Chapter 54 May 4th

The road of life is bumpy, and the so-called unsatisfactory things are often eighteen or nineteen.If you are not happy, you are in adversity, otherwise you are in good times.A few more words about the distinction between forward and reverse.It seems that there is a normal situation. Prosperity means that the income exceeds or greatly exceeds the normal situation, and adversity means that the income is less than or far below the normal situation.Taking farmers’ crops as an example, if the average yield per mu for many years is 1,000 jin, it is normal for the yield per mu to be around 1,000 jin in a certain year, it is good when it exceeds 1,500 jin, and it is adversity if it is less than 500 jin.In this way, we live at home, eat and rest on a regular basis, neither win the first prize, nor do disasters come from heaven, and communicate with relatives and friends.When a normal situation rises to a favorable situation, such as a small official jumping to the right to become a high-ranking official, there will be an overjoyed mood, and the onlookers will also be surprised.The same is true of adversity. If you are crowned a rightist in an instant, you will be surprised and frustrated, and the bystanders will also be surprised and feel more or less regretful.Usually, there are more adversities than good times, why?The reason is objective. In the words of the Buddhist school, we live in the world of a woman, so there must be more suffering and less happiness.The reason is also subjective, because people's hearts are higher than the sky, or they are full of fantasies, so occasionally blessings from the sky will be taken for granted, but the illusion will be disillusioned, or even worse, it will be difficult to adapt to falling from the trees to the valley. Can't help complaining.Regardless of the number of ups and downs here, generally speaking, in life, from being able to act independently to building a coffin, generally in the 50s, 60s or 60s or 70s, there will always be good times and bad times, how should we deal with them?

Before dealing with it, there is still a question, whether it should be avoided or not.This problem is also quite complicated, because there are various situations, and people’s hearts are different, and each person has different preferences, and the choice between likes and dislikes is also different, so it is rare to have the same solution.As a last resort, I have to mention a general principle, and then add a principle corresponding to special circumstances.The general principle is that you can try your best to change from a normal situation to a favorable one. If the objective conditions do not allow it, or if you are not able to do it, you should try your best to maintain the normal situation and not fall into adversity.This is the way of life for ordinary people, to live a life of duty, but there are ideals, even fantasies, and if there are, they hope to realize them, and of course they welcome the advent of good times.However, prosperity and adversity are general names, which specifically refer to a certain situation (such as a large increase or decrease in food production), and the problem becomes complicated.Take the ancient legend as an example, Yao let the world go to Xu You, Xu You didn't accept it, gave it to Shun, and Shun accepted it. In short, it can be seen that there is still a problem with saying that we should unconditionally pursue prosperity.Adversity also occurs in this situation. For example, Tan Sitong in the late Qing Dynasty failed to reform, but he could escape but did not escape. He waited for arrest and went to Caishikou to die.This reminds us that the so-called good and bad in common sense, some of which have evaluation problems.A single evaluation cannot be done here, so we can only add a principle corresponding to the specific situation, which is: good times can be tended, but the behavior of this trend must be in line with righteousness, at least not unrighteous; adversity can be avoided, but the behavior of this avoidance To be in line with righteousness, at least not unrighteous.Keeping this additional principle in mind, some cis-converse situations are easier to handle.For example, being rich means good times, and being poor means adversity. If there is an opportunity to become rich and avoid poverty, should you take advantage of it?Here you can look at the specific ways to get rich. If you are involved in the manufacture of fake and inferior goods, you should avoid them; if you are selling technology patents, you can tend to them.

The issue of tendency and avoidance has been discussed, so let’s talk about how to deal with the prosperity and adversity that have come.Let me talk about good times first.Specifically speaking, infinity can only be grouped into several main categories.The first category is status, that is, what positions are placed in the division of labor in society, and what prestigious titles are added to their heads.There are high and low positions, which imply the size of power, such as prime minister and manager; or the size of honor, such as writer and professor.There are high and low status, from low to high is a good time.The second largest category is wealth.This may be more important than ordinary high positions (such as the manager and deputy manager of a medium-sized store), because money can turn ghosts.There are different sources of wealth. If you have connections and opportunities, you can become rich from poverty; or you can become rich without relying on yourself and being born in a rich family.No matter what the source is, anyway, if you have money, you can be well-clothed and well-fed, and the situation you live in will become a prosperous one.The third category is career, which refers to the achievements beyond the average in a certain aspect, such as scholars who really write masterpieces handed down from generation to generation.Entrepreneurs really turn losses into wins, and so on, all.Human beings, even Zen monks are willing to establish something, so if the career is successful, the situation you are in will become a favorable situation.The fourth category is male and female.Or it is limited to ordinary people, who are willing to nod their heads and become family members.When the other party has not nodded, he is uneasy; when he nods, the normal situation will immediately turn into a favorable situation.The above four types of adversity are described separately. In fact, once they are implemented, they will cooperate.Or Xiaohe, if you have status, wealth will come; if you have success in your career, the person you like will easily nod.It can also be combined, if the status rises and rises, wealth, career, and men and women can all be squeezed into the door.

