The Journey in Life
万事开头难 (wàn shì kāi tóu nán)
means the first step is always the hardest. According to this saying, it is normal to find something difficult at the start, but as one doesn’t give up and keeps doing it, the situation will get easier and better.
意思是做什么事情都是开始的时候比较难，这句话告诉我们开始做事情的时候遇到困难是正常的，不要因此而放弃，要坚持下去，以后会越做越容易,越来越好。
Does this old chinese saying ring a bell to you?
It struck me in a much different way recently.
There is this old audio equipment shop just beside my cafe, and the boss is 1 gentle soft spoken uncle. Being the introverted me, we only spoke for a while a few months ago and rarely interacted after that. And during that brief encounter, his words echoed that of numerous traditional business owners — we will never know if we do not try.
Last Saturday afternoon during one of the routine “relief trips” to the gents, we bumped into each other and he casually asked me how business is recently and I gave the usual answer that while it is getting better, it still pales to pre-Covid days. He remarked that he can see and observe that I’m having it hard. His next reply (in chinese) then hit me hard and set my mind into overdrive mode somehow — “If the beginning is easy, then we would think that it is so easy.” — while I was still washing my hands at the basin. At that very moment, the act of rinsing my soap lathed hands seems to be discarding my negative emotions and bringing in positive ones.
A different interpretation of the above chinese saying, from another perspective. As much as many of us know that success after bitter times taste sweeter, I feel that these could be interpreted very differently. In fact, I would think that if blended together, the wisdom is immense.
Last month had been some very turbulent period for me, from team issues and tension, financial sustainability/status, family members’ health, and at times I began to question myself. The feeling of being alone in this journey stands out more than ever. I finally decided to consciously set aside time to draft the cafe profile, and the thinking-editing process grounded me slightly. Had conversations and catch-ups with a few close friends and former colleagues who visited the cafe — a long-time volunteer friend helping to source for local suppliers and products from China and giving me different perspectives on managing the cafe and team (we had a long chat again the week before), tuning in to Happiness Conference Panel sessions (organised by a bunch of very passionate people from Happiness Initiative https://happinessinitiative.sg/) and doing the videoshoot session with Sherman & Simon’s team on workplace happiness, a few former senior colleagues dropped by for lunch and wanting to see how I am doing, a few fellow volunteers turned good friends having a good conversation over dinner at the cafe on last Friday evening (food prepared by me trying to be a cook-in-training) — and each time, I had new insights and realisations. Blessed to have these people around, allowing me to reflect, learn and grow probably without them even realising that. It was also a pleasant surprise when Vincent popped in on last Monday morning (when he was going to submit the NMP nomination forms), and I appreciate the time he gave and the chat we had before the lunch crowd comes in. The AGS (A Good Space is Singapore’s first co-operative for changemakers by changemakers and I recently joined them as a member. http://www.agoodspace.org/) a huddle we had the following day also set me reflecting the whole night and the day after.
And when the hectic week was coming to a end and just before the month was wrapping up, the uncle near me presented the words “If the beginning is easy, then we would think that it is so easy.”, my mind began to settle and switch to another mode; a more stable, calmer mode of future looking.
What does a good journey in life mean to you?
