Philosophical articles

Recognize the location of your feet

At the northernmost point of the earth, there is a vast snowfield, so keeping the direction of the travel route correct is one of the most important things? However, here There are no road signs of any kind in the white wasteland. The explorers can only trust the measuring instruments they carry?

The expedition team members must stop to check the map every hour and prepare for the next adventure. Drawing a detailed walking route? However, just a few hours after they walked out of the camp, they suddenly discovered a strange phenomenon? When they stopped to read the data on the measuring instrument, they were surprised to find that although they were heading toward the North Pole accurately, direction, but the distance from the pole is getting farther and farther?

The team members did not think too much, thinking that this was just a mismeasurement, so they did not hesitate and continued to move forward? When reading the data next time, They once again found that they were further away from the North Pole? Although they accurately followed the established route and always maintained the correct direction, they were still getting further and further away from the Pole?

What happened? What happened? Is it a ghost? Finally, they finally discovered that they had stepped on a huge glacier that was drifting south. The glacier was drifting south faster than they were traveling north? Everything they did Everything is completely correct, but we are stepping in the wrong place?

Many times, we move in the right direction, work hard, struggle, and pay, but we still fail to reach it. ?We may complain about the external environment, the world, and the injustice of God, but can we lower our heads and see that we are actually in the wrong position? It is difficult to take the right path in the wrong position, no matter how good you are Diligence and persistence? So before you choose a direction, look at where your feet are! (Taken from Chicken Soup for the Soul)

George is a manor owner who likes to joke. On Christmas Eve, he thinks he should Reward stewards who work hard. So he patted the butler Jack on the shoulder and said: "There are four big bowls of porridge here. I put two gold coins at the bottom of one of them. Dear Jack, let's see how your luck is."

Jack is very eager to get the gold coins, but he is not sure which bowl contains the gold coins. He hesitated and drank part of the first bowl of porridge, and suddenly felt that the gold coins should be in the second bowl, so he drank half of the second bowl of porridge, but he was still unwilling to accept it, so he put the third bowl of porridge away. He drank another part of the porridge, and finally changed his mind. He drank half of the fourth bowl of porridge with difficulty. At this time, Jack felt that his stomach could no longer hold anything.

As a result, he didn't get a single gold coin.

In fact, George put two gold coins at the bottom of each bowl of porridge. As long as he drank a bowl of delicious porridge, he would get the coveted gold coins.

Taking a superficial taste often causes us to lose the success that is within easy reach.

(Taken from Chicken Soup for the Soul)

A jar of jam

[American] Compiled by Edgar Bledsoe and Wing Suli

As long as a person still has the strength to help others, he is rich

I remember one year, I lost my job. Before that, the factory where my father worked closed down. Our family only relied on my mother’s income from making clothes for others.

One time my mother was ill for several weeks and could not work. Because I had no money to pay the electricity bill, the electricity company cut off the electricity to my home, and then the gas company cut off the gas. In the end, if the health department hadn't stopped the water company for public health reasons, my family would have no water at all. The pantry at home was empty. Fortunately, I had a small vegetable garden, so we had to light a firewood in the backyard and cook to satisfy our hunger.

One day, my sister came home from school and said excitedly: "We are going to bring some things to school tomorrow and donate them to the poor to help them tide over their difficulties." My mother was about to blurt out: "I I don’t know if there are people who are poorer than us!” Grandma was living with us at the time. She quickly took my mother’s arm and frowned, telling her not to say that.

"Iva," grandma said, "if you let a child think of herself as a 'poor' from a young age, she will be a 'poor' all her life. She will always wait for help from others. How can such a person How can we become a 'rich' person if we can cheer up? Don't we still have a jar of homemade jam? Let her take it.

As long as a person still has the strength to help others, he is rich. "Grandma found a piece of soft paper and a pink ribbon from somewhere, and carefully wrapped my last jar of jam. The next day, my sister happily and proudly went to help the "poor" with gifts.

To this day, my sister, who owns three hotels, still remembers the jar of jam. Whenever she sees someone in need of help, whether in the company or in the community, she always thinks that she should be the one to "give jam" ▲.

