Life management lessons of choice and abandonment

Chapter 13
After just two years, he became a penniless ordinary person again.Gone are the models he once fell in love with and the studios that chased him like flies.Jason went around raising funds to prepare for a comeback, but he found that no company or financial institution was willing to lend him money.

Later, he borrowed money from his uncle and registered a website, but the glory was gone.

Jason was full of emotions for this: "After these things, I finally understand that money only recognizes money, it can't recognize people. The reason for my failure before is that I always think that money recognizes me."

Money has no warmth to speak of.As the modern politician and publisher Zou Taofen said: "Money often becomes an obstacle to true friendship."

In life, some people are the masters of money, no matter how much or how little money they have, they have their own dignity in front of money, while some are slaves of money, who are tired and ruined by money all their lives.In the face of material desires, don't lose yourself. Once you are enslaved by it, you will face an abyss that will never be restored.

Judging whether a person is a master or a slave of money does not depend on how much money he has, but on his attitude towards money, that is, his possessive desire for money.If a person holds a non-possessive attitude towards money and regards it as something outside his body, then he can maintain a free mind in front of money. On the contrary, people who want to possess money will only be possessed by money in the end.As the ancient Greek philosopher Bion said when talking about a rich miser: "It is not he who got the wealth, but the wealth got him".So how can we become masters of money you?First, make money wisely, and use money in a disciplined manner; second, be honest and law-abiding, not greedy for extraneous wealth;In this way, you can become the master of money.

It is a wise choice to be the master of money.

The secrets of gain and loss are often linked together

Rockefeller, the American oil tycoon, was born in poverty. In the early days of his business, people praised him as a good young man.He became greedy and cruel as gold statues kept pouring into his pockets.The residents of Pennsylvania Oilfield, who suffered a lot, hated him deeply.Even his brothers hated him very much.

At the same time, Rockefeller's health became extremely poor due to excessive work for money.The doctors finally announced to him a frightening fact that with his physical condition, he could only live to be over 50 years old; and suggested that he must change his life of desperately making money, and he had to choose between money, troubles, and life. one.At this time, not far from death, he began to realize that the greedy devil controlled his body and mind. He obeyed the doctor's advice, retired home, started to learn to play golf, went to the theater to watch comedies, and often talked with his neighbors. Chatting, after a period of introspection, he began to think about how to donate his huge wealth to others.

At first, people were reluctant to accept his donation. Even the church, which considered itself tolerant and magnanimous, returned the "stolen money" donated by him, but sincerity could finally move people. Gradually, people accepted his sincerity.

In 1901, he established the "Rockefeller Medical Research Institute"; in 1903, he established the "Education Popularization Association"; in 1913, he established the "Rockefeller Foundation"; in 1918, he established the "Mrs. Rockefeller Memorial Foundation".

He spent the rest of his life skating, cycling and golfing.At the age of 90, he is still physically and mentally healthy, has good hearing and eyesight, and lives happily.

He died in 1937 at the age of 98.When he died, he was left with only one stock in Standard Oil Company, because it was No. [-], and the rest of the property was donated or distributed to heirs during his lifetime.

Rockefeller's experience proves the secret of gain and loss.When he got a huge profit, he gradually lost his humanity, and finally he became alienated; but when he stopped being obsessed with profit and started doing charity and exercising, he gained people's love and good health.

Confucius has a famous saying, "To be rich and honored by injustice is like floating clouds to me."It means that everyone has self-interest, which is unavoidable, but to go to poverty, to seek wealth, must be based on the premise of conforming to "righteousness". So, don’t go.”Don't be too greedy, or even desperate, to seek wealth by improper means.In this way, although you get rich and honor, you will go more.

In "Arabian Nights", Ali Baba's elder brother entered the treasure cave of the forty thieves. He was ecstatic and seized the treasure. He forgot to go home, causing the robbers to come back and hack him to death.It can be seen that wealth is like floating clouds, and once the world is rich, it may not be a good thing. Worrying about wealth is not like white clothes and straw sandals.

Gains and losses are changing rapidly. Only by letting go of the vanity fair can we maintain a calm state of mind in the pursuit of fame and fortune.

Desires aren't terrible, terrible indulgences
People cannot be without desires, and without desires, there will be no motivation to move forward; but the desires should not be too large. Excessive desires are greed, and greed is a bottomless pit, which will only bring you endless troubles and troubles.

Batch after batch of people set foot on the Desire train one after another, even if they were out of breath, they could not rest.The ever-expanding material desires, work, relationships, and money occupy almost all the space and time of modern people. Many people are so busy dealing with these things every day that they hardly even have time to get off the car to rest.

