Life has been teaching people a lesson: you must learn to be independent and rely on yourself.
If you refuse to accept this lesson and try to rely on others, life will keep teaching you, again and again, until you wake up. It’s like being slapped in the face repeatedly.
Life isn’t intentionally cruel, but it can be brutal in its methods. It doesn’t care if you can take it or not.
To achieve its “educational” goals, life might put you in a desperate and helpless situation at some point, forcing you to face everything alone. It’s like being abandoned on a deserted island, left to fend for yourself.
At first, you’ll be terrified and lose confidence. You’ll hope for a rescue ship to arrive and save you. But as time passes, you’ll realize that no one is coming, and you’ll have to rely on yourself to survive.
As time goes by, you’ll adapt to your new reality. You’ll think that after overcoming the initial difficulties, things will get better. But life might throw you another curveball, and you’ll fall ill, with wild beasts lurking nearby, putting you in constant danger.
You’ll curse your fate and the unfairness of the world, questioning why you ended up in this situation.
But ultimately, you’ll realize that it’s all pointless. Your only choice is to be brave and keep moving forward.
So, you’ll calm down and start to survive on the island. You’ll find food and water, build a shelter, and train your body to stay healthy. You might even plant some flowers to add some color to your life.
Years later, a ship will finally arrive, and the people on board will offer to rescue you. But you’ll refuse, feeling content with your current life. You’ll wave goodbye to them and stay on the island, surrounded by the wild beasts that have become your pets.
This is life, and this is what it’s like to face everything alone.
If you didn’t understand this story, let’s talk about reality.
We’ve all experienced unexpected twists and turns, feeling like we’re stranded on a deserted island. We hope for a rescue ship, whether it’s someone or fate. But in the end, when we’ve faced everything alone, we’ll not only adapt to being independent but also realize that self-reliance is the most stable state of living.
It doesn’t matter where we are or who’s around us. And that wild beast that became our pet? It symbolizes what we once feared but are no longer afraid of, and we’ve learned to coexist with it.
When we’re in a difficult situation, we’ll feel hopeless, lose confidence, and try to find someone to rely on. But ultimately, we must face everything alone.
In life’s darkest moments, the basic guarantee is our life and health. As long as we have these, we can overcome anything. This doesn’t mean we’ve escaped the island but that we’ve adapted to it and found a new life.
When you have the ability and a good attitude, you can face anything. Everything will become the best arrangement, and you won’t be panicked or lost, because you know you have the confidence to face everything.
The sufferings and troubles in life are often caused by external factors. But if you can introspect, cultivate yourself, and continually improve, you’ll ultimately rely on yourself, and troubles will disappear. You might not be truly happy, but at least:
Your heart will be as calm as still water, and your body will be as strong as a Bodhi tree.