Today is a busy one — I don’t have the energy for a long piece. So instead, let me share one sharp, hard-hitting lesson on growth:
In this world, what matters isn’t whether something is comfortable to look at — it’s whether you can see it clearly.
I need you to burn this into your memory. Because if you don’t grasp it at a bone-deep level, it will cost you dearly throughout your life.
Think carefully for a moment. Do you know someone like this?
Whenever they hear about someone else’s success — someone else making money — their first instinct isn’t to ask how that person did it. Their first instinct is to tear it apart.
“That money? All flattery and shamelessness.”
“That achievement? Pure dumb luck.”
“Those results? No principles, no dignity.”
They simply cannot stand to see others doing well. And the moment they do, they have to step on it — verbally, immediately.
For a long time, I couldn’t understand this behavior. Why does someone else’s success trigger such fury?
Eventually I came to understand: it’s a self-protection mechanism.
The reason these people smear and slander you after your success is simple — it’s the only way they can feel comfortable again.
Did you do something to provoke them? In a sense, yes — though you never realized it. The narrow-mindedness of a petty person is beyond what most of us can imagine. The moment your existence and your success throws their own failures and smallness into relief, you become the object of their envy and resentment. No matter how they look at you, it will never feel comfortable.
How did I come to understand this? It traces back to two destiny reading (命理) consultations from several years ago.
The first to come to me was the older of two close friends. She was genuinely exceptional — meeting nearly every standard we’d use to describe an outstanding woman. Beautiful, sharp, ambitious, full of positive energy.
That consultation went beautifully. Her questions were answered, my suggestions were accepted. We parted in good spirits.
She then recommended her close friend — the younger one — and spoke glowingly of my abilities.
But the moment I began consulting with the younger one, I felt something — a hard-to-describe undercurrent of hostility emanating from her. Every time I explained a section of her destiny chart (命格), she would try to maneuver me into revealing details about her friend’s reading.
Of course, I wouldn’t cooperate. A person’s destiny chart is deeply private — I never disclose a single character.
But as our consultation came to a close, she began speaking in a victim’s tone, laying out her friend’s private failings and past transgressions.
Watching her smile as she sold out her closest friend, I said little. I made a quick excuse and left. Then I sent the older friend a message:
“The sun’s warmth is generous, but it’s also quick to sunburn the pride of snakes and rats.”
Think about it: here was an exceptional friend right beside her — and rather than learn from her, the younger one spent her energy planting knives in the dark. What a pitifully foolish and contemptible way to be.
And yet, she was destined to spend this entire life in her friend’s shadow, never emerging. Because deep down, she refused to confront it — she was too afraid to face her own smallness.
This is the price of refusing to look clearly at what is uncomfortable to see.
This is also a common trait at the bottom of society — a poverty of spirit that, once it takes root in the heart, is almost impossible to cure.
On the other hand, I’ve consistently noticed that the most capable, accomplished, dignified, and prosperous people share a particular habit: even when something is uncomfortable to look at, they look at it clearly anyway.
Their inner world is expansive — rivers finding the sea.
Their internal logic tends to run something like this: I may not personally like this person or situation, but my preferences should never be a barrier to taking in useful knowledge. Just as I shouldn’t let picky eating deprive me of quality nutrition.
This is the kind of wisdom and magnanimity that will benefit you for a lifetime — it is higher-order thinking.
I’ll be honest: there was a time when Master Chi was just like many people — instinctively avoiding anyone I didn’t like. But as I began studying Chinese metaphysics (玄学) in my youth and gradually made it the center of my work, I found myself dealing with people from every corner of society, every walk of life. And through that experience, I discovered something: many of the people I didn’t like, didn’t respect, didn’t admire — when I actually took the time to understand them, they had real qualities worth learning from. I simply hadn’t made the effort.
In fact, some of the most valuable perspectives, ideas, and insights are hidden precisely in the corners we tend to ignore.
The reason I’m writing this today is simple: I want you to make me a promise. Going forward, practice approaching all things with a generous and open heart.
Only then — with rivers running to the sea, embracing all currents — will you gradually rise from a pawn who sees only one corner of the board, to a player who commands the whole game.