me to go back to Mexico after that.
I decided to say goodbye to our wide land from the sky, so I decided to take a balloon ride with my children and sisters. The view from the sky looked very peaceful. There were streets and buildings I had never seen before, and even the people’s movements could be seen very clearly.
I thought: For sure God is always looking after us from above; and in order for us to fulfill our dreams, he guides us by lighting the path we should follow!
I started remembering how my father showed me to walk through life…Watch carefully before crossing dangerous streets…walk slowly here… if we turn here, we can make a shortcut…if we jump over this fence we can continue our way… here, maybe it’s better to get some help…
My father never said “It’s dangerous, no,!, impossible” No matter how difficult the task was, he always looked for a way to do it. He used to tell me: “When you can’t do it yourself, rely on people, study, do some research.”
He also said: “The universe likes better people with noble hearts than those with suspicious ones. When people pray for something, the first thing God will do, is put a person close to you. In the conversation with that person, He will send you some clues. As you get the information, you should start moving in order to make the paths open. Some people are to do something close by, some other to start a business far away, and some other are to go to foreign countries. We don’t know the route, but when heaven lightens your path, you should give the first step in the direction of the light. For sure it will bring good things to your life.”
As I was recalling my father’s words, I heard “Bend your knees! We are landing!”I looked down and saw a lot of people running in the same direction our balloon was flying. This called my attention about where we would land, so I asked the pilot: “By the way. How do you control de direction of the balloon?”
He replied: “Balloons are like life. The direction has to be left to the wind. If we want to maneuver to make it move where we want, we can flip over. The only thing we can control is the fire. If we turn on the fire we elevate, if we turn it off, we go down.”
These words resonated inside me.
If the first time I came to Japan, when I was 9, I had known in the future I was going to be a mother in Japan, I would have felt surprised!
Now that I look back, I realize that what happened in my life was not mere coincidence, but divine guidance.
pd: Speech written in Japanese for contest December 2025
Phrase: Picture taken inside the Mazda Museum. Hiroshima, Japan
Fantastiqueeerr 