Attitude towards life

After watching the TV series 百家讲坛: 于丹心得 之 心态与状态 on Channel-U, there is something to learn from the lecture series.

The essence of the lecture dealt with how we can be successful in life by discovering ourselves and our inner needs, rather than being swayed by external factors and influences. In short, a person become successful not because of one's talent or skill, rather it is due to one's approach towards life. If we are swayed by the benefits of doing a matter, or we have too much worry to do that matter, we can never show our utmost potential.


First lesson:- Let things be
In life, we have to learn to let go of things that are unimportant in our life (不去追求生命中不以为是), not obtainable (不去追求生命中无奈何的东西), or to put away the thoughts of competing for the goals that are not reachable (放下我们心中那些较劲的东西).


Second lesson:- be experienced before learning new skill
Why does a skilled diver/swimmer has no qualm to get into a small boat in a big river and try to paddle the boat across the river? It is because the diver/swimmer no longer fear the river and treat it as if he/she is walking on grassland. Hence, it is much easier for him/her to learn to paddle against the strong current of the river to get across. He is not worried that he failed to learn handling the boat, for if he/she falls into the river, there is no problem in swimming.
(人如果有大见识，他再去学一件技巧，就容易得多)

If we do not learn from experience, and combine it the current situation, we will fail, not because we get defeated by others, rather we are defeated by our inner self.


Third lesson:- Adapt well to environment and not depend on your learned skill
An skilled archer has no problem hitting the bull-eyes again and again on a flat grassland. Bring that archer up to the mountain and suddenly his skill become poor. Was it because of the height, wind conditions or was it experience? Thus, we should not depend too much on our learned skills, learned from a fixed environment. They become useless when put into another circumstances. We must learn to adapt to environment.


Forth lesson:- It is our judgment that matters, not our skills
Sometimes when we are not sure about a situation, we are not afraid and bash through the mist, striving for our goals unimpeded. Just like a group of people walking across a plank of wood bridge in the dark, not knowing what is contained within their surroundings. This group of people has no doubt. But when the situation is clear, fear and apprehension starts to clout our judgments and the call to decision become difficult. Just like the bridge analogy, if this group of people is preparing to walk in the bright sunny day, they might realize that the bridge is rotten and shaky, and the depth of the valley is deep. Will you still dare to walk across?
(为什么在黑暗中轻易走过的桥，当看到真实的情景时，就走不动了?)

At the end of the day, it is our judgment call that matters, not our skills nor our talent. How we made our judgment call determine our path in life. How we arrive at that judgment call depends on our attitude towards the circumstances.
(而你真正看清楚生活中的安与危它之间制衡的时候，也许我们鼓起勇气，心怀恐惧，但还能战胜自我的走过去。其实这个时候，行走作为一种技巧重要吗？我们内心的判断才是最重要的)


Fifth lesson:- The task is on hand, see pass the wrapped niceties
Phase 1 - 忘记利益。不再想着用我的事情
Phase 2 - 忘记名誉，不再想着大家的是非, 毁誉对我有多么重要
Phase 3 - 忘记自己，人其实只能达到忘我之境, 可以做得最好
If we can "穿越三个阶段，忘利，忘名，忘我", we can perform a task to our best abilities.