If we live for ourselves without caring about and for others,
we will cause them a nightmare. We should only keep our privacy very little and take responsibility for people around us; it's at that time that we can play the best song.
PRIVACY
Đăng stopped to look at an old man who was carrying two baskets of stones going toward the riverside. His look was sad and resigned. After a while, he came back. Đăng stepped toward him, greeting him and asking:
"How are you doing? What are you carrying the stones for? Why is nobody helping you while you are working all by yourself?"
The old man said looking into the distance:
"I am carrying these stones to block the current of water from lashing and eroding the riverbank as well as the riverside path. If the path collapses, people can't travel. If the riverside collapsed, people would lose their lands."
"Oh, you work for free. But why don't you ask someone for help? Well, I'll give up my pleasure trip to help you."
Two men, one young and one old, carried stones to fix the riverside.
At noon, they rested under a roadside tree. Đăng was curious and asked the old man:
"Where does your family live?"
The old man sadly said:
"I had a wrong lifestyle in the past so they had left me."
"I think you're a good man."
"I'm trying to atone for my mistakes. That's all."
"Could you please tell me more details about what happened?"
"I used to think that everyone has their own right to freedom that is inviolable. It's privacy that nobody can interfere with. Because I thought so, I only lived for myself. I did what I wanted. I didn't listen to any advice from my family. I lived a life of self-indulgence. I got tattoos. I said whatever I liked. I didn't care if what I said hurt others or not. If I didn't want to work, I just quit. If I wanted to travel, I took all the money from my family to go without caring about how they could live on."
"Because I worshipped individual freedom too much, I couldn't love anyone or take responsibility for anybody. I nearly lived outside the law."
"Then one day, I had nothing left, no money, no beloved people, no job. My relatives avoided being with me. They even preferred stroking the dog to talking with me. I became invisible to them. I realized I was wrong. Freedom is not the reason for living. The reason for living is something different."
"Then, I met an old woman who gave me daily food and taught me how to live. Privacy is one of people's needs. However, it only takes 5% of the whole life. The other 95% is people's responsibility for their community. We should only live for our own freedom at the smallest rate, which is reasonable, then we can be happy with that. The biggest rate is to fulfill our responsibilities for our families and communities."
"I made mistakes because I increased the proportion of living for myself too high, approximately 100 percent. Consequently, my life was destroyed, and I was nearly a beggar."
"After that, I got a part-time job. I worked in the morning and spent the afternoon doing volunteer work such as picking up trash, filling potholes and helping everyone in need. I have lived that way for twenty years, but nobody has a liking for me. Today is the first time I have your concern and help. Maybe now, I'm blessed a little. The lifestyle of individual freedom killed my life. Fortunately, I had realized it in the nick of time. It has taken me years to take my life back."
Đăng's heart went out to the old man and said:
"I can't promise you anything. But I can spend my 5 days-off to help you. I'll think and figure it out later. You have given me a big lesson."
We're joyful when we have done what we want. The joy sometimes is true happiness, sometimes it's trivial pleasure. If what we like is appropriate to morality, we'll have a feeling of true happiness. If what we like is contrary to morality, we'll be vulgarly pleased.
We're joyful when we have done what we want. The joy sometimes is true happiness, sometimes it's trivial pleasure. If what we like is appropriate to morality, we'll have a feeling of true happiness. If what we like is contrary to morality, we'll be vulgarly pleased.
After they defeated the monarchic system, people were too excited that they raised freedom to the highest priority in their lives. They started changing into another wrong period of living.
In fact, privacy is a legitimate need of everyone, but it's reasonable if it's only 5% of one's life. Anyone who takes their privacy more than 5% should be warned because they may make a mistake. People might ask us where we get the 5%. The answer is that it's only an estimated small rate, it's not an exact number.
A happy life is not a life that we live for our own desires, but it's a life that we live responsibly for the community. Even though it's very hard for us to take responsibility for our community, we must be happy with that. If we live a life of privacy, we're free in the moment; however, our life will be decayed in the future.
We can take the rate of living of a person to assess the level of morality he/she has. People who devote themselves to doing good for people and their community become saintly. On the other hand, people who live only for themselves, will gradually become evils without recognising it.
Whatever we want to do, we should think twice if it will bring people and the community any benefits. At first, we may be annoyed, but later, we can realize that lifestyle is artistic. Just like people who start learning to play music need to learn the music theory and play exactly to the music's technique. But when they master music theory, they can play music very well. If they don't know music theory, they will cause their neighbors a nightmare because of their disorderly music making.
Likewise, if we live for ourselves without caring about and for others, we will cause them a nightmare. We should only keep our privacy very little and take responsibility for people around us; it's at that time that we can play the best song.
Written by:
Janna
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