Chapter 7 live the real today

In the spring of 1871, a young life was full of worries: worrying about where to go after graduation, how to pass the final exam, how to live, how to start a business, etc.One day he saw a book and read a sentence that had a great impact on his future.That cheered him up. He was William Osler, a medical student at Monterey General Hospital. In 1871, the words that William Osler saw made him the most famous medical scientist of his generation, prompted him to create the world-renowned Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and became the University of Oxford Appointed Chair of the Faculty of Medicine - the highest honor received by a person studying medicine in the UK and knighted by the King of England.It can be said that he lived his life carefree.

So what was that sentence he saw in the spring of 1871?In fact, this sentence comes from Thomas Callelli: "The most important thing for us is not to see things that are blurred in the distance, but to do things that are clear at hand." Forty-two years later, on a mild spring evening when tulips abounded on campus, Sir William Osler gave a lecture to the students of Yale.He told students that it seemed that a man like himself, a professor at four universities and the author of a popular book, should have a "special mind," but that was not the case.He said that some of his close friends knew that his brain was "the most ordinary".

But what is the secret of his success?Sir William Osler thought it was all because he lived in "a completely independent to-day."What does he mean by this sentence?Just a few months before Sir Osler went to give a lecture at Yale University, he crossed the Atlantic on a large seagoing ship. Once he saw the captain standing in the wheelhouse, pressed a button, and immediately heard a sound of mechanical operation , Several parts of the ship were immediately isolated from each other, forming several completely waterproof isolation compartments. Sir Osler said to those Yale students:

Each of you is much more beautifully organized than that great ship, and the voyage to go is much farther.You must also learn from the captain and know how to control everything. You must live in a "today of complete independence". This is the best way to ensure safety during the voyage.Go to the wheelhouse and you'll find those big cofferdams are at least serviceable.Press the button and use the iron gate to cut off the past - cut off those yesterdays that have passed; press another button and use the iron gate to cut off the future, cut off the tomorrows that have not yet come.Then you are safe and can live "today completely cut off from other days".Always remember: "You have today, cut off the past, bury the past that is gone, cut off the yesterday that leads the fool to the road of death. Tomorrow's burden added to yesterday's burden will become today's greatest obstacle. The future and the past are tightly shut out. Remember that you only have today, and the future lies in today. There is no such thing as tomorrow. The day when human beings are redeemed is now. Spiritual depression and energy waste will follow closely A man who is worried about the future. Close all the isolation compartments in the fore and aft of the ship, and prepare to develop a good habit and live in 'total independence today'.

Of course, Dr. Osler is not saying that we don't have to study for tomorrow.What he means is that the best way to prepare for tomorrow is to focus all your intelligence and enthusiasm on doing today's job perfectly, and that's the only way you can deal with the future. In short, everything tells us that we must think about tomorrow, we must carefully consider, plan and prepare, but don't worry. Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of the most famous newspaper in the world, The New York Times.Mr. Sulzberger told me that when the Second World War raged across Europe he was so taken aback, so full of worries about the future that he could hardly sleep.He would often get up in the middle of the night, hold a canvas and paints, and face the mirror, trying to draw a self-portrait of himself.Even though he knew nothing about painting, he painted anyway as a way to stabilize his emotions.Mr. Sulzberger said he was relieved of his worries and found peace because of a passage in a hymn.The passage is:

This "one step" is what needs to be done today and now. In the current way of life, the scariest thing is that more than half of the beds in our hospitals are mostly reserved for those with neurological or mental problems.They are patients weighed down by the cumulative weight of yesterday and the dreaded tomorrow.But among these patients, if only they could believe in Sir William Osler's words "to live in a completely independent today", they can walk on the street today and live a happy and happy life. Around the same time as Sulzberger, a young soldier learned the same lesson.

His name was Ted Benjamin—and he was nearly insane with worry.Ted Benjamin recalled to me his harrowing experience: It was April 1945, and I think I would have collapsed if the war hadn't ended by then. At that time, I was completely exhausted.As a non-commissioned officer in the 94th Infantry Division, my job was to establish a record of those killed, wounded and missing in combat, and to help exhume soldiers who died in the height of the fighting and were buried in hastily buried graves.I have to collect the relics of those people, and then deliver those things accurately to their family members or relatives and friends.

I have always been very worried, afraid of causing harm to those family members who lost their loved ones because of my mistakes, worried about whether I am qualified for this job, worried about whether I can go back alive, worried about whether I can still hold my only child in my arms ——My son is 16 months old, but I haven't seen him yet. I'm sad and tired, I've lost 34 pounds, and I'm almost insane with worry.I saw myself skinny and skinny.I was terrified at the thought that I might never be able to go home again, I collapsed, I often cried like a child, I often trembled... At that time, around the time when the last big counterattack against the German army began, I almost wanted to give up The hope of becoming a normal person again.

In the end, I ended up in the hospital.After giving me a thorough physical exam, a doctor told me that my problem was purely mental.This doctor gave me some advice that has completely changed my life. He said: "I want you to imagine your life as an hourglass, and you know that there are thousands of small sand grains in the hourglass, and they all flow slowly and evenly through the gaps of the hourglass. In addition to breaking the hourglass, Neither you nor I can pass more than two grains of sand through that narrow slit at the same time. You and I, and everyone else in this world, are like this hourglass. Every morning, at the beginning of a new day, there are thousands We feel that we have to do each piece of work in that day. But if we don't take each piece and let them flow through the day like sand through the slit of an hourglass, then we will It will definitely damage your health."

