Chapter 197: Shifting Circumstances
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“It’s too difficult, Big Brother.”
“It’s not difficult, what’s difficult about this?”
“Big Brother, what do you mean by ‘circumstance’ that you always talk about?”
“You can understand it as environment and encounter.”
“Big Brother, can you simply explain to me what ‘circumstances change with the mind’ means?”
The boy boiled a pot of water, made another cup of tea, and replied, “Sure, hahaha.”
“Thank you, Big Brother, you’re so kind.”
“Haha, alright, stop flattering me, I’ll explain it simply for you.”
“Okay!”
“A rich person stays in a very ordinary hotel, so he will feel that this environment is very bad, everything looks low-class, and everything feels terrible.
But for someone with little money, the first time they stay in this hotel, everything looks novel, everything feels good, and even the disposable toiletries provided in the bathroom feel high-class.
The environment is still the same environment, so is this environment good or bad?”
“This, this has something to do with the cognition of these two people, right?”
“Yes, in the same environment, different feelings and thoughts arise. This doesn’t represent the quality of the environment, it’s just a matter of personal difference. Two different cognitions in the same environment will produce different spiritual feelings. In other words, the quality of circumstances doesn’t have much to do with the environment you’re in, or rather, it’s actually related to your own cognition.
For example, I’ve never eaten ice cream before. The first time I eat it, I feel that this ice cream is so delicious, much better than any ice cream I’ve ever eaten.
But you always eat ice cream, you feel this ice cream is nothing special, just too ordinary.
This ice cream hasn’t changed, but we have different feelings and understandings, so the results won’t be the same.”
“Big Brother, I understand this principle, but I don’t know how to change it.”
“It’s very simple. Change your habitual cognition. For example, every time you eat ice cream, treat it as if it’s your first time. Even though you know in your heart that you’ve eaten it many times, if you always pretend it’s the first time, you will definitely have a different feeling.
“Big Brother, what if this state is applied to people?”
“It’s the same thing. For example, among your friends, when you first saw some people, you felt they were very good. But one day, they said something or did something that made you think you were wrong about them, and you thought they were actually not good.
But soon after, you realized that what this person said and did was for your own good, and you felt they were super good again.
A few months later, you learned from someone else that your friend did that not for you, but for himself, so your perception of him changed again.
So this person hasn’t changed at all. You’ve always been analyzing the pros and cons instinctively based on his actions using your past cognitive habits. Is this result correct or incorrect?”
“This, this is incorrect, right?”
“Hahaha, whether it’s correct or not, when you instinctively look at this person from the perspective of pros and cons, you naturally feel they are good when it benefits you, and not good when it harms you. This is all habit.
“Then how can I avoid being controlled by this cognitive habit?”
“You just need to bring your mind back, don’t bother about whether others are good or bad, just do your best. When you feel someone is good, there’s no need to cling to them, because their wealth doesn’t really matter much to you. When you feel someone is not good, don’t step on them either, because whether they are doing well or not has nothing to do with you.
What you can do is interact with everyone you meet calmly, without envying the extravagance of others, nor mocking their hardships. This is how you can set your heart straight.
Otherwise, bring it on. You will continuously be swayed by external circumstances. After seeing the lives of many rich people, you will feel that the life you’ve lived before was all damned melodramatic and unbearable. Even if you know you don’t have much money, you will still look down on ordinary people who have thirty or fifty thousand in savings. This will make you arrogant and unable to see yourself clearly.
Conversely, if everyone around you is ordinary, and you only chat about trivial work matters all day, or brag about their little achievements, or complain about how bad rich people are and how they oppress ordinary people. This will also make you develop a resentment towards the rich, complaining about social injustice while bowing your head to earn money.
This is all because you have been swayed by circumstances.
If you want to be unaffected, ignore what anyone says and don’t get involved. No matter where you are, just focus on yourself and diligently study to improve your cognition. Absorb the upward traits from your surroundings for a long time, and abandon complaining.
In ten or eight years, you will see that you will have a huge difference from these two types of people, and you will also possess the merits of both.
When you are in a position of power, you will not be arrogant and will still respect others, or help them.
When you are in misfortune, you will not be dejected; instead, your fighting spirit will rise. Then it would be strange if you couldn’t live clearly, hahaha.”
“I understand this point, Big Brother, but I don’t know how to do it.”
“Change yourself from the soul. Train yourself to have the cultivation of not being pleased by external things and not being saddened by yourself, as well as the determination not to have your will eroded by external things in any environment.
Learn to jump out of personal relationships and matters, don’t get entangled, and analyze characteristics from an external perspective.
Big Brother will tell you two stories. Once upon a time, there was a person who found a job selling real estate. He told the department manager that he didn’t need any basic salary and only wanted commission. This made the manager extremely happy, thinking he had found a kind of arrogant big idiot, so he readily agreed.
To his surprise, within two months, this person bought a very impressive house himself, enjoying preferential services and earning a commission of 200,000. Then he quit directly.
Only then did the manager react and realize that he himself was that big idiot!
Also, I have a brother named Gouzi. Gouzi was doing nothing at home, so he found a job selling insurance. Not long after he started, his father’s insurance policy was due for renewal. Coincidentally, he was working at the company where his father had bought the insurance, so he sold his father an insurance policy and got a commission.
I’m telling you these two stories just to tell you that often, you shouldn’t be fooled by appearances. The line between a fool and a genius is very thin.
Don’t pay too much attention to what others think, but you must know what you are doing and how to get it done.
Wisdom, means, and adaptation, these are all the same damn thing. It’s when you are in a certain situation, see if you can think about it from different angles. If you can, then the outcome will naturally change. This is a way for circumstances to change with the mind.
For example, you are currently in school. Others are thinking about studying hard and diligently. What are you thinking? You are thinking about how to reasonably apply what you learn in life. Use your winter and summer vacations to constantly experiment, save money by working, then learn a craft, or try doing small businesses to gain experience, and enjoy it.
Ensure that you can rely on yourself to survive for a long time after graduation, so you won’t be like many people who are at a loss like headless flies after graduation.
Circumstances changing with the mind is actually very simple, Younger Brother. If you are timid, then practice martial arts, practice things like Baji Quan or Piguazhang, things that enhance masculine strength.
If you have a bad temper, then practice health preservation, practice Tai Chi or something gentle, to slow down your temperament and balance yourself. Hehehe, live in a different way, and your predicament will naturally be resolved.”
