It is only upon reaching thirty that I came to understand this: the deepest undertone of life is selfishness and solitude. Call it pessimism or negativity if you like, but I see it as an honest acknowledgment of life’s true nature.
When we are young, we fear being called selfish, so we give endlessly, try desperately to please others, and use compromise to hold relationships together. Until one day, we realize that the people we exhaust ourselves trying to keep were never the ones who couldn’t live without us—it was us who couldn’t bear to let go.
The human heart is always drawn to light. People come close to you because there is light within you; and when they turn away, it is often only because they are searching for a brighter direction. Learning to allow everything to happen is not passive resignation, but rather reclaiming the authority over your own life.
Allow friendships to drift apart, because the sincere companionship you once shared has already fulfilled its purpose.
Allow your efforts to go unrewarded, because the joy and sincerity you felt when giving were already the finest return.
Even allow illness to knock at your door, because pain is sometimes only your body’s way of reminding you that you owe yourself more kindness and rest.
“The wind has no fixed course, and people have no permanent form.” Just like the turbulence in flight that can never be fully predicted, the wind is by nature ever-changing, and all we can do is remain calm and composed.
Dear self, tend your own garden and plant your own chrysanthemums in your own world, offering yourself tenderness and care; and in the worlds of others, let things drift like clouds, following fate with ease. This is neither indifference nor surrender, but another kind of courage—the courage to admit that, in the end, this life is a long road we must walk through on our own.
In this life, perhaps the most important thing to learn is the ability to make yourself happy, no matter how fierce the storms may be. Birth is not your choice, and marriage sometimes depends on luck, but the one thing that can truly help you live a good life is the ability to regulate your emotions.
When the wind comes, listen to the wind.
When the rain comes, listen to the rain.
This world may seem vast and complicated, but in essence, it is still a world that belongs to you alone.