Life’s lessons: The tale of Maria’s magical new hat

She was just an average woman. She worked as a secretary at a large company and her life was pretty much boring and mundane. No one at work paid any attention to her. And those that did, considered her to be as boring as her life was. One morning, on her way to work, Maria saw a new hat shop that opened down the street. Out of curiosity she walked in and looked around. In the shop was a little girl and her mother, who came to pick a hat for the little girl, and another customer who was trying on hats. Maria also tried on a few hats, until she found one she liked. She put it on and it looked nice! The first to notice was the little girl: “Mommy, look how pretty that woman looks with the hat on!” The mother looked at her and said, “Ma’am, I must say, this hat just looks wonderful on you!” The second buyer also came to look and said, “Ma’am, you look lovely with that hat on!”

Maria went to the mirror and looked at herself, and for the first time in her adult life, she liked what she saw! So, smiling, she went to the counter and bought the hat.

As she walked outside a new world revealed itself to her. She never before noticed the colors of the flowers or the scent of the fresh air. She walked as if drifting on a cloud with a song in her lips. When she walked by the coffee shop she passed every morning, a handsome young man called out to her: “Hi! Are you new here? Can I buy you a cup of coffee?” She smiled shyly and kept walking. She got to office and the doorman opened the door and wished her ‘good morning’. He had never even noticed her! The people at the office, as if seeing her for the first time, flattered her on how lovely she looked today. The manager asked her out to lunch to talk about how she felt at work! When this magical day was over, she decided to take a cab home instead of the bus. As soon as she put her hand up, two taxis stopped! She took the first one and sat back thinking about the miraculous day she had - thanks to the new hat! When she got home, her mom opened the door and said in surprise: “Maria, how beautiful you look! Your eyes are all lit up like when you were a little girl!” “Yes, mother,” replied Maria, “it’s all thanks to my new hat.”

“What hat?” asked her mother. Maria panicked and touched her head. That’s when she realized the hat was not there. She didn’t remember taking it off in the cab, or at lunch, or in the office. She then thought back to the store and remembered painfully how she put it on the counter when she was paying for it, and how she forgot the hat right there. Then she walked out to the street – no hat, yet glowing! It wasn’t the hat that freed Maria, it was the quality of her thoughts! Our thoughts can trap us into believing the worst or liberate us into being the best version of ourselves - to be, do, or have anything we wish for!