Growth is addition, but maturity is subtraction.
Author: Insight·yebo
Mo Yan once said in a speech:
When a person lives, he actually needs very little. If he wants too much, he will suffer. Desire backfires, and thinking too much will make you physically and mentally exhausted.
Growth is addition, but maturity is subtraction.
The most difficult thing to wake up to in life is to say goodbye to complexity and return to simplicity.
1
Simplify your circle and focus on self-growth
When people are young, they always want to travel all over the world and make friends from all walks of life.
As you get older, you will gradually understand that two or three close friends are better than thousands of casual acquaintances.
In 1988, Mo Yan and Yu Hua studied in the writer's graduate class at Beijing Normal University together and lived in the same dormitory.
At that time, Mo Yan was just emerging in the literary world, and he often received various entertainments and invitations.
One time, Mo Yan attended a dinner party. As soon as he sat down, the people around him gathered around him, calling "Teacher Mo" and handing over their business cards to introduce themselves.
In order not to be rude, Mo Yan took it with a smile and forced himself to chat with them, even though he had never seen these people before.
After three rounds of drinking, the scene became lively, and everyone was bragging about their past experiences.
Someone asked him: "Teacher Mo, your "Red Sorghum" is so well written. Is there a story behind it?"
Mo Yan waved his hand and said, "No. What a story, I just wrote it with my head down."
After hearing this, the man's face darkened, and he became drunk and said, "Teacher Mo, you look down on me, don't you?"
Others also took advantage of the situation and started making noises. Mo Yan couldn't stand it anymore, so he excused himself to the toilet and went back to the dormitory.
If there was a dinner party after that, he would no longer attend and would just skip it.
When other classmates went to parties, he stayed in the dormitory with Yu Hua, talking about literature, writing novels, and improving his creative skills.
In 2012, Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
When the news came, the whole country was in a state of excitement. Many people came to get close to him and invited him to participate in the event.
His cell phone kept ringing all day long, and finally he couldn't stand it anymore, so he simply turned it off and hid in the study alone.
I usually read and write, and in my free time I listen to opera and practice calligraphy.
Occasionally calling a few friends to get together, or going out for a trip, these made him feel relaxed and comfortable that he had not seen for a long time.
I heard a saying:
People who are empty inside always like to join in the fun here, but mature people know how to streamline social interactions and improve themselves in silence.
The rest of your life is not long, don’t waste your time on irrelevant people, and don’t waste your energy on meaningless things.
If you learn to narrow your social circle and focus more on yourself, you will be able to live the most comfortable life.
2
Only by being simple in material desires can one be rich in spirit
"The Tao Te Ching" says: "The five colors make people blind, the five sounds make people deaf, and the five flavors make people feel good in the mouth." . ”
When a person lives in the world, he will always face various desires and temptations.
If you pursue material stimulation and enjoyment too much, it will inevitably lead to spiritual loss and sinking.
In a speech in December 2010, Mo Yan told this story:
In an Indian mountain village, monkeys often come down the mountain to harass the villagers.
In order to capture the monkeys, the villagers specially made a wooden cage with delicious apples in it.
After seeing this, the monkeys couldn't stand the temptation and desperately reached into the cage.
After grabbing the apple, they found that their hand was stuck and could not be pulled out. The monkeys were so anxious that they scratched their heads and ears, but refused to let go. In the end, they were easily caught by the villagers.
In fact, the same is true for people. If they are controlled by desires, they can only lose their freedom and be at the mercy of others.
Only by returning to simplicity and not being coerced by material desires can you realize the most authentic taste of life.
Shortly after Mo Yan won the award, Chen Guangbiao, "China's top philanthropist", announced that he would give him a villa in Beijing free of charge, worth tens of millions.
Unexpectedly, he simply rejected this huge wealth at his fingertips.
As the saying goes: "A family has thousands of taels of gold, but only three meals a day; a family has thousands of hectares of fertile land, but only seven feet of sleep at night."
A person can only be content with simplicity. Only by enjoying material things can we keep our inner clarity and not be confused by external things.
This reminds me of the time CCTV went to interview Mo Yan.
I like a sentence very much:
High-level people know how to cut out the complexity in life and return to reality.
True happiness does not lie in the amount of income, but in spiritual richness.
