Two Primal Forces Have Always Sustained Us Onward
Two primal forces have always sustained me onward: the first is curiosity about the world, and the second is love that rises from deep within the heart. They complement each other, together forming a complete motivational system that has given powerful support throughout my life. It should be said that every normal person is born with this motivational system; it is not a peculiarity of mine.
But these common human traits manifest to different degrees in different people, and these differences have both innate and acquired causes. The innate part is beyond our power to change, while the acquired part relates to the environment we grow up in and the education we receive. If we grow up in an enlightened, generous and loving family, our curiosity about the world will not be suppressed, and our security of love will be sufficient; then our performance in both respects may stand out compared with many people.
Curiosity about the world is innate in all animals, including humans. When we watch a cat or a dog, we see that these animals too have strong curiosity. Curiosity gives rise to the thirst for knowledge and the spirit of exploration; I believe cats and dogs have both a thirst for knowledge and an exploratory spirit, but they simply cannot communicate with humans and express them.
From the moment we are born, we are full of curiosity about both the outer world and our inner world. We want to know what is happening around us; often we also want to understand what thoughts lie deep within our own hearts, especially when our needs conflict with the various rules we know. This kind of curiosity gives rise to the thirst for knowledge and the exploratory spirit, and it has promoted the accumulation of human knowledge and the development of civilization.
So the best education parents can give their children is to let nature take its course and preserve the child's curiosity, letting it develop freely. Do not suppress this curiosity through intimidation or threats, nor suppress it for utilitarian reasons (such as exam-oriented education). Once a person's curiosity is damaged or distorted, he will lose his thirst for knowledge and exploratory spirit, and lose courage. Stripped of these, a person's mental growth is hindered and he cannot give full play to curiosity.
A person must keep exploring all his life; as long as humankind has not perished, humanity as a whole will go on exploring. Exploration is the foundation of innovation; if we accept a rigid education that stifles our drive to explore, we lose the inborn capacity to seek knowledge. True knowledge and wisdom are always gained in the process of exploration; only through practice can we internalize the knowledge and wisdom we grasp into our own minds.
I am forty-four this year, and still full of questions about this world; many things I want to see through to the end draw me onward. But I never blindly believe any authority—dead or alive. Being human, I want to discover problems and solve them myself, forming my own conclusions in the process; I do not like accepting any idea without question.
The exploratory spirit and independent thinking are twin sisters. In the actual process of exploration we may find that the real world differs from the theoretical world; this is our chance to make new discoveries and correct the mistaken perceptions of those before us. This process, I believe, is independent thinking and innovation. Independent thinking is built on the exploratory spirit; it is not independent thinking simply to deny others off the top of one's head without doing any exploration. True independent thinking is carried out on the basis of careful observation and study of the world.
Love is the other great source of motivation in human nature. Almost everyone is born with the capacity to love, but this capacity must first be awakened by being loved. The first love we receive in this world comes from our parents or other caring relatives. If this love is sufficient and expressed in the right way, we will have a very firm sense of security all our lives—even if we are struck by various blows and temporarily collapse, this security will rescue us.
Love frees us from fear and loneliness; love continuously provides us with strength. When we feel loved, our spirit is joyful, confident, positive and optimistic, and we repay those who love us with our own love. A normal person becomes more vital in loving and being loved; a person seriously wounded in spirit can also recover in the process of loving and being loved.
If we are unlucky from birth, unable to perceive being loved because of innate deficiency, or if in early childhood we did not receive sufficient love and good care, then when we grow up we easily develop a sense of lack, which makes us restless and gloomy.
Deprivation of love hinders a person's growth and development; the best way to resolve this is to receive compensation of love. So the loved one has come to save us. They warm and sustain us with love, and encourage us onward with love.
Everyone needs love; precious love matters to everyone. Love is the source of confidence; love urges a person to strive upward and grow positively. We have a duty to provide our descendants with a loving environment in which to grow; this is the richest gift we can give them, one that will leave them with no sense of lack for a lifetime and will not be easily defeated.
If a person's curiosity is fully preserved and the love rising from deep within the heart is also abundant, then that person's life will be positive and happy—positivity and happiness come first from a person's inner strength, and are then strengthened in the process of interacting with others.
Curiosity keeps us from ever falling into boredom and decadence; it drives us to keep exploring new things and to grow in mind. Love keeps us always full of vitality. Curiosity and love complement each other, together providing an unending supply of motivation for our lives; driven by this motivation, we always have the strength to move forward.