07/07/2023
2023.07.07
https://conduongtrithuc2015.wordpress.com/2023/07/07/khoa-hoc-lam-giau-chuong-17/
In this closing chapter, the author mentioned several things I agree on. Getting rich, or becoming successful, is not a result. It is a lasting, or constant, or never-ending process, just like learning. Many people have mistakenly thought it is the final result of something, thus we are now stuck, having no idea what to do next. The author has emphasized getting rich is a process, a daily habit. This coincides with Confucius’ concept of daily “rituals,” which form self-cultivation, in which we become better and more competent individuals over time by practicing and retaining enriching habits every day. Confucius was the master of the art of getting better, and this principle was the reason why his system, Ruism, was preferred to Taoism and Buddhism and adopted by many feudal governments, because striving to become better versions of ourselves stimulated and boosted up trade and economic activities, whereas the other two systems were criticized for having less socio-economic values, for encouraging lack of efforts and advising people to accept whatever they are given instead of trying to improve themselves as well as their situations.
[ Ruism was so well-appreciated because it gave us a healthy reason to live: live to be better. With this, you are in a constant journey of living each of your day trying to be better, more skilled or more knowledgeable than yourself of yesterday. This is an intrinsic motivation, which means it does not depend on economics, trends, and external factors as much as most other activities.
So if young people complain to me they do not know how to live their life without fun and fancy trends, try “nhân, lễ, nghĩa, trí, tín” (originally designed for men, for both genders in modern time) and “tam tòng tứ đức, công dung ngôn hạnh” (specifically designed for women), and you will not be spared a minute to breathe or a day to get bored. ]
Both Confucius and Wattles have emphasized that these daily “rituals” do not have to be related to money making. To the latter, it is the daily practicing of gratitude and retaining the right and healthy mindset, as re-confirmed in this featured chapter. Regarding myself personally, I retain the habit, or “ritual,” of reading and learning something every day. On busy days, I read one or two things; whenever I have more spare time, I read a little bit more. This is the true meaning of “enriching,” and it is similar to an athlete or a martial artist practicing their moves and muscles every day: You get better – and certainly your money-making capabilities are increased this way or another – and accumulate more resources over time without knowing it.
The featured cartoon today is “Small Fry” (1939). Here Pink played a mischievous little fish who played truant (“trốn học”) to play billiards in adults’ clubs. He tried to copy adults’ unhealthy habits, including smoking, as shown in the featured images, just to look cool (Children do not imitate, please!). To me personally, this short cartoon shared a similar story and drew a similar conclusion to that of “Pinocchio,” that children should honor their parents and focus on their duty to study. And my biggest applause goes to Pink for his both superb and funny acting which made me laugh my a-ss off, because it was based a true story of his life, when he was a spoiled kid!
Regarding the featured song, it was amazing to see the pianist play it with multiple instruments by herself. Like the admin, she showed us that in order to go the long run, we must know one-hundred times more than what we share or sell out. Many young entertainers do not spend enough time building resources and just sell and show everything they have – a sure formula of failures, and it is no surprising they run out of magic within a short time.
The featured song – a hit song of past decades – was both lovely and humorously educational: You thought you were listening to a romantic love story until it was revealed by the end of the song the guy was actually dreaming all along, “dreaming my life away”; no action was taken, all the beautiful romance and promises were just dreams. This song is, I think, a suitable choice for today’s feature, as the little fish could have almost wasted his future as well as his life had he not put an end to his childish and unhealthy dreams: The muse produced the cartoon to memorize the lesson and remind himself not to sadden his parents like that again!
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*Tựa gốc: “The Science of Getting Rich” *Năm phát hành: 1910 *Tác giả: Wallace Delois Wattles *Dịch giả: ThS. Phan Nguyễn Khánh Đan, tháng 07/2016. [ DISCLAIMER ] This book is a product of its time…