Time

Some things are supremely precious, yet we often overlook them—time, for example.

Time flies like an arrow, the sun and moon shuttle like a loom. Whether we wish it or not, time leaves us unrelentingly; as Confucius sighed by the river Si: "It flows on like this, never ceasing day or night." Time has never halted its steps. Turning back suddenly, many will deep in their hearts sigh, "I have wasted my years and am left with nothing but regret."

The older one grows, the faster time seems to slip by; the dreams of life are unfulfilled, yet the years are gone ruthlessly. After learning he had cancer, Steve Jobs arranged the rest of his life like this: ignore everything that is not important. Life is very fragmented, like scattered chicken feathers; for a person to make a finite life meaningful, he truly needs Jobs's attitude toward time—with little time left, only what is important is worth spending our most precious time on; never waste life over chicken feathers.

Time has another meaning too: every achievement requires the accumulation of time. If one is impatient for quick results in anything, it inevitably turns out superficial. Every endeavor is built on solid accumulation. If one loves a cause, one should consider investing most of one's life in it; chasing every new fancy leads to accomplishing nothing.

Those eager for quick success will end in total defeat; the deeper the pursuit, the more one must stay calm, endure loneliness, sweat and accumulate—and only thick accumulation can produce a steady outflow; one cannot reverse this. Those who act against it will in the end pay for their own frivolity. In my understanding, Confucius said "at thirty I stood" because before thirty a person must go through frivolity and learn harsh lessons from it before he can enter the state of "standing."

When a person "stands," he has, within the long span of life, found his own position and shifted from horizontal to vertical development; he no longer seeks breadth but specialization. The Buddha's disciples asked him what is greatest; the Buddha said, "Those whose will is united with the Way are great." I understand this saying thus: when the aim a person pursues and the cause he is engaged in are one, that may be called greatness—except that the "Way" the Buddha mentioned carries a specific meaning.

In youth we all more or less suffer from choice paralysis; life is colorful and full of temptation, and it is hard to decide where to go. During this wavering stage one is very restless, and restlessness is doomed to waste vast amounts of time.

Now I have suffered enough, know that time flies and must be cherished, and know that accomplishing a great cause requires sitting on the cold bench for many years. I have an objective view of time; I no longer hope to achieve a cause overnight, nor do I want to idle away my years in mediocrity. Hence I have adopted Jobs's attitude toward his time: no longer wasting time on unimportant things, but investing almost all my limited time in the cause I love. I no longer covet the colorful life; of the three thousand flowing waters, one ladle is enough. Ideals need not be many; a little is enough, and to strive for them for a lifetime suffices.