Tonight’s article matters — I hope you’ll read it all the way through.
I want to start by sharing a message a long-time reader left me. It’s brief, but every line carries weight. More importantly, the question he raises may well be the very question you’ve been wanting to ask:
Student Question:
Master Chi, I’ve been a reader of yours for many years. The reason I’m writing tonight is that my spirits have been especially low lately — on one hand, I’m worried about the future; on the other, I feel lost about where my life is heading. Both feelings are tangled together, and I’ve barely been able to sleep for over a month now.
My background isn’t comparable to your other accomplished readers, but I still want to ask: for someone like me — an ordinary middle-aged person who makes a living through a professional skill — do you have any advice or wisdom to offer? Not just for me, but for the many other readers out there who feel equally adrift right now?
If you do, I sincerely hope you can offer a few words of direction. It’s rare to find someone of your depth who is also willing to share genuine, heartfelt wisdom.
Master Chi’s Response:
Hello, old friend. First, I want to sincerely thank you — the fact that you came to me during one of life’s low points speaks to the trust you place in me.
To honor that trust, let me distill what I have to say into a few precise phrases:
Flow with heaven’s mandate — rest and recuperate. Don’t drown in despair — advance in small steps. Cherish your blessings, treasure what brings you joy — freedom comes first.
Let me unpack these one by one. I may get a little long-winded — bear with me.
Flow with Heaven’s Mandate — Rest and Recuperate
Have you noticed? Especially since the beginning of this year, the tone of my writing has shifted considerably. Gone is the aggressive, charge-forward energy — the constant rallying cries to push harder and aim higher. Something warmer has taken its place.
The reason is simple: both in my own life and in the many circles I move through, I can feel the rhythm of the era gradually and unmistakably slowing down.
There are obvious reasons for this, and reasons we’d rather not name directly. But at minimum, one thing is certain: the great fortune cycle (大运) of this age has changed significantly from what it once was. In the foreseeable near term, it no longer provides the powerful tailwind that once carried us forward.
Whether we accept this or not, it is objective reality — and a reality we have no choice but to accept.
I’ve hinted before, in measured terms, that spring of next year — around March or April — should bring genuine renewal, and that there will be even better reasons for optimism by year’s end. But right now, we still need to plant our feet firmly and avoid reckless moves.
Remember this: do not attempt to conquer new territory during a season that calls for rest and recovery. That is the greatest protection you can give yourself, and the greatest respect you can offer the broader fortune cycle. Swimming against the current has rarely ended well.
So when you tell me you feel lost about the future — I genuinely understand. You’re not the first person to tell me this recently, and you certainly won’t be the last. But here is something I want you to hold onto: if you’ve managed to maintain 60% of what you achieved in past years, you are already doing extraordinarily well.
As I’ve said in previous articles, there are only a couple of months left before the Lunar New Year arrives. So for these two months, I’d encourage you to simply set aside any performance targets. Do what you can, naturally, without blindly chasing material results.
Don’t let a boss or a manager pressure you into berating yourself over numbers. Try to be a little more at ease, a little kinder to yourself. If that advice doesn’t quite land, then try this: no fisherman can bring in a good catch when all the fish are asleep.
Don’t Drown in Despair — Advance in Small Steps
Accept this objective truth: over the long span of a life, everyone goes through their valleys. There’s no escaping it, no avoiding it — it’s inevitable.
I know destiny deeply, and I know this plainly: life has its peaks and its valleys, its highs and its lows. When you find yourself in a valley, you’re simply there — no use agonizing over it. The right mindset is neither arrogance at the peak nor despair in the valley.
So during this period, I genuinely hope you can keep some sunshine in your heart. This matters more than you might think.
We all know these days have brought some genuinely disheartening things — the kind that are easy to emotionally absorb. That’s entirely understandable. Whenever friends get the chance to meet up these days, they love to gather, share a drink, and vent a little. That’s completely normal — everyone needs an emotional outlet.
But while sighing is fine, and frustration is fine — you still need to learn how to regulate your own inner state.
A person is really like a tree. If you spend your days soaking in overcast skies, you’ll eventually be hollowed out by rot. But if you make a point of stepping into sunlight now and then? The problems lessen, and your mind and body grow far healthier.
The key difference between a person and a tree: a tree can’t move. A person is alive — and can choose what nourishment to absorb. So even if you have to be deliberate about it, even a little forced — please, during this time, actively seek out content that is sunny, optimistic, lighthearted, and uplifting. Articles, books, short videos — whatever form it takes.
We live in the age of big data. If you keep consuming pessimistic content, the algorithm will keep feeding you pessimistic content. Over time, your emotional state will naturally be dragged down with it.
I’m not asking you to pretend these difficult things don’t exist. I just don’t want you to drown in them. Once negative emotions take root, they become parasites — and uprooting them is no easy task.
This is also why, when I’m with friends socially, I’m quite deliberate about steering us away from doom and gloom. I genuinely grieve some of what’s happening in the world too — but if you wallow in it all day, your own emotional state gets swallowed up as well, and it does absolutely nothing to change reality. Why go there?
People must learn to actively regulate themselves, to seek out light and nourishment. Only when you’re in a good state do you have the mental energy and capacity to change the world around you. Otherwise, the low just keeps pulling lower — until you finally break.
Cherish Your Blessings, Treasure What Brings You Joy — Freedom Comes First
I once had an interesting conversation with a few close friends about something I found quite curious. “Has it ever struck you,” I said, “how strange people can be? When we’re deep in work, we always say we have no time for family and the simple pleasures of life — but the moment we actually have time for those things, we find ourselves thinking about work again.”
I say this with zero condescension. My own net worth has taken quite a hit this year — no better off than anyone else.
But when I thought about it carefully, I realized: this was simply not something within my control. How many people at the very top of the wealth rankings — domestic and international alike — have seen 20 to 30% declines over the past two years?
That means it’s cyclical. It’s environmental. It’s unavoidable.
Given that — what possible reason do you have to blame yourself?
And more to the point: this season calls for hibernating through winter, for embracing a quiet stretch of time. So why let yourself be consumed by things that have already happened and cannot be reversed — and in doing so, miss out on the happiness and joy that are right in front of you?
Instead, use this opportunity. Be with your family. Reach out to friends, catch up, share small ideas about new ventures and little opportunities. Reward yourself with a good book. Pick up a new skill from a tutorial video. These things look small, but they’re genuinely building blocks for a well-lived life — and they bring real, lasting happiness.
Even the smallest progress is infinitely better than standing still, or worse, sliding backward.
The same goes for those who have taken losses on business or investments recently: I want to emphasize once more — in some situations, doing nothing is far better than scrambling recklessly. Don’t be busy just for the sake of looking busy. Busyness needs purpose and it needs to be worth the cost.
If something has almost no chance of succeeding right now, and the price is steep — then what are you doing trying to force it?
Slow down. Settle in. Think it through. Stop making pointless moves. As counterintuitive as it sounds, that approach gets the best results.
I’ve covered what needs to be said. I’ll skip the consultation and community links at the end tonight — if you need a destiny chart (命盘) reading, you know how to reach me. Let’s end clean.
One final reminder: if you’re truly feeling without direction, please read the “Flow with Heaven’s Mandate — Rest and Recuperate” section again, carefully. When you truly understand it, you’ll have a sense of what lies ahead.
Somewhere in the air, faintly, the fragrance of early spring already seems to be stirring.