Happy New Year!

What are friends? I think to put it simply, it is a group of people who can seek common ground while reserving differences; in fact, there is a word that can sum up this relationship, that is, 'friendship between gentlemen'. How about it? Have you felt the meaning of "condensation is the essence" in the excellent traditional Chinese culture? If not, then on this occasion of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, let’s talk slowly in the new year.

One definition of the word 'friend' in the dictionary is: a person who has friendship with each other. But I personally think this definition is too broad. From my possibly narrow point of view, friends are actually a group of people who can "respect and understand individuality; own and embrace commonalities."

I still maintain a reverence for the word "friend" to this day. In my opinion, these two words are holy in themselves. 2023 is really coming to an end. Looking back at the two months at the end of the year, it is more magical than the 20 years of my life.

Before those not-so-good events happened, I had always cherished the group of friends I had. Unfortunately, those bad things had already happened...but it is undeniable that the good things that had happened had succeeded. The land left behind precious memories in the old years.

Of course, I have never regretted every choice I made since I became an adult, and I have never forgotten every promise I made. Now I just hope that I can continue to empower myself in the new year and develop unyielding perseverance and solid determination. Wherever your heart goes, go wherever you go. Let’s encourage everyone!

As the saying goes, nothing can be established without destruction. If you want to recreate beauty, you must destroy it and return everything in order to disorder. In this way, it is possible to continue the beauty in the old situation and reshape the beauty in the new expectations.

Looking back, in the short 20 years of my life, I was unsettled and restless most of the time. But I was very lucky to meet some friends, and their encouragement and praise gave me great confidence and comfort. Of course, there are many of them that I once found difficult to match and surpass. I have to admit that watching their highlight moments would have made me feel inferior.

The paradox is that most of the time, when I look at those very shining people, my self-confidence will explode like that monotonically increasing exponential function. As for several attitudes towards life, it will also change in a somewhat stimulating way. Crazy collision and tearing during the discussion. Every time I have discussions and discussions with them, I feel that I have benefited a lot.

There is no shortcut to a person's growth and success. But from my personal experience, if you have to find a "shortcut" that you can take with peace of mind, there is only one way, and that is to get close to people who are better than you.

I originally wanted to talk about my own experience, but when I write it, it always feels a bit preachy. I think there should be many people who hate people who like to preach, right?

Therefore, if someone wants to get close to someone who is better than themselves, the most reliable way is to find out the method on their own.

After all, apart from those hard-to-break truths, no method works for everyone.

And excellence is also multi-faceted. I think everyone has an excellent side. As Confucius said, when three people walk together, there must be one teacher. Anyone can learn from their strengths as long as they allow them to make progress.

The end of the year is both an end and a beginning. Leave all the unhappiness to the old year and bring all the warm memories and emotions to welcome the new year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I wish you all good health! Everything goes well! Peace and joy!

(Recorded on December 31, 2023)