When I was 20, my mom’s boyfriend of 10 years — who felt like a dad to me — died of a heart attack. He was 36. I remember the doctor saying it might’ve been because he’d just quit smoking, after years of doing three packs a day. Something about the blood being thicker or the body reacting badly to stopping. I don’t remember the exact science, but it stuck.

For years, I believed that stopping smoking could cause a heart attack.

I never questioned it.

Not once.

It just became a truth in my mind.

Then, just recently, I told the story to a doctor friend, and he looked at me like I was crazy.

“That’s not how it works,” he said.

And suddenly, a 20-year belief… was gone. Just like that.

Here’s another one:

I used to donate blood. Regularly.

And then one day, a nurse was rude to me—really rude—and told me I couldn’t donate that day. I walked out, told myself I’d never go back, and I didn’t. For over a decade.

Why?

Because of one unpleasant moment.

One story I told myself.

One decision I never revisited.

And then last month, I got a message here in Barcelona inviting me to donate again.

And something in me softened. I went. The experience was wonderful.

And I realized: I’d given up on something good based on an ancient story that no longer made sense.

It made me wonder…

What else am I holding on to?

Old beliefs. Old stories.

Things that made sense at the time… but don’t anymore.

So here’s my challenge to you:

What are you still carrying that you’ve never questioned?

What assumptions are quietly shaping your life, your actions, your decisions—without you even realizing?

Maybe it’s time to revisit them.

Because some things, when you look again, just don’t hold up.