"Global Times" (Page 22, February 7, 2005)

Red Glass Ball

Compiled by Guo Yan

During the hard years of the Great Depression in the 1930s, I lived in a small community in southeastern Kansas, where people often bartered and bartered because food was scarce and money was scarce. Mr. Miller's stall to buy some fresh vegetables.

One day, while Mr. Miller was helping me put potatoes into bags, I noticed a little boy staring greedily at a basket of fresh vegetables. Picked peas. The boy was thin and dressed in patched but clean clothes. I paid for the potatoes but was also attracted to the fresh peas because I really liked the taste of buttered peas with potatoes before I considered buying beans. At the time, I heard the conversation between Mr. Miller and the boy.

"Hello, Barry, how are you doing today?" "

"Very good, Mr. Miller, thank you. These peas look awesome. "

"It's really good, Bai Rui. How is your mother? "

"Fortunately, I am more energetic than before. "

"Don't you want to bring back some beans? "

"No, sir, I have no money. "

"Well, do you have anything in exchange? "

"There is only one winning glass ball. "

"Really? let me see. "

"Here you go, it's beautiful. "

"Well, it's just that I want a red glass ball, not a blue one. Do you have the red one? "

"It doesn't seem like...but I'll probably win one next time. "

"Well, take this bag of peas home and bring me a red glass ball when you come next time. "

"Okay, thank you, sir. "

Mrs. Miller came over to help me pack the peas. She smiled and said to me: "There are two such children in this community, and their families are very poor. Jimmy (Miller's nickname) was willing to give them fruits and vegetables such as peas, apples, and tomatoes. When the children came next time with red glass balls, he would say that he actually didn't like red ones, and then give them a bag of vegetables and ask them to bring green or orange balls next time. "

"Miller is such a good guy! "I was very moved when I heard that. After a while, I moved to Colorado, but I never forgot Mr. Miller and the boys exchanging glass balls. Time flies, and many years later, I have the opportunity to go back to that small town. The community visited old friends, and it was also at this time that Mr. Miller passed away.

They held a farewell ceremony for him in the evening, and since all the friends were there, I followed them as we approached the morgue. While walking, we met many relatives of the deceased, and we tried our best to say some words of comfort. Walking in front of us were three young people, one wearing a military uniform, and the other two wearing suits and ties. Mrs. Miller tried her best to restrain her grief. Standing gently beside her husband's coffin, three young people came to her, each embraced her, kissed her on the cheek, said a few words, and then went to Mr. Miller's coffin. I watched with tears in my eyes as they came to the coffin one by one, shook the cold hands of the deceased with their warm hands, and then they slowly walked out of the morgue with tears in their eyes.

It was our turn. When I walked in front of Mrs. Miller, I told her who I was and mentioned the past about the glass ball. Mrs. Miller took my hand and came to the coffin and said, "The three young people who left." Those are the three boys I told you about back then. They just told me how grateful they were to Jimmy for the 'exchange' they made. Now, since Jimmy can no longer change his mind about the marble he doesn't like - they are here to 'pay off' the debt.

"

"We never got rich," she continued, "but now, Jimmy can proudly say that he is the richest man in the community. "Then she gently raised her husband's right hand. I was surprised to find three exquisite shining red glass balls in her hand! ▲

Is it worth it

Zheng Jie Compilation

During a battle, when soldier Jim saw his good partner fall on the battlefield, fear took over his heart. He was trapped in the trench with continuous gunfire and bullets. Flying overhead. He asked the lieutenant if he could go to the "no man's land" between the trenches to rescue his companions.

"You can go," the lieutenant said, "but I don't think so." Not worth it. Your friends may have died, and you may have died too. "The lieutenant's words did not affect Jim, and he went anyway.

Jim miraculously reached his friend safely and carried his friend back to the trench. In the trench, the officer checked the injured Jim and looked at Jim The friend who had already died said, "I told you, it's not worth it. Your friend died and you were mortally wounded. "

"Still, sir, it's worth it. "Jim said.

"What do you mean, worth it? "The lieutenant said, "Your friend has died! "

"Yes, sir," Jim replied, "and it was worth it, because when I found him, he was still alive and he said, 'Jim, I knew you were coming. 'I was very satisfied to hear him say that. Don't you think it's worth it, sir? "▲

Wisdom from Africa

[American] Compiled by Reginald McKnight Shengsen

Love, friendship and family

Tell me what kind of person you love, and I will know what kind of person you are.

