The Best Way to Live in The Second Half of Life: Solitude, Contentment and Self-Consistency

Writer Yang Jiang said:
“When you have seen the four seasons and the wind and clouds, you will find that the calmness and calmness in your heart are the beauty;
” When you have seen the world and seen all beings, you will find that the courage and self-confidence in your heart are the world’s face.”
Walking in the world, we will encounter many dissatisfaction, and there will be a lot of helplessness.
But as long as you are brave and confident, have a good heart, and let the outside world be noisy, you can face life easily and peacefully.
The best way to live in the second half of life is to enjoy being alone, to be content, and to be self-sufficient.

enjoy being alone
Marquez, the author of “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, said: “Life is ultimately a solo journey.”
Loneliness is the norm in a person’s life.
The sooner you learn to be alone, the sooner you can make physical and mental adjustments, and better focus and thinking.
To many people, being alone is a sense of desolation without company, and it is associated with negative words such as withdrawn and closed.
But the quality of being alone determines a person’s living conditions, and it is the best period for a person to rise.
The more outstanding a person is, the more he enjoys being alone.
When the Curies got married, there were only two chairs and a dining table in the reception room at home.
Seeing the space in their home, my father planned to send a set of furniture, but Mrs. Curie disagreed.
The husband suggested: “Then let’s add another chair, so that there will be no embarrassment when there are too many guests.”
Mrs. Curie still refused: “If there are more guests, there will be more time for chatting.”
In Madame Curie’s view, having an extra chair at home requires more energy to socialize and socialize.
And she likes to devote more time to scientific research, focusing on her own research when she is alone.
It is precisely because of high-quality solitude that she discovered the elements polonium and radium and won the Nobel Prize twice.
This simply cannot be done without quality alone time.
People who enjoy being alone can be more aware of what they are pursuing, not be affected by the disturbing environment of the outside world, return to their body and mind, and listen to their true thoughts.
Schopenhauer said: “Whoever doesn’t love to be alone doesn’t love himself. When he is alone, he is his true self.”
At the age of 19, Mu Xin decided to go to the mountains alone to write, and lived in an old house on Mogan Mountain.

Mogan Mountain is very cold at night, and the mountain wind is biting. Even so, he still insisted on getting up early to read during the day and writing by lighting candles at night.
One day, when Mu Xin was writing an article, he heard something scratching the door outside. When he got closer, he saw that it was a tiger. He was sweating from fright.
And this also became the reason why he was ridiculed by the mountain people: “What kind of young master is living alone in this wilderness.”
But Mu Xin ignored them, and wrote a few thick manuscripts in one winter.
At the age of 23, Mu Xin voluntarily left his job and went to the familiar Mogan Mountain to concentrate on studying and painting.
After living in seclusion for 6 years, he came down the mountain with more than 100 novels and countless ink paintings.
People who enjoy being alone always find strength from it, find their own way forward, and find inner peace.
Learning to be alone and enjoying loneliness is the only way for a person to mature.
When you are alone, step out of your comfort zone to improve your abilities, and settle down to seek your life goals.
People who enjoy being alone are more able to re-understand themselves and move on to the next stage of life.