In this technologically advanced, materially rich, and competitive society, desire is often teased like a bullfight in a red cloak.The experience of other people getting rich overnight makes people excited and eager to try; famous brands flying all over the sky make people's hearts beat unknowingly; beauties and fragrant cars float by, and their hearts are ready to move... Too many desires, I don't want to give up, let alone let go.So my heart was full of contradictions and worries, so that I was very tired.

As the saying goes: "The human heart is not enough to swallow the elephant." There are countless examples of self-destruction due to indulgence of desires in ancient and modern China and abroad.

韩国前总统卢泰愚从1988～1993年执政5年期间，充分利用职权蓄积、贪污政治资金多达5 000余亿韩元（约800韩元合1美元），下野前夕，将剩余的政治资金用化名分别存入20多家银行，据为己有。

At the beginning of August 1995, Seo Seok-jae, a former South Korean cabinet member and director of the General Affairs Department, drank with some friends from the press in a restaurant in Seoul City, and uttered the truth after drinking, leaking this secret.The opposition Democratic Party chased after him, conducted private investigations, and obtained a large amount of evidence. Roh Tae-woo was thrown into prison, waiting for the final judgment of the law.In front of witnesses and evidence, Roh Tae-woo had to admit his crime and shed tears at the press conference.After being arraigned and returning to his residence, he asked his doctor, "Is there a medicine that can keep me from waking up after taking it? I really don't want to live!"

Lu Taiyu's heart was eroded by desire, and he regretted the past, but it was useless.

There is a saying in Lu Ji's "Walking of the Tiger" in the Jin Dynasty: "If you are thirsty, you will not drink the stolen spring water, and the heat will not stop and you will hate the shade of the tree." It is a kind of giving up and sobriety in the face of temptation.In the face of temptation, you need to keep a clear head and have the courage to give up.If you hold on to it and get greedy, it will bring endless stress, pain and anxiety, and even destroy yourself.

Lin Zexu, a great official in the Qing Dynasty who was famous for selling cigarettes in Humen, knew the truth of letting go of desires.With the motto of "Be strong without desire", he has been an official for 40 years. In the face of power, money, and beauty, he has never been moved by fame and fortune, and has always kept himself clean.In his "Self-Determined Analysis of Family Property Book", he said that "the discount of [-] silver for field property is zero", and "there is no cash to divide the current situation", which shows his integrity.

In today's world of material desires and feasting, there are so many temptations in front of everyone. Only by keeping a cool heart and treating desires with a clear mind of letting go, can we not go astray.

If you want to make people happy, you must reduce their desires, not increase their possessions.

Greed makes you fall into the abyss of life

It is said that the Eskimos' method of hunting wolves has been passed down from generation to generation, which is very special and very effective.

In the severe winter season, they apply a layer of fresh animal blood on the sharp blade, and after the blood freezes, they apply a second layer of blood on it; let the blood freeze again, and then apply...

In this way, the blade was soon covered by frozen blood.

Then, the Eskimo stuck the blood-covered sharp knife backwards on the ground, with the handle firmly stuck to the ground and the tip of the knife facing upwards.When wolves find such sharp knives following the smell of blood, they will excitedly lick the fresh frozen blood on the knife.The melted blood gave off a strong smell, and under the stimulation of the blood, they would lick faster and harder, until all the blood was licked clean before they knew it, and the sharp blades were exposed.

But at this time, the wolves were already bloodthirsty, and they licked the blade fiercely. Under the temptation of the bloody smell, they couldn't feel the pain of their tongue being cut by the blade at all.

In the cold Arctic night, the wolf has no idea that what it is licking is actually its own blood. It just becomes more greedy, its tongue twitches faster, and the blood bleeds more, until finally it is exhausted and collapses on the snow.

Greed makes you fall into the abyss of life.It's not just wolves, everyone has desires, who doesn't want to be famous, honor their ancestors, enshrine their wives and sons, and gain both fame and wealth?But if you are too obsessed with desires, you may fall into the vortex of desires and cannot extricate yourself.The more desires a person has, the heavier the burden will be, worrying about gains and losses, and living a very hard life.As a result, they lost their self-nature and became slaves to material desires.

In life, it is the temptation of the outside world that makes people lose their minds; but it is often their own greed that exhausts a person's energy in the end.

In today's materialistic society, it is not expected that everyone will have the spirit of a sage and wise man, and leave all interests behind.But in the face of all kinds of temptations, you must make sure that you do not lose yourself and do not seek profit.

Countless people want more things because of greed, but they may lose what they have now.

(End of this chapter)