I never chase so-called trending topics — especially grim ones like “Multiple People Jumping Off Cliffs at Zhangjiajie.”
That said, multiple people jumping together is itself a warning sign we can’t ignore. It’s proof enough that the pressures of modern society, and a certain troubling emotional undercurrent, are quietly spreading in places we haven’t been paying attention to.
But tonight, I don’t want to dig deeper into that event. Countless articles out there have already dissected it from every angle.
What I want to do — in this late hour — is speak directly to you. If you’ve ever had a moment, even just a fleeting one, or if someday in the future you find yourself standing at the edge of that unnecessary dead end —
Please read what I’m about to say. And the last point is the most important of all — please stay with me to the end.
● Once you zoom out far enough on the timeline of a human life, every obstacle that currently looks like a mountain will eventually shrink down to a grain of dirt.
This is absolutely true, in every area of life. Whether you’re carrying what feels like an astronomical amount of debt, whether you’ve made what feels like an unforgivable mistake, or whether you’re sitting at the bottom of what feels like an inescapable pit of despair —
There is one thing I can say with complete certainty: as long as you keep trying to work through it, even slowly, seven or eight years is enough time to solve problems that once seemed impossibly out of reach.
● Personally, I have always believed that the single greatest piece of wisdom distilled from five thousand years of Chinese culture is this: a miserable life still beats a good death.
A close friend of mine once nearly walked that final road himself, for various reasons. Afterward, he joined a survivors’ support group — people who had come back from the edge — and what he discovered was that almost everyone shared one thing in common: in those last few seconds, every single one of them had fought with everything they had to stay alive.
And almost all of them came through with a profound realization: “If I’m not even afraid of death, how could I possibly be afraid of life’s hardships?”
It’s remarkable — many people who’ve been through something like that come out the other side with a far deeper appreciation for living. Some of them go on to live with more color and vitality than ever before.
● The vast majority of people crushed by life, to the point of wanting to give up — they are actually deeply good people.
Because your bones are filled with a sense of responsibility, you always feel like every mistake is your fault. And because you don’t want to burden others with your pain, you carry it all alone, in silence.
Honestly? You don’t have to. There is genuinely no need.
What you should do is find someone who cares about you and open up — in measured doses — and keep filling yourself with simple, nourishing things.
To put it in my own words: almost everyone who ultimately chooses to end things has had their inner world completely corroded — eaten away by dark, damp, stagnant water — until there is nothing left but a hollow ruin inside.
If that is where you are, then you need to let sunlight back in. Even if it means tearing down the walls around your heart to do it. Because compared to the preciousness of your life, your privacy is a small price to pay.
● I know that these past two years have left many people feeling deeply defeated — frustrated that life hasn’t worked out the way they hoped, sliding into low spirits, even condemning themselves entirely.
Come on now, my dear friends.
You have to remember: even if today you’re just the most ordinary office clerk, the most common physical laborer — or even someone who, by any conventional measure, hasn’t achieved anything yet — there is absolutely no reason to feel guilty or hopeless about being “unsuccessful.”
I personally have never admired a life devoid of ambition or achievement. But who said there’s only one path in life?
I’m a driven person myself, but some of my closest friends aren’t driven at all. They live on low energy — earn a little, spend a little — and it doesn’t stop them from being genuinely happy. Picking up odd jobs here and there, driving ride-share when they feel like it, earning just enough to get by, then going out and enjoying life. Isn’t that its own kind of wisdom?
Remember: wealth exists to serve people. Achievement exists to serve people. Happiness — contentment and ease — that is always the most precious thing of all.
● If the day comes when you truly feel like you can’t hold on anymore, here’s my suggestion.
Run yourself a good hot shower. Pour a glass of warm water or warm milk. Put on your headphones with music you love, lie down on your bed, and cry your heart out. Cry until you’re exhausted — then sleep.
Don’t worry about what’s happening outside. Don’t worry about who’s trying to reach you. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb. Post something simple: “Sick, recovering.”
You’re allowed to cry until the world goes dark. Sleep until you can’t sleep anymore.
But let it all out — completely, fully, without holding anything back. Then when the next day comes, tell yourself: you’ve already died once. This is your rebirth. This is the starting line for a comeback with nothing left to lose.
Any career setbacks, any heartbreaks — those all belonged to a past life. They have nothing to do with you now.
From this moment on, no one matters more than you do. Live only for yourself. Live only for your own happiness and peace.
● Finally — if there’s something buried inside you, some hidden feeling or secret you’ve never dared to let out, something you can’t say out loud in everyday life —
The comment section below this article is your safest place.
Don’t worry — every word you share there, I will keep private. Just between you and me.
So if you need a friend to listen, speak freely in the comments.
Negative energy has to be released — otherwise it will eat you alive from the inside. And after you’ve said what you need to say, please end with one wish: a wish for yourself, and a wish for Master Chi.
Deal?
One more thing — this song is by Nakashima Mika: I, Too, Once Thought of Ending It All. The lyrics are in Japanese, but the emotion in it — you’ll feel it.