THE AWAKENING!

Living a fairly simple life, Alexa would wake up every day feeling sluggish and go through the exact same routine as the day before which is basically brushing her teeth, taking a shower, getting dressed and, going to work. Despite living a quite depressing life, Alexa secretly had a deep passion and genuine love for words in the form of books, poetry, and almost every place she saw words. She loved reading and took advantage of every opportunity to read whether it be a book, ingredients on the box of a product, or the back story of her favourite shampoo. The train rides to work consisted of the same faces and stops every single day, except this fine Saturday morning when Alexa noticed this bright-faced man sitting on the chair where she sat every time she took the train to and fro work but she politely smiled, sat next to him and continued reading her self-development book. "Is it just me or do you carry around a very dark and sad, depressed energy?", asked the man in the kindest tone. "It's just my anxiety acting up", she replied. "My name is Tom by the way". " I'm Alexa". "Nice to meet you, Alexa." "Nice to meet you too." Alexa and Tom had a very interesting conversation in which Tom explained that he was only in town for one day and that if Alexa accepted the challenge of a trip around town instead of going to work, he could change her life and transform it into the dream life that she always daydreams about and she hesitatingly agreed.

Tom and Alexa walked around town and he told her to stop chasing the wind and made her appreciate the very basic things that are readily available to every human being such as the sky, the trees, the sand, the contrast of the sky and the green of the trees, the peace and freedom you feel with the wind gently blowing, the diversity of the beautiful people walking around, the cheerful children playing, the nice smell that arouses you as you walk past a restaurant or the lovely scents that entice you as you walk passed a candle store.

When evening came and the dark sky was lit up by the moonlight and the stars, Alexa's eyes glistened in amazement and love. She finally got the message loud and clear as Tom walked her to her doorstep. She gave him a big hug, a kiss on his cheek, and thanked him for opening her eyes and heart to a whole new world as he flagged a taxi down to go home.

At the end of the day, looking in the mirror with a pleasant glow on her face appreciating how beautifully she had been created, soaking in all that she has seen and experienced in just one day, Alexa had a deep feeling of appreciation, peace, and joy. She began to relive the memories of the day and decided that she never ever wanted to forget that day and what better way of doing that than to write about it, she thought to herself.

Suddenly things weren't as plain as they were. Everything had a purpose, everything had beauty in it, everything had a story to tell and everything was worth writing about.

After the most fulfilling day of her life, Alexa had a different approach to life and not only wanted to remember that day but also to make other people who were living sad and depressed lives to feel the way she did and to unlock positive emotions in every person who reads her words and was greatly inspired to write her very first book infused with short poems.

Alexa's book "Unleash your true self" encouraged people to express their feelings and thoughts through art such as dance, music, poetry, acting, and fashion.

Alexa's lessons from that day were basically to value time, relationships, good health, fresh air and be content with all that we have; to value everything.

From that day onwards, Alexa sang in the shower, had a spring and sass in her step, smiled at strangers, gave money to the homeless people on the street, prayed for Tom's wellbeing, and had a genuinely excited tone in her voice. Alexa continued to go to work but this time with a purpose and in her free time would do what she had always wanted to do, write.

After one year of writing, Alexa was determined to find Tom in order to show her true appreciation for what he did and to reward him for changing her life a year earlier. After checking online, Alexa found Tom's contacts and contacted him. "I owe you", she texted. After taking a glance at her profile picture, Tom recognized Alexa and decided to give her a call. "Hello, Alexa speaking." "I know, it's me Tom". "Oh hi, how have you been?" "I've been good thanks, I got your text." "right, so what do I owe you?" "hmmm, let's see, because it's taken you a year to reach out, you owe me a lot *laughing*." "I know, I'm sorry, it's just that I've been so consumed living my best life * laughing*".

After much debate, Tom decided that Alexa owed him a date but insisted that he pick her up because the location was supposedly a surprise. Alexa put on her best silk dress and cute strappy heels with a cute faux fur coat. Eagerly waiting to know where they were going, Alexa stood outside her apartment door leaning on the wall when Tom pulled up in a limo and took her to one of the best book publishing companies to potentially sign a deal for Alexa. The publishing company critically analyzed Alexa's book and written samples in order to see whether or not she reached their very high standards. Much to their surprise for a girl from a small town, she did and was warmly welcomed by their team of professionals. To celebrate this great achievement, Tom and Alexa dined at a five-star restaurant and remained very good friends thereafter.

As the years went by, Alexa published close to a dozen best-selling books and over one hundred articles, blogs and poems.