Yesterday’s short post did cause a bit of a laugh. I mentioned I usually have two bowls of rice at meals, and quite a few of you assumed I must have an enormous appetite.
Honestly, Master Chi’s appetite isn’t small — but a bowl of rice at a Shanghai restaurant is barely the size of a small fist. Nothing substantial about it. So one bowl is too little, two bowls is just right.
When you’re going through a hard time, sitting alone with your thoughts to “reflect and process” is rarely the answer.
The more you try to reflect in isolation, the worse you’ll feel. Slowly, you’ll find yourself drowning in self-reproach and guilt.
The far better approach is to sit down with trustworthy people around you — especially friends who’ve been through business ventures, investments, or personal growth journeys. Listen to their failure stories too. In that moment, your own mental state will ease considerably.
Because the most exhausting thing in this world is being forced, for whatever reason, to spend your energy tangled up with a “low-cognition person.”
This is, without question, the most draining waste of your mental energy, vitality, and spirit.
Because a low-cognition person is, at their core, a combination of stagnant ambition, self-imposed limitations, and thoroughly warped values.
Try to reason with them, and they’ll feel you’re attacking their tiny, brittle ego — then argue with you.
…is actually not that hard at all.
I have a very good childhood friend from primary school — though we’re both middle-aged men now, I’ve watched him walk a genuinely inspiring and straightforward road in life.
This friend is an interesting case. Because his grades weren’t great, he stopped studying after vocational high school and threw himself entirely into running small businesses.
It started with renting out martial arts novels, VHS tapes, and CDs. Then came an internet café, then a bar, and now he runs a chain of optical stores. All along, he’s been on a slow but steady upward climb.
“Uncle, I feel like nothing has been going my way this year — I could even say I’ve accomplished nothing at all. It’s honestly gotten me pretty down.”
A reader sent me this message yesterday in a private note. I sat with it for a while and decided to respond — I hope it helps untangle what’s weighing on your heart.
First, I think we Chinese people share one great strength — and one great weakness.
Master Chi sincerely urges you — read this one with sharp eyes and commit it to memory.
1. The older generation in the family is rigid and arrogant. They love piling pressure on you to satisfy their own vanity, yet offer nothing in the way of real material support or resources.
2. Family members are divided and lack any sense of unity. Every one of them is a pushover outside the home but a tyrant within it. You alone are struggling to hold everything together, while the others treat this as perfectly normal.
Yes — compared to those four words: peace and safety.
All the wealth and money, fame and power, romantic entanglements, and grudges and grievances — these are nothing but trivial additions to your life.
Even the most twisted, difficult hardships are merely colorful episodes that make the journey richer and more interesting.
The truth is, genuine happiness is a life of quiet stability — an ordinary career, free from great disasters or suffering.
In this world, the true winners really only come in two kinds: those who have always enjoyed good health, and those who have always carried a joyful spirit.
And what’s interesting — these two kinds of people are very often the same person.
That is exactly who I, Master Chi, hope you can become.
Besides, we’re nearly at the real end of the year now, and I know — better than you might expect — what you’ve been through and how you’ve felt over these past twelve months.
In this age, you must learn to guard your words carefully. Stop broadcasting your good news, your resources, and your family matters to the world.
Good news invites jealousy. Resources invite greed. Family matters expose your vulnerabilities.
If you truly must share, do so only with friends who can actually help you solve problems, offer concrete guidance, and have genuinely good character.
Understand this: 99% of the troubles in your life are ones you brought upon yourself. Learn to protect yourself.
The truth is, for most problems the human body faces — especially psychological ones — the best remedy is simply to bring more joy and happiness into your life.
The happier you are, the stronger your body’s instinct becomes: “I want to survive, and I want to thrive.” When that drive is alive in you, your Chi (vital energy) flow and overall vitality will naturally grow stronger with each passing day.