As we age, difficulties arise to overwhelm us. As long as we are not discouraged, life cannot defeat us. What should we do? Let us ponder together.
An old man, a boat, a big fish, and a sea.
After three days and three nights of hard work and several desperate struggles, the old man returned by boat dragging a pair of giant fish skeletons.
The plot of the book The Old Man and the Sea written by Ernest Hemingway is so concise that it can be summed in a few words.
However, to some, The Old Man and the Sea is not only a story of an unlucky fisherman, but it also reveals the common destiny of mankind, especially Hemingway himself.
01 Know yourself
Once a person knows himself in and out, he is really mature.
Santiago is a thin and haggard old fisherman, holding a small boat alone, fishing in the Gulf Stream of Mexico.
Recently, he has become a well-known unlucky guy in the small fishing village, because for eighty four days, he did not catch a fish.
The older fishermen looked at his miserable condition and felt very sympathetic. They would carefully avoid talking about fishing, and only discuss the weather or what they saw when they went to sea.
The young fisherman liked to make fun of the old man, saying that his sail, patched with flour sacks, was like a flag of surrender.
But no matter how teased and beaten by others, the old man always believes that he has more than thirty years of experience, and sooner or later he will catch fish.
In the end, the old man’s faith and persistence allowed him to catch a one thousand and five hundred pound fish and shut up all those who laughed at him.
In life, we may also encounter such moments, or our dreams are laughed at, or our abilities are questioned.
Some people are defeated by the noise of the outside world, but those with a firm heart can see the noise as floating clouds and walk their own path firmly.
In life, it is a kind of realm to look down on others, but it is a kind of wisdom to see through yourself.
It is better to know yourself than to read the minds of thousands of people.
02 Compete with the right attitude
We should fight with the right attitude during our lifetime.
The old fisherman who has been unable to catch a fish has a miserable life.
He lived in a dilapidated wooden shed and lived on the food donated by the restaurant owner, but no matter how difficult his life was, the old man’s blue eyes were always full of joy.
He couldn’t afford new newspapers, so he discussed old news with Manolin seriously, as if he was watching the latest sports.
He didn’t care about the plight of not being able to catch fish for eighty-four consecutive days, but joked about going to buy lottery tickets to try his luck.
No matter who looks at it, the old fisherman’s life has the word HARD written in capital letters.
But he can always taste the sweetness from the suffering, and after a tiring day, he can lie on the bed covered with old newspapers and fall asleep peacefully.
The optimism of the elderly is a reminder to us that it is not easy for anyone to wander in a sea of people. Our only recourse is a mentality to fight.
When the mentality is broken, the temporary suffering is infinitely magnified. If the mentality is not broken, no matter how great the hardships and dangers are, we can easily overcome them.
Things change with our mind, and the environment is created by the heart. Changing the mentality is changing the way of life.
The tastes of life are not determined by God. It is all up to you and me.
03 Enjoy loneliness
A strong heart begins with enjoying solitude.
After the death of his wife, an old fisherman, Santiago, lives alone.
Manolin loves him and always finds opportunities to come and accompany him. The child is sincere, but he doesn’t know that the old fisherman seems lonely and not fragile.
The seabirds flying across the sky and the flying fish jumping out of the water are good partners for chatting with the old man when he is fishing alone.
If there is only the vast sea around, he will talk to himself quietly.
In the boundless loneliness, the old man learned to get along with himself.
Someone once said:
The best attitude towards loneliness is to treat it as a kind of enjoyment.
Loneliness is a kind of sobriety, and being alone is a kind of maturity.
In a world where there are no distractions from others, if we settle ourselves, refine ourselves, achieve ourselves, and taste loneliness, we will be able to feel poetic out of a boring life.
04 Be ready when opportunity knocks
Only by working hard can we catch good luck when it comes.
Even though nothing was caught for eighty-four days, the old fisherman rowed the boat out to sea diligently.
He first carefully observed the position of the birds in the sky, judged the general direction of the fish, and then put the line as hard as a pencil straight into the ocean current.