Know how to be content
“Tao Te Ching” says: “There is no crime greater than desire, no fault greater than desire, and no disaster greater than dissatisfaction, so contentment is always enough.”
The real wealth in our life is knowing how to be content.
Those who know how to be content don’t care about material wealth, but spiritual wealth.
Hu Jiushao, a famous Confucianist in the early Ming Dynasty, lived in Jiangxi and his family was poor.
In order to make ends meet, he not only teaches students, but also cultivates the fields on weekdays, and teaches his son to read when he comes back at night, day and night.
But even in this difficult situation, Hu Jiushao still burned incense and prayed at night, thanking God for his blessing.
When his wife saw it, she sarcastically said: “Life is so difficult, and eating vegetable porridge every day is not a blessing.”
But he replied with a smile: “We live in a peaceful age without war, how happy we are; besides, our family lives together, we have food, clothing and housing; and we are all in good health. How can such a good life be considered a blessing?” Woolen cloth?”
Although Hu Jiushao’s family is poor, he earns food and clothing through self-reliance, and uses a positive attitude to influence the people around him.
He persisted in his ideals, studied hard, and became spiritually rich, and eventually became one of the famous Neo Confucianists.
Writer Wang Shuo said: “The superficial similarity in life depends on the richness of the heart to get rid of.”
Only when a person is rich in heart can he live actively and grow in the face of adversity.
Wang Yangming, a master of psychology, entered his official career at the age of 28.
At the age of 35, he was ordered to be punished for forty years because of saving people and angering the emperor, and was relegated to the uncivilized Longchang, Guizhou.
After many officials came to the desolate Longchang, they were either depressed and decadent; or they thought the place was remote and backward, and felt that the people here were different from them, so they were wary.
But Wang Yangming remained calm, not feeling sad or depressed about being relegated.
In Longchang, he tidied up his house, and humbly asked the locals how to cultivate the fields, and integrated himself into it.
At the same time, he did not forget to be diligent, sitting on the couch every day, burning incense and reading.
Relying on a calm and open-minded attitude, Wang Yangming survived the trough, and finally had the epiphany moment of “Enlightenment in the Dragon Field”, and founded Xinxue.
What will happen to those who know how to be content?
Only when you are content can you be happy, and your heart can be satisfied and peaceful, without being disturbed by the outside world.
Only by being happy can we have no worries, live the present with a contented and positive attitude, and not be afraid of the wind and rain in the future.
Knowing contentment is happiness.

Self-consistent spirit
Lawyer Shi Xinyue explained self-consistency in “Self-Consistency: Looking Inside in Uncertain Days”:
Self-consistency is knowing and accepting one’s own characteristics. Starting from oneself, one can gain something by completing one thing.
A truly mentally strong person can accept himself calmly, base himself on the current level, take the initiative to learn, have the courage to break through his upper limit, and pursue higher goals.
Yang Tianzhen doesn’t have a good figure or a bright face, she considers herself an ordinary person: ordinary appearance, family, education.
Too many people attack her because of her figure and appearance, but she doesn’t demand perfection, she is willing to accept herself, and confidently expresses: It doesn’t matter, as long as she is comfortable.
She once posted a video on Xiaohongshu, “Twenty Years of an Ordinary Girl”.
In just 90 seconds, she showed her growth: admitted to Peking University, founded an entertainment company, made plus-size women’s clothing, and wrote a book.

This ordinary but extraordinary girl did not live under the labels others put on her, but kept breaking through her upper limit, shining with confidence.
A self-consistent person can accept his own shortcomings calmly, give up comparing himself with others, and find his true self.
Helen Keller was blind and deaf.
But she didn’t complain and didn’t give up her dream.
Instead, follow the teacher to study Braille hard, and use his strong will to convey his ideas to the world.
In the end, he wrote the masterpiece “If You Give Me Three Days of Light”.
“The biggest internal friction of a person is not letting go of himself.”
The ultimate enemy in life is yourself, and you can conquer everything by defeating yourself.
From now on, stop demanding perfection and leave a little gap in your life.
Let go of paying attention and expecting others, and keep life and love to yourself.
Don’t dwell on the past, don’t hesitate repeatedly, say goodbye to internal friction, and take active actions.
When your spirit is self-consistent, your life must be free.

Romain Rolland said: “Everyone has a hidden essence that is different from others, and it makes people have their own scent.”
On the way of growth, everyone encounters various difficulties and setbacks.
But the best state of life for a person may be like this:
Enjoy being alone and having a conversation with your true self in a quiet environment.
Know contentment and feel peace and beauty in a rich heart.
Have a self-consistent spirit, no contradictions, no twists and turns, and use your own courage and confidence to move forward firmly.