In the years to come, I hope you will be able to stop your actions and control your desires.
In this noisy world, live with simplicity and restraint, and enjoy relief and calmness.
3
Be calm and live at your own pace
There is a saying: "Only when you calm down can you see your true self."
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A calm mind leads to purity, and a clear mind leads to clarity.
When Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for Literature, he was just 57 years old, and it had been a full 31 years since he started writing.
Over the years, he has always been calm and focused on creation.
Although his name has not been known to ordinary readers for a long time.
But he never went against his own conscience and catered to the public's preferences.
In the end, he won the Nobel Prize with a series of high-quality works, and became famous all over the world.
After winning the award, many readers hoped to see Mo Yan's new work as soon as possible, but several years have passed and he has yet to release any of his works.
Many people in the outside world have openly and secretly questioned that he has "exhausted his talents" and "lost himself in fame and fortune".
Faced with these superficial comments, he never publicly explained, but simply replied:
In the following years, he continued to settle himself, abandoning the prosperity and impetuousness of the outside world. Seclusion and concentration on creation.
In October 2020, after 8 years, he returned to readers' horizons with his new work "Late Bloomer".
After the new book was released, it received rave reviews in just a few months, becoming the most powerful response to criticism.
I am reminded of what Haruki Murakami said:
When we were young, we always wanted to rush forward, wishing we could make a thousand miles in a day, hoping to achieve something in a short time.
Later I realized that rushing for quick results often leads to waste in haste.
The completion of any kind of goal and the realization of dreams are the result of step by step.
On the road of life, there are always people walking faster than you. But don't worry, and don't panic.
As Thoreau said: "Everyone should follow his or her own heart and live a unique life."
On the way to growth, keep your mind steady and walk steadily on the road under your feet. .
As long as you work hard in the right direction, the worst outcome in life is that you will be a late bloomer.
4
Only when life is simple can we live a colorful life
I have heard this sentence:
In life, there are many things People are working hard to add to their lives, but it is difficult to experience happiness.
As everyone knows, in a complicated world, simplicity is the most beautiful state of life.
Mo Yan once talked about his life experiences as a child.
On summer evenings, the old people in the village sit in front of their houses and tell absurd ghost stories.
At this time, Mo Yan would sit aside and listen quietly until it was completely dark.
He was immersed in the story, forgetting fatigue and hunger. He only felt refreshed and comfortable.
After Mo Yan could read and write, he filled his spare time by reading "idle books".
At that time, a classmate had a lot of old novels at home, and he wanted to borrow them to read, but the other party made a condition: If you want to read, you can go to his house and pull around ten times to read one page.
Mo Yan agreed immediately and went to his classmate’s house to work hard the next day.
After sweating profusely all morning, I got the opportunity to read half of "The Romance of the Gods".
In those young years when he often suffered from hunger, listening to stories and reading books brought endless fun and light to Mo Yan's barren life.
Sanmao once said: "Maturity is not to move toward complexity, but to reach innocence."
The true maturity of a person is just that after seeing the complicated nature of life clearly, he still Full of love for life.
This year, Mo Yan is 67 years old. A few months ago, he opened a public account to share his life with readers.
At the end of last year, he posted a "My Summary of 2021".
In the video, he shared his experience over the past year:
The first ray of sunshine shining on China in the New Year was ushered in at Fuyuan Dongji Square;
In Heilongjiang cut open the two-meter-thick ice with his own hands and caught a big fish;
Watching "The Age of Awakening", I learned what YYDS is...
As I grow older , his life is becoming more and more transparent and simple, and also more and more interesting and fun.
There is a saying that goes well: "The greatest simplicity lies in the human heart."
Look at life with a complicated mentality, and there will be troubles and dissatisfaction everywhere; live with a minimalist mentality , no matter how ordinary the years are, there are colorful ones.
The simplest life often contains the purest happiness.
If you live in this world and be a minimalist person, you will be able to have a rich and beautiful daily life amidst the chaos.
There is a proverb:
Only by removing too many burdens in life can we understand the meaning and value of life.
The greatest awakening a person can achieve is to get rid of the redundancy in life, see the abundance in his heart, and find his true self.
Like it. In this complicated society, we should discard the dross and select the essence, and live the life you want with a simple mentality.