In life, there are times when we stand before a massive wall that seems impossible to overcome.
In those moments when we want to collapse, resenting and thinking, "Why did this have to happen to me?"
How can we rise again?
Today, I would like to share a record of 'life as self-discipline' gained through traversing one person's entire life.
I hope this writing serves as a small light for those currently passing through a dark tunnel.
As a child, I suffered a severe head injury from a stone that rolled down a mountain.
Along with the diagnosis of a concussion came a vague fear that I might die at any moment.
For over a year, I lived trapped in a prison of my own making and under my parents' overprotection.
But now, decades later, only a small scar remains on my forehead.
The fear of death that once weighed me down has now become a distant memory.
Life Lesson: Even the fatal anxiety we are experiencing now will eventually remain only as a scar, a 'trace of growth,' as time passes.
During the pandemic, when everyone stood at a standstill, my business faced the threat of forced eviction, requiring us to vacate our premises within seven days.
It was a cold night with nowhere to move over 200 large containers, and to make matters worse, the car's air conditioner had broken down.
I stopped the car on the empty road and sobbed all alone.
Just as I was about to give up, thinking, "It's over now, let's leave it to fate," I mustered my last bit of strength and knocked on a door, and miraculously, I met a new site and a helper.
To those who do not give up and find a way even in the mud, the world eventually extends an invisible hand.
It was a moment when I experienced the truth of 'Jininsa Daechunmyeong' (Do your best and leave the rest to fate) with my whole being.
I remember the day I failed at running a livestock farm and loaded cargo covered in pig manure in sub-zero weather with heavy snowfall.
I cleaned chickens until my hands turned white, and trembled all over as I showered in ice-cold spring water.
What allowed me to endure that painful time was a sense of 'responsibility'.
Although the business failed, that harsh winter, which I saw through to the end to keep my promise to customers, reborn me as a much stronger person than before.
Life is ultimately a journey of self-cultivation to constantly refine myself.
Don't give up: Even problems that felt like they would kill you at the time reveal easy solutions once they have passed.
Be courageous: We are finally born anew only when we overcome processes so difficult they go against human nature.
Change your perspective: Except for the fundamental issues of life and death, most of the trials we face are the groundwork that makes me stronger That is all.
If the weight pressing down on you right now cannot kill you, it will surely make you a greater being.
