Have a happy, healthy, and joyful weekend!
Release Date:
2021-10-11 17:39
This Week’s Share-- A road that strides forward even in the darkness. ！
During my four years in college, I attended countless lectures and talks. Among them all, the most well-attended were, of course, those delivered by successful entrepreneurs.
After every talk, three questions come up most often: “First, what do you think was the biggest factor behind your success? Second, what was your company’s revenue last year? And third, is your company hiring right now? Could you please share an email address where I can send my resume?” What’s even more interesting is that, despite being pitches aimed at recruitment and promotion, the titles of these presentations invariably include the word “dream.”
From that moment on, I began to doubt the very notion of “dream.”
Now, whenever I turn on the TV, the word I hear most often is “dream.” One young person after another says, “Music is my life—I can’t live without it—so that’s why I’m here.” In other words: I want to be famous. The judges in the audience ask, “What’s your dream?” And the contestant onstage replies, “To sing for as many people as possible.” Which still means: I want to be famous.
Becoming a star is a dream; becoming a champion is a dream; even answering five questions correctly, defeating four opponents, and clearing three rounds is a dream. How easily we get misled by words! Ever since the term “dream” has been overused, it has come to mean “someday, making a big splash, with everyone knowing your name.” If… If Martin Luther King were alive today, would he say, “I have a dream… but it’s pretty much the same as everyone else’s…”?
A month ago, I visited Taiwan, where a locally produced film titled “The World’s Best Bread” was being promoted on every street and in every alley. The story follows a young protagonist who endured a difficult childhood; through relentless effort and countless setbacks, he ultimately becomes the world champion of breadmaking. “Be the best chef,” or “Even driving a taxi can lead to a bright future”—this is the kind of motivational ethos that today’s Taiwan offers to its young people.
I once met the editor-in-chief of a newspaper in Taiwan. He told me that his son had attended Taiwan’s top university, National Taiwan University, then gone on to Harvard to study economics, and later pursued an EBMA program at UC Berkeley. By the time he had completed all his degrees, his son said to him, “Dad, I’ve finished all the schooling I needed—I owe you nothing now. It’s time for me to go after my dreams.” We assumed he would start his own business, but instead, that young man has become an outstanding Western‑style chef.
“Making the world’s best bread” can indeed be called a dream, and when a highly educated young person chooses to cook, his father is deeply proud of that decision… It took me a long time to come to terms with these ideas: perhaps this is what’s normal—what’s abnormal is us. For too long, we have recognized only one kind of “success,” dismissing other ways of life—and with them, our own inner selves.
For a long time, we have judged ourselves through the eyes of others, measured ourselves against their standards, and heeded every piece of advice and warning from those who claim to have “been there.”
For a long time, we’ve been caught in envy of others’ seemingly perfect lives, longing to walk the paths they’ve taken and reach the places they’ve arrived.
A simple truth that we have long overlooked is this: each person is a journey toward the self, an experiment with a path, and a quiet summons to a narrow trail.
I agree with Gu Cheng’s words: “ A truly honest person never faces a choice; the path will always lie clearly before you, regardless of your aspirations. It’s like being an apple tree: you may long for fruit, yet you still bear apples with honesty. ”
A thoroughly honest person, one who strides forward even in the dead of night, has but a single voice within: no admonition from others, no worldly vanity, no temptations of life, nor the coercion of power can reach his ears or his heart. When a man is on a quest, he sees only what he seeks.
Firmly be yourself, while also caring about the fate of others. Learn to love this world, yet always be ready to stand up against it. That’s what I tell myself every day.
Related News
Tel
Address
No. 2, Huangtai Road, Yunting Town, Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province, China
