These past few years have been genuinely profound.
They’ve taught us that the most important thing in this world isn’t creating wealth — and certainly not achieving fame and success.
As ordinary people, chasing opportunities and catching a lucky wave to earn a little money is, of course, wonderful.
But a happy, peaceful, warm, and harmonious life — that is the true happiness that transcends everything else.
In previous years, I would use this time to reflect on the year’s highlights and share plans for the year ahead.
This year, however, I feel it’s worth pausing for once — to simply offer you a genuine blessing. That, I think, is more meaningful.
Because we all know that even as things gradually stabilize in the short term, there won’t be any dramatic overnight miracles.
And that’s okay. Look around the world — nowhere is truly at peace. There are upheavals, open and hidden, and everyone carries their own worries.
So don’t put pressure on yourself. And please — don’t feel guilty.
This year, one particular kind of message has broken my heart every time I’ve seen it: “Master, I feel like such a failure because I didn’t make much money this year.”
I’ve received thousands of messages like this. It makes me genuinely sad.
But I want you to understand — making money is truly not the only theme of life.
Money, at the end of the day, exists to serve your good life and comfortable living.
If chasing money destroys your mental state and leaves you living worse and worse — isn’t that getting things completely backwards?
I’ve said it more than once: making money — especially big money — never comes from pushing too hard.
It comes from aligning with the major trends of the times + finding the right circles + maintaining good self-discipline + persistent trial and error.
Right now, the very first part of that formula already carries a bit of uncertainty. So if you didn’t make much money this year — that’s only natural.
It’s okay. Give everything you’ve got when it’s time to push. But when it’s time to rest, don’t miss that either.
A few days ago, a friend asked me: in the dead of winter, with ice and snow everywhere — what should we do?
I replied, almost offhand: if snow is falling all around us, then let’s just throw ourselves into snowball fights and building snowmen.
Looking back on that now — it’s a bit of a feel-good sentiment, sure, but it’s actually quite uplifting.
So — today is the last working day of 2023. Stop forcing yourself to stay buried in busyness.
You’ve worked hard enough this year. Take the time between now and the Lunar New Year to truly reward yourself and be with your family.
Finally, I’ve specially created today’s featured image — a “Golden Koi of Abundant Blessings” — just for you.