A big turtle from the Eastern Sea unintentionally passes by a well. A frog in the well said: “Distinguished guest! Please come in for a visit.” The turtle asked: “Do you feel comfortable living in the well?” The frog said: “I personally own all the water in this well, like a king. Of course, it is comfortable here! When I jump into the well, the water will quickly come forward to support my armpit. When I dive to the bottom of the water, the mud will hurry to massage my legs. During the night, if I prefer not to stay in the water, I can jump to the side of the well and dream about some witty events. In the morning, I can wander around casually outside the well. I live so happily every day. But I notice that the crabs, tadpoles, and red worms in the well are not as happy as me.” The big turtle is convinced and wants to go into the well for an experience. However, soon after its left foot steps into the well, the right foot is stuck outside the well. It cannot move forward, therefore it has to retreat. The turtle said: “Your well is too small. I can’t go in. I just came from the Eastern Sea. Let me describe to you the happiness of the Eastern Sea. It is so wide and deep. Even a thousand miles cannot describe its width; eight thousand feet cannot describe its depth. During the period of Emperor Yu, there were floods for nine out of ten years. But the sea level never rises. During the period of Emperor Tang, there were droughts for seven out of eight years. But the sea level never falls. The Eastern Sea doesn’t change regardless of the length of time or how heavy is the rain. That is the happiness of the Eastern Sea.” The frog is astonished and disbelieves there is such a gigantic thing. Some people have a shallow vision because of their own limitations. They can only see or imagine a possible level of happiness which they can wrap their heads around. They don’t believe there are better ways other than Capitalism or Socialism, or anything else (such as Meritocracy) which they have heard of. They can’t even dream about the possibility of reaching a permanent plateau of peace and prosperity. They are just like the frog in the well.
Rain in the autumn brings a lot of water. Through hundreds of small rivers, the water flows into the Yellow River. The water surface becomes very wide. The God of Yellow River is very proud because he thought he has the greatest water-body in the whole world. However, as he travels downstream and reaches the Northern Sea, he looks around but unable to see the boundary of the sea. He feels so embarrassed and tells the God of Northern Sea: “Wow! I was so shallow and ignorant. If I have not travelled to the Northern Sea, I could not even imagine there is such a gigantic water-body in the world.” The God of Northern Sea said: “The frogs in the well cannot imagine how big the size of the sea is. The bugs which live during the summer cannot imagine how cold the winter is. People with low intelligent cannot imagine how great the Dao is. They can’t comprehend how far the Dao can go. Now that you have seen the size of Northern Sea, and realized how uninformed you are, I can then talk to you about the Dao. The sea is the biggest water-body in the world. However, comparing the sea and the Heaven and Earth, I am like a small rock on a mountain. I dare not say I am the greatest. A human compared to the world is like a hair on a horse’s body. Using the same reasoning, the so-called great achievements of the past Emperors, Sages, and intelligent leaders are only like a hair or a small rock.” You must dare to make a bigger dream, only then you may possibly reach a higher plateau; although the achievement will still be just like a bigger rock on the mountain. Learning from the great leaders is benevolent; but learning from the Mother Nature, giving and never taking, is magnanimous.
Do whatever that is not wrong but remember that you may be not-right. Other people may also be not-wrong as well as not-right. If the outcomes are different from those you expected or not perfect, don’t regret what you did and especially don’t expect perfection. A little imperfection is good, because perfection necessarily leads to downfall; it is impossible to become more perfect than perfect. Admit that you are not infallible. You don’t have to feel guilty for your action if you’ve made your decision with pure heart and full faith, and you only know of the mistake in the hindsight. Never feel obligated to follow rules. Follow rules only when it can lead to happy outcomes, or it helps to avoid unhappy consequences. Rules are guidance or paths, not intelligence itself. Rules are only applicable in certain time and space. You won’t make great innovation and breakthrough by following written rules or paths.
Problematic people will have a lot of problems in their lives because they see every little “problem” as BIG PROBLEM. They like to magnify the problems; therefore, they see more problems, and become problematic themselves. It is a vicious cycle. Don’t try to be perfect, but find the appropriate satisfactory level or balancing point. Unfortunately, no one can tell you how to define satisfactory level or balancing point; trying to accurately define right and wrong (明辨是非), good and bad, is undesirable. You only need to be careful in your judgments (慎断) and not necessary to be correct in all your judgments (明断). Judgments are always needed simply because there are no perfect rules that you can follow strictly to make the right decision; otherwise, judges would be out of job and robots can replace most managers and doctors. Some people have the false belief that democracy and rule-of-law can bring better life and better future. Despite the failures of many democratic countries in the world, they still choose to believe that democracy is the silver bullet which will kill all devils and cure all political illnesses. Everybody naturally wants to have better life and better future, but many are confused about how to get there. To get there, everybody must start to become self-reliant and not relying on the elites; everybody must assumes the fiduciary duty as a non-executive director of the government; and everybody must be a judge of the judges to make sure justice is served and not simply expecting a lifeless rule-of-law to magically work. Thenceforth, we can truly have a country of the people, by the people, for the people. Everybody must self-regulate himself with ethical values, monitor the government officers, and make sure they do the jobs that they are paid for. Confucius said: “When everybody chooses to be a filial piety son and loving brother, the collective deeds will influence the government. It is also a form of involvement in politics. It is not always necessary to become a politician to be considered being involved in politics.” (孝乎惟孝、友于兄弟，施於有政。是亦為政，奚其為為政？) The people always get the government which they deserve; whether it is a democratic country or not. Don’t just blame the politicians when you get a bad government. Regardless of the political system, the government can only be good if the people are good.
RESILIENT KID 