Philosophy of Potential - The Treasury of Winners The Holy Bible of Wisdom - Understanding these few principles in life is not easy

Author: Xia Xin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: A Testament of an Anglo Bishop
"When I was young, I was filled with boundless fantasies, and I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older, I realized that the world would not change, so I decided to narrow my focus and change my country. But it seemed that the country could not be changed either. In my old age, I decided to make a final attempt—I would only change my family, those closest to me. Yet, they did not change either. Now, as my life is drawing to a close, I suddenly realize that if I first change myself and then lead by example, I might change my family. And with their encouragement, I could make our country better, perhaps even change the entire world."
This is a testament of an Anglo Bishop. The Bishop understood a profound truth on his deathbed. He was fortunate to have understood this truth, as the saying goes, "To hear the Dao at dawn is to die at dusk." The famous American writer Orison Swett Marden once said, "Even the mightiest among us cannot escape the influence of their environment." No matter how independent we are, how determined our will, or how strong our character, we are constantly influenced by our surroundings. To achieve something significant within the larger environment, we must adapt to it, not the other way around. Carnegie also once said, "To live a better life, I must adapt to everything, rather than trying to adjust everything to suit my desires. I must accept my family, my career, and my luck with this attitude."
In this world, although we cannot choose our parents, we can choose our life goals; although we cannot change our appearance, we can enhance our inner substance; although we cannot change our surroundings, we can change ourselves to adapt to them.
Let's look at another fable. A crow was planning to fly eastward and encountered a pigeon on the way. They both stopped to rest on a tree. The pigeon saw the crow struggling and asked kindly, "Where are you flying?" The crow replied indignantly, "Actually, I don't want to leave, but the people here all dislike my voice, so I want to fly to a place where they will like it." The pigeon kindly told the crow, "Don't waste your effort! If you don't change your voice, you won't be welcome no matter where you go."
This is indeed the case in reality. If you cannot adapt to the environment, you will constantly run into obstacles. Since we cannot change the environment, the only solution is to change ourselves. P29-30