After the doctor told me this passage, I have been following the advice of "flow one grain of sand at a time...do one thing at a time".This advice has saved me both physically and mentally, and it has helped me tremendously in my current job.What I found: In business, there are a lot of similar problems to the battlefield, where you have to do several things at once—and you don't have much time to spare.We are running low on materials, we have new forms to process, we have meetings to schedule, and there are changes of addresses, openings and closings of branches, etc. I don't get nervous anymore, because I remember what the doctor told me: "Flow one grain of sand at a time, and do one thing at a time." I often repeat this to myself.I'm working more efficiently than ever, and I don't have that disorienting feeling that nearly drives me down on the battlefield.

One woman, after overcoming her anxiety, said: "I have succeeded in overcoming my fear of being alone and my fear of neediness. I am now happy, successful in my career, and very much in love with life. I now know that no matter what I will no longer be afraid of anything in life, and I will deal with it in an orderly manner: I now know that I don’t have to be afraid of the future; I now know that I only need to live one day at a time—and for a wise person, Every day is a new life." Now this lady is happy and she can take control of her happiness because she can call today her day.She feels safe today, able to say, "No matter how bad tomorrow is, I got through today." These few words sound like they were said by today's philosophers, but they were actually said by the ancient Roman poet Horace 2,000 years ago, 30 years before the birth of Christ.Doesn’t this attitude towards life inspire us as much? Each of us, at this present moment, stands at the intersection of two eternities—a point that has passed forever and stretches into an infinite future.But none of us can live, not even for a second, between these two eternities.If we try to do that, we destroy ourselves physically and mentally.We need to be content with the moment we are living in.From now until we go to bed, no matter how heavy the task is, everyone can carry it until the night comes, no matter how hard the work is, everyone can do his job for the day, everyone can be patient, sweet, and To live cutely and purely until the sun goes down is the true meaning of life. Of course, one of the saddest things in human nature is that all of us procrastinate from living, dreaming of a marvelous rose garden on the horizon, instead of enjoying the roses blooming in our windows today. Why have we become such fools, such poor fools?Indeed, how strange is the short course of our lives, the little child says, "When I'm a big boy," but so what?The older child said, "When I grow up".When he really grew up, he said, "After I get married".But what would happen when he married?His thoughts then changed to "after I retire".After retirement, when he looks back at everything he has experienced, it seems that a cold wind blows, he misses everything, and everything is gone forever.We always fail to learn this truth early: life is in life, every day and every moment. One example of this is the story of the late Mr. Wah Evans.It can be said that before he learned the truth that "life is in life, in every day and every moment", he almost wanted to commit suicide because of worry. Born in a poor family, Hua Evans first made a living by selling newspapers, and later worked as a clerk in a grocery store.Later, due to the large number of people in the family, the family of seven depended on him for food, so he tried to find a job as an assistant librarian. Although the salary was very small, he was afraid and unwilling to resign.It wasn't until 8 years later that he mustered up the courage to start his own business.With the $55 he borrowed, he did a great job, earning about $20,000 a year. However, the good times didn't last long, and bad luck soon came.He had carried a large check for a friend who had gone bankrupt.To make matters worse, this misfortune was followed by another, still greater misfortune, when the great bank in which he deposited all his fortune collapsed.The disaster cost him not only all his money, but $16,000 in debt.He could no longer bear such a blow mentally.He told me: "I can't eat, I can't sleep, I have a strange disease. Actually, there is no other reason, but worry. One day, I was walking on the road, and suddenly passed out on the side of the road. , I couldn’t walk anymore. They made me lie on the bed, and my whole body rotted. The wound gradually rotted inward, and I couldn’t even stand in bed. My body became weaker and weaker, and finally the doctor told me that I I had only two weeks to live. The news took me by surprise. Afterwards, I wrote my will and lay in bed waiting to die. At that point, I knew there was no point in struggling or worrying, so I gave up and started to relax. Close eyes and rest. For weeks, I didn't get 2 hours of sleep. But, because at this point, I thought all difficulties were coming to an end, I slept like a child. Those tiresome worries faded away , my appetite improved and I started gaining weight. "At this time, my condition did not deteriorate as the doctor said. After a few weeks, I was able to walk with a cane. After 6 weeks, I was able to go back to work. I used to earn 2 $10,000, but now I can find a job for $30 a week, I am very satisfied. Now, my job is to sell the tailgate behind the wheel of the delivery car. At this point I have learned not to regret what happened in the past, no No more fear of the future, no more worries. I put all my energy, time, and passion on the sales pitch." Hua Evans' progress was very fast, and within a few years he became the chairman of Evans Industries.For many years, the company has been trading on the New York Stock Exchange.If you fly to Greenland, chances are you'll land at Evans Airport, named in his honor.However, it can be said that if he had not learned to "live in a completely independent today", Hua Yiwens would never have achieved such achievements. "The rule here is that you can eat jam tomorrow, and you can eat jam yesterday, but you can't eat jam today." This is what the Snow White Queen said.The same goes for most of us: Worrying about yesterday's jam, worrying about tomorrow's jam, and not slathering today's jam on the bread we're eating. Even the great French philosopher Montan once made the same mistake. He said: "In my life, I have been full of terrible misfortunes, and most of those misfortunes have never happened before." And your life, too. Dante said: "Think of it, this day will never come again." Life is passing at an incredible speed, we are running through space at 19 miles per second, but today is us The most precious thing is the only time we can really grasp.So, the first thing you should know about worry, if you don't want it to interfere with your life, is to learn from Sir William Osler's "Separate the past from the future with an iron gate, and live in the present in complete independence ". We want to believe that: Only by living in a real today can you gain peace and happiness.