The first half of the year is already over. How many of those things that you planned to do in the beginning of the year have you accomplished, which are you still working hard to achieve, and on which things have you given up?
We often try to measure ourselves and our success by what we accomplish and by all the money, wealth, and pride that we try to fill our lives with.
However, according to the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, in order to achieve success and fortune, you need to have the ability to empty yourself. He said that in order to achieve total happiness, you have to start with complete emptiness.
We often try to achieve happiness by filling our lives with things; however, sometimes you need to be able to empty your life. That means that you need to know when you need to give up. There are times when no matter how hard you try to do something, you just can’t do it. That is a time where you need to be able to give up, otherwise your life would be filled with so much hardship. When you give up or quit wisely, that is not the same thing as failure.
True failure is when you have the ability to do something but you don’t even try. However, there are things that we just are not able to do with our own abilities and power. If you give up on something like that, that is not failure. Sometimes, when one door of opportunity closes, another door opens. That is what is meant by giving up wisely.
Even though half of the year is over, this means that there is yet another half of the year to go.
So, I hope that you would be able to empty yourself of what’s past in order for you to have room for an overflow of future successes, hope, and happiness.
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Jean Youn is the owner of Value Village Cleaners at 912 West Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale 91202. For details on sevices, coupons and more, check out the Value Village Cleaners website here.
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