Everyone around me who lives well shares one common quality: humility and an eagerness to learn.
When they encounter views they don’t understand or don’t agree with, they think calmly and carefully about the other person’s logic, drawing useful knowledge from it — rather than rushing to dismiss or attack with their own unrefined thinking.
When they face problems outside their expertise, they think seriously about the causes and consequences, then find ways to address the root of the issue — or look to how others have solved it.
When they hit rough patches in life, they quiet their minds, calmly analyze how they ended up in that situation, and after deeply confronting the root cause, they pull themselves back out.
In short: if you don’t understand something, if you don’t know how — ask. Learn.
Not like those who have accomplished nothing, who possess no real skills to speak of, yet carry a hot temper and stubborn arrogance — dismissing people here, mocking them there — all just to feed a tiny scrap of vanity.
Remember this: all things under heaven — life’s rises and falls, its honors and humiliations, noble benefactors (Gui Ren) and petty people alike — every one of them should be your teacher.
And you — you are my teacher too.
Happy Holidays ??