Is there any difficulty in this so-called success?It's not because of the way, but because of the use of the way and the possibility of inappropriateness.The most obvious one is wealth. Too much money makes it easy to pursue enjoyment, but at the extreme it will degenerate and even endanger others and society.The status is the same, or even worse, the position is high and the power is great. If you go crazy, the consequences will be even more unimaginable.Therefore, there must be a way to be in good times.This way, from the aspect of knowing, is to be content and know enough.Satisfaction is about what you get, and knowing what is not enough is about yourself.If you are content, you can stop being greedy, if you don’t know enough, you can always be vigilant, and work harder in improving your morals.The way to be in good times can also be said from the aspect of behavior, which is to be humble and temperate.Humility is mainly about people, and temperance is mainly about things.Being humble to people can prevent misbehavior, and temperance with things can prevent indulgence in enjoyment and depravity.In short, one must be more cautious in good times, so as not to turn good things into bad things.

Let alone adversity.In an ordinary person's life, there are always more adversities than prosperity.Why?Let me go further here, maybe the root cause comes from human nature.It is not the nature of "human nature is good", but Xunzi's nature of "human beings are born with desires".If you have desires, ask for them, because if you have more desires, you may not get much. This is a state of adversity rather than obedience.It can also be caused by the decline of human nature and the reason for the many adversities.This can come from natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and droughts, wind and fire, and other diseases, which can make people fall into adversity.Followed by man-made disasters.The big ones come from political forces, far away such as Wuhu Luanhua and Yangzhou Ten Days, and recent ones such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Not only did people suddenly fall into adversity, but the sky fell on everyone.There are also sporadic man-made disasters, the most common being cheating, theft and robbery.Man-made disasters can destroy people's lives in severe cases, or cause people to lose money in minor cases, which is the so-called bad luck as the saying goes.The second is due to bad luck, such as being hijacked when flying, buying stocks, and encountering a price drop after getting it, and so on.Secondly, due to insufficient conditions or abilities, such as looking for a partner, you may fail consecutively due to poor physical appearance, and lose your name in the university entrance examination.Wait, that is.In addition, adversity can also come from self-inflicted, such as being fired for not working hard, falling into poverty because of gambling, or even taking drugs so that one cannot survive, and so on.There are many kinds of adversity, and there are degrees of adversity among them.The most serious ones are those that are life-threatening. Some of them are fate-destined, such as incurable diseases;Death, once it's over, it doesn't matter whether the situation is bad or not.So what deserves attention is those that are less serious than death, entangled, lingering, and suffering, how to deal with them?

Of course, it is best to be able to turn the reverse into the smooth, at least turn the reverse into the normal.In this way, some situations are within our own capabilities, such as failing in the exam, working hard to revise the class, and retaking the exam next year, it is possible to be among the best.There are some situations that you can’t do anything about, such as the outbreak of a war, or as small as suffering from a chronic disease. Although you are eagerly looking forward to recovery, you can only do nothing.It's useless to call for help, even the book is empty, and it's useless to write about strange things; it should be treated like a dead horse.There are negative methods, but after understanding the principle of obedience and inverse, accept it and don't blame others.Naturally, this will not change the actual situation, but it can change the state of mind. That is to say, no matter how rough the road is, the mood is calm.If you are calm, the degree of suffering will be less.Is this perhaps close to the spirit of Ah Q?For some unreasonable and helpless situations, if Wu Ah Q can really reduce the degree of suffering, then Ah Q is also reasonable.There are still positive ways, at least some adversity, and you can make good use of it, just like turning excrement into fertilizer.Take literary affairs as an example. As the old saying goes, those who are poor in literature can only work later. Some people just took advantage of the conditions of lack of talent and wealth to write poems and essays handed down from generation to generation.It can also be more specific. For example, Zhou Lianggong's "Shadow of Books" and Russell's "Introduction to Philosophy" were all written in prison.Naturally, this so-called adversity should not be too severe, that is, people in it can still live and endure it.What about those who can't stand and can't live?If you have the ambition to make good use of yourself, writing one or two poems that should be generous is much better than crying.

Finally, let’s talk about how we should treat other people’s prosperity and adversity.This other person can be someone who has no relationship with oneself, but here mainly refers to someone who has relationship.I want to start with the state of the world that is not enough for training. At the end of "Historical Records? Ji Zheng Lie Biography", "Tai Shigong said": Husband Yiji and Zheng Zhixian have ten times the number of guests if they are powerful, and they will lose if they are not powerful, let alone everyone!The Duke Di of Xiagu said that the Duke of Zhai at the beginning was the court captain, and the guests were at the gate;Zhai Gong was restored to the rank of Tingwei.When the guests wanted to go, Mr. Zhai sent a grand official to his door and said: "If you die for a lifetime, you will know friendship. If you are poor and rich, you will know your friendship. If you are rich and the other expensive, you will see friendship." Ji, Zheng Yiyun, sad husband!

The state of the world is sad, because many people start out of self-interest. When others are in good times, they run to cheer for others.What I have seen over the years, and what is even worse, is that if someone is tortured, his son will not be considered a father, and his wife will not be considered a husband.Ma Qian of Taishi Company is against such behavior.What should be?It is someone else who is in adversity (of course, it means not self-inflicted), and we should sympathize with them, or give them a helping hand.Although this will be criticized by some people as inappropriate, if everyone does the opposite, then the society will expand, and life will really be "sorrowful".