Anyone who frequents supermarkets has witnessed and knows how discount aisles are always crowded and bustling with people chasing a fleeting bargain. Despite this, how many people have been enlightened about this fact? Quality items rarely go on sale. Such is an analogy to life: Your wellbeing and true self should never be discounted or sold for others to benefit or take advantage of, thus diminishing and losing your true self. How should you treat this? Consider the four timeless practices listed below that have stood the test of time.
Treasure your time: A quiet spiritual practice
As the seasons quietly pass, you may find yourself midway through life. How often have you bent to others’ rhythms to keep the peace, losing your pace along the way? Only later do you realize that a quiet morning, an unfinished book, or a sunset shared with loved ones are the finest gifts time gives you. The following two ancient figures describe their insights.
Zeng Guofan and his “Four Daily Disciplines” helped him remain unmoved through times of chaos. He regarded time as life’s most actual currency, staying unmoved by fame and eventually becoming a revered statesman. His days were marked by regular habits: study, journaling, and reflection — never ceasing, year upon year.
During his political exile, Su Shi (Su Dongpo) used his time to study and write poetry. This self-discipline eventually saw him become the towering figure of the bold poetic style. Even in hardship, he refused to waste a day and instead found ways to transform trials and tribulations into triumphs. You are but a speck in the vastness of time. As Zeng Guofan regarded life as his actual currency, may you learn to factor in time to read with serenity at dawn and listen to your heart as twilight falls.
Free yourself from emotional drain: The quiet grace of inner peace
In youth, you’ve been upset by a careless word or thrown off balance by trivial matters. Only after enduring life’s ups and downs do you realize that silence isn’t weakness, but clarity. The ancient records of Su Shi depict his openness and ease of heart, which many have come to yearn for and emulate. Such grace, rooted deep in his being, shows that true maturity is the ability to remain calm amid life’s storms.
An ancient figure, Zhuge Liang, said: “Without tranquillity, one cannot reach far!” He ruled both state and emotion with wisdom. Another figure, Wang Yangming, believed: “The mind is ‘principle’ itself” — through self-cultivation and introspection, he found inner stability.
At the age of 40, Confucius found he was “no longer confused.” Though he endured hardship while traveling between states, he remained composed. For example, while surrounded by Chen and Cai troops who intended to starve them, Confucius played music to comfort himself and became undisturbed by suffering, thus mastering the ability to always be anchored in serenity.
In Yueyang’s Tower Essay, he channeled personal emotions into greater devotion, not being caught in one’s smaller self, but seeking to be moved by a larger purpose. This is emotional mastery at its finest!
In modern life, where information floods you and the pace never slows, emotional balance has become one of the most challenging peaks. When you let small things disturb you, you fall into inner chaos. But external noise cannot move you when you can still your heart. Wang Yangming once said: “It is easy to defeat the bandits in the mountains, but it’s hard to defeat the bandits residing in our hearts.”
Unwavering purpose: The strength of commitment
The most dangerous point in a person’s life is not the difficulty you face ahead, but when the light within you begins to dim. Poet Qu Yuan wrote: “The road is long and far-reaching; I will search high and low!” His refusal to compromise became a poem etched in time, and his spirit has endured throughout the ages. Choosing an ambition determines the direction of your life.
As ordinary people, we all have, at times, bowed to circumstance or doubted our dreams. Yet, in the quiet of night, when you sit alone and reflect, don’t you still long for that extraordinary path? Wen Tianxiang once said: “Since ancient times, who has not died? Let me leave a loyal heart shining through history and let it ring with undiminished resolve!” While facing the temptations and threats of invading armies, he chose death over betrayal. Even in chains, he held fast to his honour.
Conviction is the spark that lights the way in darkness, the quiet persistence that remembers the original dream after many miles. To hold onto your ideals in a noisy world is an unspoken perseverance that lingers on and keeps you in good standing.
Love with self-respect: A deep and dignified devotion
You’ve loved, lost, and hurt — only to finally understand: Love isn’t self-abandonment, but a mutual understanding and a shared growth. Once, in your youth, you believed that giving everything would guarantee love everlasting. But it is only after you’ve been weathered by impermanence that you realize: Real love never discounts dignity. True love means respecting yourself and others in your life’s journey, each becoming self-actualized and reaching their full potential.
Li Qingzhao guarded her memories alone after national ruin and personal grief. In her writing, she captured sorrow and resilience, deep in feeling, yet never losing her grace. After her husband’s (Zhao Mingcheng) death, she continued compiling the Jinshi Records, preserving their bond through scholarship. Her fidelity to love was also a fidelity to her life’s worth.
The romantic tale of Sima Xiangru and Zhuo Wenjun is famed for its passion, but more so for its mutual respect. Despite differences in each of their family statuses and public opinion, they chose to walk together. Wenjun brewed wine and ran a business; she never leaned on her background. Xiangru, for his part, rose to greatness and honoured her faith in him. Their love was not based on dependency, but two complete self-actualized souls uplifting each other. May you love wisely, not losing yourself in short-lived emotional romance! Like bamboo among the mountains, like pine in the snow — remain self-respecting and self-actualized in love.
If you don’t discount yourself, life will not short-change you. To never be “on sale” is to stay steady through the ups and downs, stay true through the lonely silence, and live poetically in a world full of noise. After all the storms, I still believe in poetry and the faraway places. After crossing the rivers and mountains, you should still be tender and pure.
Translated by Katy Liu and edited by Maria
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