A few days ago, I watched an interview program.
The host asked the guest, "After half of your life has passed, do you have any regrets?" The guest replied calmly, "There are many regrets. If I hadn't done that at that time, would things be better now?"
I couldn't help asking myself: Is this feeling due to growing old, or is it an awakening that comes after experiencing enough?
The answer must be the latter.
This is not the lament of aging, but the prelude to maturity.
The beauty of life lies in those moments of sudden realization when you understand something "oh, that's how it is".
[When we were young: The inevitable quest for the outside world]
When I was young, the world was like a huge radar map. We desperately sent out signals, eager to receive echoes from all directions.
Full of energy, we never stopped, going wherever the excitement was -
various dinners, parties, meeting all kinds of faces, filling the nights with noise and proving our existence through the hustle and bustle.
Looking back now, those friendly exchanges and warm smiles shared while drunk and in high spirits, those forced smiles made to expand one's social network, have mostly receded like the tide, leaving nothing but a spent body and a sense of emptiness that says "nothing was left behind".
But is that really of no value?
No. That's not a waste of time; it's a process of exploration. That's not in vain; it's a necessary course before awakening.
[ The Path of Awakening: All Experiences Are Nutrients]
Without those seemingly wasted moments and the experiences accumulated bit by bit over time, there would be no such clarity and wisdom today.
The path you have traveled, every step counts.
Every step you take will not be in vain.
Yesterday's "ignorance" has led to today's reflection; what was "seeking from the outside" has resulted in the present "exploring within".
This inner journey from the outside to the inside is a gift of age, and it is also a true awakening of wisdom.
[From the Outside In: The Transformations We All Must Go Through in Life ]
Back then, "input from the outside" was inevitable.
We were like dry sponges, desperately absorbing everything without having time to distinguish between water and impurities.
We needed those lively confrontations with loneliness, needed casual acquaintances to confirm their own positions, and needed to touch the meaningful boundaries in meaningless toasts.
- It was precisely through experiencing that emptiness that we were able to truly understand the meaning of "fullness".
- It was precisely because of having once got lost in the crowd that one now enjoys solitude so much.
- It was because I had said too many insincere words that I now value the genuine echoes from my heart.
Let those who have experienced it tell us: Who hasn't had a few things they regret?
Zhang Yimou once said, "I have always regretted that if the Olympics hadn't required Lin Miaoqiao to do the fake singing, things would have been different."
However, the past "ignorance" was not true stupidity; rather, it was the chaotic state that one must go through before awakening.
It is precisely because of these experiences as negative examples that the current "comprehension" appears so precious.
[Continuous Growth: The Eternal Theme of Life]
Cognition is always on the move; growth will always be by your side.
This is the significance of continuous learning – as long as you are alive, learning never stops.
Only through continuous learning can you have the ability to judge whether the path you took yesterday was correct.
Knowing that you regret something means you are moving forward.
On the way forward, we are quietly undergoing a transformation:
- In the past, listening to the voice of the world was for being recognized;
- Now, listening to the voice within is for being affirmed by oneself.
We no longer rush to seek answers from the outside, but instead start to dig for resources within ourselves.
Those seemingly futile experiences from our youth have all become the nourishment for this unique soil of our inner selves.
[Tomorrow, where shall I go?]
What will happen tomorrow? No one knows.
But we have come to understand: The answer is not in the distant future, nor is it in the words of others. The answer lies only on the path of "moving forward".
And for the first time, the direction of "moving forward" was guided by the compass within our hearts.