When setting the fishing line, other fishermen are used to being sloppy, but the old man does not slack off. He has always been ready to catch fish at any time for decades.
Therefore, when a marlin bigger than the boat took the bait, the old fisherman was not surprised at all. He knew that the good luck that seemed to fall from the sky was actually won by himself with real skills.
Nietzsche said:
If there is a miracle in this world, it is just another name for hard work.
Life is not just sitting and waiting. Good luck will come uninvited. Even if fate is involuntary, we have to fight against bad luck.
Instead of extravagantly seeking to be favored by the goddess of luck, it is better for us to create a fruitful tomorrow for ourselves with silent efforts everyday.
Only if we keep working hard, will we be able to catch good luck when it comes.
05 Hold on
Life is a struggle, holding on means everything.
After going through many hardships, the old man finally caught the fish and was about to draw in the net, but the marlin was so big and heavy that the old man couldn’t pull it at all, instead he dragged the marlin along with the boat.
From day to night to dawn, the big fish kept swimming, but the old man with the fishing line on his back became more and more unable to hold on.
His back was bloodied by the rope, and he lost consciousness due to the pain. His right hand was injured and his left hand had cramps.
He thought about giving up, but when he was about to fall down, a voice sounded in his heart:
As long as it can last, I can last as long!
Such self-motivation has supported the elderly through countless dark times.
When his wife died and he was helpless, when the little helper was forbidden by his parents to go out with him, when the young man laughed at him, the old man never gave up on life easily, and always held on stubbornly.
Sometimes, life is a torment. There are many winds and rains in life. Who doesn’t stagger forward while gritting their teeth and struggling?
Maybe, climbing over the bumpy road at this moment, and falling into the thorny bushes in the next second, life stumbles, but it is nothing more than a process of surviving the trough and flourishing.
Sometimes holding on means everything.
As the book says, people are not born to fail. A person can be eliminated, but not defeated.
Never admit defeat and we will never lose.
06 Change
Instead of complaining, it is better to change.
After a hard fight, the old man finally subdued the big fish, but the battle was not over yet.
The blood flowing from the heart of the big fish attracted a large number of sharks, and they gnawed on the marlin with impunity.
The old man was exhausted, but he had to keep fighting the shark.
When he was unable to do what he wanted, he was also shaken. If he had known that he would be targeted by sharks, it would be better if he had never fished marlin.
But the old man quickly drove away the distracting thoughts. He told himself that the incident had already happened, and it would be useless to regret it. Instead of complaining, it is better to think about how to defeat the shark.
The world is so difficult and dangerous, and whenever the fate of making things difficult comes one after another, we might as well learn the attitude of the old man.
Be indifferent to impermanence and deal with it actively, and don’t let the poison of blame and others hurt others and ourselves.
A fool complains, but a wise man saves himself.
The really powerful people are not those who don’t complain, but those who turn negative emotions into upward force and try their best to change.
07 Be upbeat
We must do our best, but we must also allow ourselves to fail.
Some people say that the truth of life is that after going through hardships, we may not be able to have what we yearn for.
Just like the poor old fisherman, he overcame many difficulties such as lack of food, water, helpers, and physical injuries, and finally caught a one thousand five hundred-pound super fish.
However, a group of sharks flocked to eat up the big fish, leaving him only a skeleton.
Going to the sea full of hope, but returning empty-handed, this trick from heaven was enough to make the old man beat his chest and complain, but he remained calm.
He is very clear that the sea is like the world, and the waves are erratic. What we pay may not be rewarded, and what we get may be lost soon.
Since avoidance is unavoidable, it is better to go all out and let it go after seeking to be worthy of our heart.
The so-called maturity means urging ourselves to do our best in everything, and at the same time accepting that we will be fruitless.
A life lived through hard work is glorious despite defeat.
Life is exhausting, loneliness and confusion go hand in hand. In the face of only one life, we should be desperate, do our best, and then let go of worries and keep calm.
Don’t be too demanding to be successful, don’t be afraid of where fate will push us, as long as we are not discouraged, life will not defeat us.
End of post.
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MUSTANG HOLISTIC WELLNESS 