Today is the Lantern Festival — I have plenty of social engagements, so I won’t write a long piece. Let me just casually share some thoughts.
Looking at the key moments since the start of this year — New Year’s Day, the Spring Festival, the holiday season — it’s been barely a month and a half. Yet you can clearly feel that the atmosphere in the air has started to pick up. Whether it’s the stream of encouraging news on the broader front or the many friends around me, there’s an unmistakable upward spirit taking hold.
Is this a good thing? Absolutely.
What strikes me most is that many old friends who had gone quiet and laid low — even elders born in the 50s and 60s — after years of stepping back from the scene, are suddenly feeling the urge to come out and get busy with something again.
This is a good sign. Because once this spirit starts to gather and coalesce into a real force, it has the power to drive a new wave of prosperity.
Of course, this spirit hasn’t fully surged out yet. Don’t rush it — it’s coming. Soon.
And then, as the saying goes: for every family rejoicing, there’s another in sorrow.
Some close friends of mine have recently hit the lowest points of their lives — their will, their Chi (vital energy), their spirit, all collapsed.
So this feels like the right moment to share what I’ve learned over the years about facing hard times — for all of you going through the same:
When you hit a wall, don’t let it scare you out of your wits.
What’s there to fear? It’s just a hurdle. Is it really going to crush you to death?
Don’t worry. At worst, you’ll endure a few years of hardship — but it will never take your life.
Think of it that way, and the pressure lightens considerably.
So: open your eyes and see the structure of the obstacle clearly. Work out the specific steps to dismantle it. Then stride forward with full spirit and take that first step toward defeating it.
I’ll tell you this — once you take that first step, all the others will follow.
And the harder things get, the more you need to eat heartily and eat well. When you’re working, pour yourself into it completely. When you rest, lie down and sleep like the world has gone dark — sleep until you can sleep no more.
Don’t make a big deal of your feelings and emotions. Don’t cry softly in a corner, delicate and defeated. Above all, don’t wallow in self-pity fishing for sympathy — that is the most useless thing you can do.
Think of yourself as a wild beast. Single-mindedly focused on survival, eating, sleeping, and sharpening your strength day after day.
Do this, and you’ll find your mind unburdened — and from that unburdened mind, your vital force will surge.
Remember: when you hit a hard stretch, first tend to the physical body. Then let go of scattered thoughts. Only then can you turn things around and rise.
Vitality is the foundation of everything.