White ants do not love the straw they carry---people who appear to be close may not necessarily love them. You.

Make friends when you don’t need them.

Eggs teach hens how to hatch eggs---children teach parents how to be parents. Clever Begging

[American] Compiled by Morel Nunn and Zhang Xiaofeng

I will never forget the shock when I heard the news that my husband was about to be "laid off". /p>

We were 10 years into our marriage, and John expressed his concern about this nightmare situation. He promised me that he would do everything he could to find a new job to make ends meet. With a child under 5 years old and another one soon to be born, John is the family's sole breadwinner.

"Life will go on," John said, looking much more optimistic than me. "At least we still have our health, all we lost was our job. In addition, the company will continue to pay wages for three months. During this period, I will definitely be able to find a new job, so I don’t have to worry. "

John graduated from a prestigious university and has an excellent work background. I believe his confidence is justified. John lost his father in his early years, and he took on the responsibility of taking care of his mother and younger siblings at an early age. He also He was an Olympic athlete and knew how to work hard and work smart. But after a few months, he still didn't find a job. I became more and more scared and my "superstition" about him started to waver. What should I do if I don't have a job? If I weren't pregnant, I could go back to school and teach. The problem is that it's less than 3 months since our fourth child was born.

We have no savings left. It wasn’t much. I had been in arrears on my installment loan for two months, and I had no other source of income. I had to live frugally and in the end I almost ran out of money to eat.

One day when I was taking my children to the supermarket. I noticed a boy filling cartons with overripe fruits and expired food. I hesitantly asked him where he was going to send the food. "I looked at those old carrots, celery and tomatoes, enough for our family to eat for a few weeks. I thought, how can I dignifiedly ask for some food for the children?

"We have a rare one Mongolian rabbit! "I blurted out, glancing at the three hungry children. "I want to buy it some food. "

He replied simply: "Since it is for rabbits to eat, I won't charge you. "That day he loaded 5 boxes of food into my car at a time, chatting with me while he was busy. I talked about our family that was about to add another child, and he also talked about his own situation.

His name is Jeff, and he comes from a poor family of five. He works here to pay for college tuition.

As the weeks passed, Jeff began packing boxes of expired and damaged food into boxes. The peanut butter, soup and cheese are still edible, but are required to be thrown away. "The little rabbit must like to eat these things," he explained why he gave us these things. A few months later, we discovered that there were more and more varieties of laundry detergent, milk, juice, butter hidden under the food. Later, every time Jeff collected a box of "rabbit food", he would call me and deliver it to my door from time to time. But he never asked about the little rabbit and left every time he put his things down.

When my fourth daughter was born, I was both happy and worried about future family expenses. "God, please," I prayed, "you promised that our suffering would never be more than we can bear. What should we do?" Then the husband quietly walked into the delivery room and said, "I have a baby." Good news, and bad news. The good news is that I got a great job this morning. "I closed my eyes and thanked God for His blessings. "The bad news is," he continued, "the little Mongolian rabbit is gone."

When I went to the supermarket again later, Jeff no longer worked there. According to the supermarket manager, while I was busy preparing for the birth of the baby, he moved without leaving a new address.

I silently vow to repay those kindhearted people who helped us in times of trouble. Over the next 10 years, I kept my promise. But my wish was not completely fulfilled until one day 10 years later, I met Jeff standing in front of the supermarket office, wearing a "manager" badge on his chest.

For a person who has helped you and at the same time maintained your self-esteem, a person who has extended a helping hand to you without belittling your own abilities, a person who believes that there is a rare Mongolian hidden in life. Rabbit people, how should you express your gratitude? I was not surprised at all that Jeff was promoted. He had a special gift and knew how to listen to my special prayers.

"Mrs. Nunn!" he shouted excitedly: "I miss you and your family often. How is the little rabbit?" he asked softly.

Holding Jeff's hand, I blinked and whispered, "Thank you for your concern. That rabbit left us a long time ago, and we are living a great life."