Yesterday, a reader asked me: Master Chi, why were you able to summon the courage to break through your own darkest moments — and yet here I am, trapped in the same abyss, completely crushed by pressure, drowning in despair and helplessness, without even a trace of will to fight back? Please, I’m reaching out for help — what should I do?
After reading this question, I paused to reflect. What came to me is something I can only describe as half-wisdom, half-instinct — yet it cuts straight to the core.
If you can truly understand what I’m about to say, then from this day forward, no sky will be dark enough to blind you, and no misfortune will be powerful enough to hold your destiny captive. ☀️
My dear brothers and sisters: in your life’s darkest hour, grand moral lessons are useless. Inspirational platitudes are useless. Even the deepest love from family and friends — even the full-hearted guidance of noble benefactors (Gui Ren) and elders — can only slow the spread of the darkness. It cannot cure it at the root.
Remember this: the only one who can pull you out of the deepest abyss has always been yourself. No one else. No one.
Only when you begin to face your pain directly — when you can hold steady through the fear and the suffocation, and ask yourself: Why did I fall into this abyss? — and then, gritting through the agony like a patient enduring surgery, begin correcting your flaws one by one…
Only then will the wheel of destiny begin to turn — slowly, one notch at a time — toward better fortune (yun shi). And in that very moment, you will feel it: the streak of bad luck, the weight of misfortune, beginning to peel away — second by second.
I won’t sugarcoat it: this is the only way out of life’s abyss. It has always been. Throughout history, there has been no other path.
Does it hurt? Is it bitter? Are you worn down to nothing? Do you want to cry?
Then cry. You are absolutely allowed to bury yourself under the covers and sob — until the tears and the snot run freely.
Just don’t forget: when you wake up tomorrow, wipe your eyes, set your jaw, and keep moving forward.
That is the only path to your own salvation. 🤗