In your career, your approach to life, your living situation, or even your choice of a life partner, things can sometimes go disastrously wrong — perhaps leaving you trapped under a cloud of misfortune for years, even decades. It is as if a heavy stone has lodged in your chest, or you are carrying a burdensome sack like the monk in legend, one that grows heavier with each passing day. Life becomes chaotic, and you spend your hours lamenting circumstances that seem beyond your control.
In moments like these, a fundamental question arises: must you continue along this path, or is it time to completely transform your lifestyle and mindset, creating an entirely new environment in which to live and grow? The answer is simple in theory, yet formidable in practice.
Human inertia is strong. We cling to the familiar, resisting change, fearing the risks inherent in anything new or different. Too often, we squander our most precious years, watching opportunities, relationships, and even our own well-being slip away. Like families and friends cast into a stormy sea, our lives can become vessels of sorrow and regret. Each of us carries an unshakeable knot in our hearts, a weight that can darken daily life, while tragedy and disappointment linger at the edges, ready to erupt at any moment.
Decades lost to resentment
A female colleague endured decades of personal turmoil after separating from her husband, who had an affair and demanded a divorce to marry his new lover. She refused, delaying her own happiness for 20 or 30 years before finally agreeing to the split. Afterward, she remarried, and her ex-husband married his beloved. In the end, all seemed to resolve happily — but those decades of conflict had buried the prime of their lives in resentment and lost opportunity.
Similarly, an engineer in Taiwan’s Hsinchu Science Park made a radical change to reclaim his life. He sold his apartment, quit his job, and bought a villa in the countryside of Toufen. He then took up work as a taxi driver, a choice that might seem surprising at first. Yet he had calculated carefully: This path would allow him to pay off his mortgage sooner, enjoy a healthier living environment, gain more time and freedom, and cultivate numerous hobbies that had been impossible in his previous lifestyle.
The lesson is clear: If you have spent decades compromising on your living conditions, lifestyle, or mindset, consider making a bold and deliberate change. At the same time, as you improve your own life, remember to help those who are struggling — not only with material support, but also through guidance, encouragement, and example.
The choices we make
Our reluctance to let go is our flaw; our fear of change is our weakness.
At the evening market, I saw an unemployed couple making scallion pancakes on the spot. Working seamlessly together, they sold each pancake for 8 yuan, with a steady line of customers waiting. They spent their mornings sightseeing and worked only in the afternoons — their estimated daily net profit: 800 yuan. Once forced into a simple trade, their lives now hold far greater richness than the rigid office hours they left behind. They enjoy more freedom, more time to live as they choose, and even find moments for charitable deeds.
Perhaps we should ask ourselves: How shall we live this life? Should we allow it to slip away, weighed down by regrets, misfortune, or endless complaints about society and others, believing the world owes us something? Or should we forgive, look for the good, and make the best use of this limited time given to us?
Try this: Shift your perspective. Stop nitpicking, and you may discover that your circumstances are far better than you realize. Or go further — completely transform your environment, attitude, and lifestyle. Do not fear failure; no effort means no reward, and after all, failure contains lessons that no amount of playing it safe ever can.
Strive to build bridges with others, for the true measure of life is not in what you receive, but in what you give. Even if outward rewards are scarce, the growth, wisdom, and fulfillment you cultivate within remain yours forever. Live with intention, embrace each moment with purpose, and let your actions — no matter how small — create lasting richness for yourself and for those whose lives you touch. In doing so, you transform not only your own world, but the world of everyone around you.
Translated by Eva and edited by Tatiana Denning
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