A Gentle Stream in the Heart, Flowing Slowly to the Distance

Saturday; the weather in Beijing was sunny and warm. Though there was light haze, it did not interfere with outdoor exercise. My wife and I rode our bikes to the small vegetable plot at the foot of the Western Hills for "spring plowing" — each with a spade, turning the soil once counted as spring plowing. Having not come for a whole winter, there was a lot of debris on the ground, which we cleared up along the way. The overwintering spinach, green garlic and onions were still alive; though not growing well, their presence gave the ground at least a touch of green.

After finishing work we dropped in at Beiwu Park and Yujiao Country Park. Although the early-spring country park was not yet lush, occasional patches of lively green among the withered yellow were enough to refresh the heart and mind. The pines, cypresses and bamboos in the park are evergreen through winter; now and then the clear, melodious calls of birdsong drifted from the woods, and waterfowl swam leisurely on the ponds. The breath of life could not be concealed — it seeped out everywhere.

We sincerely marveled at the beauty of life. Yes, in our view, simply being alive is a very wonderful thing. This is a mindset peculiar to optimists; from childhood to adulthood, we have probably been in this state most of the time. No matter how many hardships and twists fate sets before us, they cannot change our optimistic undertone; our most basic cognition is that life is wonderful and joyful.

Optimism seems to be an inborn gift. If a person is born optimistic, then no matter how hard his life looks to others, he himself is happy. My mother and my uncle were both such people; those around them always thought they had suffered a great deal, yet they wore smiles all their lives and were perfectly satisfied with their lives.

My mother has been gone for many years; I was not blessed to see her in old age, but I can see in my uncle what my mother would have looked like had she lived to old age. Relatives always say my uncle suffered too many misfortunes in his life, but I have rarely seen him with a worried face. My uncle is nearly eighty, but his face still has few wrinkles; his smile seems as if it will never fade.

I am very fortunate that my wife is basically an optimist too. A household made up of two optimists will inevitably have some bumps and scrapes, and sometimes even fairly intense conflicts, but the undertone of such a home is happiness, and occasional unpleasantness is easily dispelled within it.

Happy people are very easily contented. We often say "contentment brings happiness," but since I began studying psychiatry I have grown skeptical of this idiom. Perhaps people are not happy because they are content, but content because they are happy. People are easily satisfied because they are optimistic; "contentment brings happiness" reverses cause and effect.

Those born with a fragile nervous system are more prone to anxiety about the future; they need more material security and spiritual support to feel even a little at peace. Compared with people of thick nerves and natural optimism, they seem harder to satisfy, and this can even develop into various psychological or psychiatric disorders. I am striving to find the most effective way to help such people out of their spiritual predicament; in fact, when their inner being is truly soothed, they no longer crave excessive security as urgently as before.

Ordinary people find it hard to understand how painful it is for those who inherit a sensitive nervous system; storms can rise in their hearts at any moment. These storms not only engulf themselves but also damage their relationships, trapping them in a vicious cycle. Without effective help, most of them will live in pain all their lives.

What most of us long for is not a tempestuous life, but a happiness that, like a gentle stream, flows slowly to the distance. Because a tempestuous life may be accompanied by constant inner turmoil, and that turmoil is enough to destroy our happiness. We long for peace and loathe turmoil; we like fulfillment and loathe emptiness; we yearn to be understood and accompanied, and loathe strife and war, as well as being alone. We hustle through this world for a lifetime, and before we finally leave it, perhaps the only thing that matters is the affection between people.

An important mission of people like me in this world is to promote understanding between people and to steer all kinds of affection toward what is good. Because understanding and love between people nourish the soul. A soul nourished by love is not easily lonely or extreme; the human mind can only grow to its fullest in an environment nourished by love.

People are mostly ill in both body and mind; the ideal physician can treat the patient's body and soul at the same time. Treating organic bodily disease requires corresponding drugs or surgery, while the main task of psychotherapy is to promote the growth of the mind, helping the person complete the self-growth and socialization they failed to achieve in the past, improving their ability to adapt to the environment and their quality of life.

May there be no more suffering in the world, and may all healers fulfill their aspirations on the medical road. The road is long, and I will continue to search forward.