Brazil has people in some places with so difficult situations.

Hear the words of David Luiz, a son of Brazil, who declared with humility and pride: “Brazil has people in some places with so difficult situations. They prefer to smile than cry because they love life. They love to be happy. That’s Brazilian style.” At first, it may sound a simple observation, born from the football fields and the streets, but it is, in truth, a hymn to the resilience of the human spirit. It speaks of a nation that, though scarred by poverty and struggle, chooses the path of joy rather than despair, light rather than darkness.

To understand this truth, we must see that the smile is not merely a sign of amusement, but an act of defiance. When men and women, pressed by hardship, still find the strength to raise their faces in laughter, they proclaim a victory greater than any conquest of arms. They declare to the world: “We may lack riches, but we will not lack life. We may walk through valleys of need, but we will not surrender our joy.” This, Luiz tells us, is the Brazilian style—a style not born of abundance, but of courage, of a spirit unbroken.

Consider the story of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, where children play football barefoot in alleys lined with tin and stone. The conditions are harsh, and opportunities scarce. Yet from these streets arose some of the greatest footballers the world has ever known—Pelé, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho. What carried them forward was not wealth, nor privilege, but the ability to smile even in hardship, to love life despite the odds, and to believe that joy itself could be a weapon stronger than despair. Their triumphs became the triumph of Brazil, a testament that happiness can be the seed of greatness.

The ancients too knew this truth. Did not Epictetus, born a slave, teach that happiness depends not on circumstances, but on how the soul receives them? Did not the Hebrew psalmist sing songs of joy even in exile, proclaiming that sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning? From every age, the wisest have told us: to choose happiness in difficulty is to conquer hardship twice—once in body, and again in spirit.

Luiz’s words remind us that joy is not naïveté, but bravery. To cry is human, but to smile in the midst of sorrow is divine. Such smiles are not hollow—they are shields forged in love of life, in gratitude for each breath, each sunrise, each shared song. Brazil, with all its struggles, shows the world that one may be poor in possessions but rich in joy; one may lack comfort yet overflow with celebration.

The lesson for us, then, is clear: let us not wait for perfect conditions to be happy. Let us not demand ease before we allow ourselves to smile. Instead, let us practice the Brazilian style—finding joy in music, in community, in small acts of kindness, in the very fact of being alive. In this way, we do not deny hardship, but we rise above it, refusing to let it define us.

So, beloved listener, let your action be this: when hardship presses you down, rise with a smile. When you feel the weight of sorrow, remember that joy is not stolen by circumstance, but by choice. Learn from Brazil, where even in the hardest places, people dance, sing, and love. For to love life is the most ancient victory of humankind, and to be happy in struggle is to shine as a beacon to others.