In Japan, there was an elderly woman named Shigeko Shibata who began publishing her first poetry collection at the age of ninety-eight, titled “Life Never Gives Up.” It sold two million copies in Japan. At the age of one hundred, she always kept a mirror and lipstick by her side, dressed with care and elegance, and demanded refinement. She said, “Even at ninety-eight, I still want to fall in love, dream, and ride on the clouds in the sky.” She also said, “Please don’t call me ‘old lady’ and ask me ‘What day is it today?’ or ‘What is 9 + 9?’ Please don’t give me such silly questions.” So, what about you? In your teens or twenties, you already say “I’m old”; right after graduating from university, you set your life goal as “how to find time to be lazy”; when your career hasn’t taken off yet, you hope for a “safe job”; after being in a long-distance relationship for half a month, you feel like time is dragging on; after a party has only lasted twenty minutes, you feel awkward and want to stop your heart… The result will inevitably be that all the goals you can’t achieve for now are easily categorized as “unrealistic dreams”; everything you can’t reach becomes an “unreachable distance”…
When a friend invites you to go to a karaoke bar: “Let’s go, let’s sing all night.” You shake your head and say, “Alas, I can’t, I’m old.” When someone encourages you to pursue the woman you like: “The person you liked back then is still single, go for it!” You shake your head and say, “Alas, I don’t have the energy, I’m old.” When your girlfriend invites you to a yoga class: “Let’s try harder to keep our youth for one more year!” You shake your head and say, “I’m already old, why bother twisting around!” You keep saying “I’m old” all day, as if admitting this gives you an excuse for a lifeless life. In fact, this is just self-deception. My suggestion is that you should always stay connected with the world—maintain your passion for the impermanence of life and your curiosity about the mundane. Only then can you say with confidence on each birthday, “Oh, I’m turning eighteen again!” No matter what, I won’t add one more candle! Everyone will age and eventually die. I sincerely hope that on the last day, you can say with pride, “The things I have never done are just that, the things I never do are just that, and the things I have always been doing are the meaning of my life!”
