Who's Rod Matos?

I’m Rodolfo. I’m Brazilian! I was born on November 27th, 1990. I’ve already been through some good and bad moments in my life. I’m really thankful for the good moments; I definitely enjoyed them very much. As I said before, I also faced some bad moments that made me stronger than I used to be!

I sometimes complain about everything, but I have learned that nobody is perfect. I used to be very naive, but I admit that I have been growing up day by day. Time is such a great teacher for all of us. I’ve been trying to appreciate every single day as if it were the last one. I have figured out that we care too much about materialism, and that we hardly ever or never enjoy the precious moments when we are surrounded by family and friends. We just realize the great things we have only when we lose them.

I always say that I’m too young, but time flies and I really want to be wiser, smarter, happier, and funnier as well when I get older. Every day is a new opportunity for me to improve something about myself, to make up for the mistakes I made yesterday. I don’t feel like making them today. In fact, I want to learn from them.

Everybody has dreams and desires. I believe that they keep us alive by moving us forward. I like to keep my dreams in my heart because I know that sooner or later, they’ll come true. I have stopped thinking about the past, I try to live in the present and I don’t worry too much about the future. The past becomes history; the present, you enjoy, the future, the consequences of our past actions, and the choices we make in the present.

We must keep studying whatever we like, because a good life is one inspired by love, and guided by knowledge. I have a piece of advice for you: Don’t judge anybody even if you know their history, because life is like a rollercoaster. You may be up today, but it takes seconds for you to come down. Don’t say the first thing that comes out of your mind without thinking. It’s really hard to gain someone’s confidence and you may destroy it in a blink of an eye.

𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠!!!

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐭? 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?

𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐀 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲.

𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬, 𝐈 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.

#𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐓𝐨𝐌𝐞 𝟑.𝟎 👏🏼👏🏼🥳🥳🎉🎉🎈🎈🎁🎁🎂🎂🍰🍰

How has 2020 been for you?

If I say that 2020 was a dreadful year, I would be lying to you, for sure. I had some great moments which I really enjoyed, but I also had some unpleasant moments where I cried like a baby because I suffered from both insomnia and anxiety.

At the beginning of the year I had the opportunity to make my dream come true by visiting England for the first time. I was able to visit 32 incredible places such as London, York, Newcastle and Durham. I also met some of my online friends which was amazing. It was the best vacation ever. I was there for 20 days in total. But when I returned to Brazil a terrible disease was spreading worldwide.

Everybody was terrified with what was happening. I couldn’t believe it. A lot of people passed away because of Covid-19. Every news channel was constantly reporting on it. It took only a few days for the country to lock down; schools, shopping malls, amusement parks and other places had to close for an uncertain period of time. The streets were empty, even the famous ones and the ones that are usually crowded. Lots of people lost their jobs and others had to become creative in order to keep earning while at home.

Schools and universities started offering online classes to their students, people were advised to wear face masks and also to carry hand sanitizer with them and to wash their hands more frequently. Even public places like bakeries and supermarkets were offering hand sanitizer for free before clients entered their establishments. It was like we were living a nightmare.

When I left my house for the first time to go to the bakery, everybody was wearing masks and I was shocked, it was like the end of the world. I didn’t lose hope though, because I knew that wasn’t the end of everything, but a new beginning.

I believe we had enough time to think about our friends, colleagues, family members and neighbours to realize that we are all equal. Whatever your social class, race or sexual orientation, we are all human beings and this disease came to show us that anyone could come down with it.

Please, let’s have more empathy for every single person, because every life matters. It’s about time we learned how to respect one another.

2020 has been an important year for everybody. We’ve learned so much about a lot of things, we’ve started to value those special moments when we could be surrounded by friends or family members, those moments when we could hug and kiss them.

We learned this because we had to apply social distancing to protect ourselves and to show our love to them. I still believe that 2020 has given us an opportunity to become better versions of ourselves.