PureInsight | April 30, 2006
[PureInsight.org] It is
impossible for a person to have a totally smooth life; he will always
encounter difficulties, frustrations and dissatisfactions in his life.
When facing frustration, if one can keep an optimistic, confident and
open-minded outlook, he will be able to change an ordinary life into a
rich one, a difficult life into a relaxed one and even the suffering
into beautiful and precious experiences.
Modern science has also proved that an open-minded, generous and
optimistic person has a peaceful mind, and lives a relaxed and long,
healthy life. Two doctors at the John Hopkins University Medical School
once performed a study. One hundred twenty-seven randomly selected
students who graduated between 1949 and 1964 were divided into two
groups based on their personalities. The subjects in group I were
cautious and lacked adaptability, while those in group II were
optimistic, open-minded and flexible. The subjects in group I ended up
with a higher rate of illness and death. Fifteen years after graduation
from college, 13 people in that group had passed away while the
subjects in group II were all still alive. The study result shows that
whether a person is optimistic or not is closely related to his rate of
getting illnesses and directly affects how long a person will live, as
well.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao, the king of one of the three
kingdoms, suffered a major defeat in Chi Bi. Zhou Yu, the general from
a rival kingdom, totally destroyed Cao Cao's army of 830,000 people
using fire attacks. However, having undergone many difficulties and
dangers, Cao Cao did not lose self-confidence after the defeat and
could still laugh loudly. Finally, with his strong will, Cao Cao led
his leftover army and stepped away from the failure.
In December of 1914, the great inventor Thomas Edison saw his lab
turned into ashes in a big fire and, overnight, he lost almost all the
fruits of his painstaking labor from his whole lifetime. Although he
had insurance in the amount of $238,000 for his lab, the actual loss in
the fire was estimated at over 2 million dollars. The next morning,
Edison looked at the ruins and said, "There is great value in disaster.
All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew."
Three weeks after the fire, Edison managed to deliver his first
phonograph.
Failure and frustration bring people not only disappointment, but also
the opportunity for a totally new life tempered through fierce fire. On
the path of a human life, no matter how much one screams after falling
down on the ground, it serves no use. Only standing up bravely right
away, can one be a truly strong being. Although the big fire burned all
of Edison's tangible property, including his data books and
instruments, it could not erase his optimism and open mind, and all the
ideas and procedures remained in his mind. He could start again any
time. Most worldly people tend to get attached to the tangible
materials, neglect intangible assets, and thus have difficulty walking
away from failure and frustration. Being optimistic and open-minded can
lead people towards new life, and serves as an intangible treasure for
people.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2005/8/10/33398.html
