It is Time to Stop Being a Saint

At 35, it's time to stop playing the saint; stop feeding everyone.

I gave you a bottle of water in the desert. When we got to the city, you bought me a bottle, claiming we were even. This is the harsh reality of human nature.

Offending a few people, or making a few mistakes, isn't that terrible. Living a life of compromise and constant fear is the most terrifying thing. Stop feeding everyone. Don't even entertain the thought of trying to change others.

1. Guard Your Energy: Don't Exhaust Yourself to Nourish Others

Interpersonal relationships are essentially the flow and exchange of energy. Do not engage with negative energy.

The best way to end something is to "starve it." No response, no feeding. Where your attention goes, a response is generated. Responding leads to entanglement, and entanglement will deplete your energy.

Some people and things are like energy black holes. We need to ruthlessly cut off their outstretched tentacles. Refuse to be entangled or harmed; protect your own energy fiercely.

2. Guard Your Time: Don't Waste It Trying to Change Others

The hardest thing in the world is implanting your thoughts into someone else's head. We must learn to restrain our desire to change others.

Time is the fairest resource; everyone only has 24 hours a day. Everyone has their own pace of growth and unique mindset. Trying to change others is a difficult battle with a high probability of failure.

Instead of wasting time trying to change others, invest that focus in your own growth. Learn new skills, travel, read, and deepen your understanding. Every minute invested will shape a better you. Don't reach too far into other people's worlds.

3. Guard Your Kindness: Don't Abuse It to Save Others

Everyone reacts differently to sunlight. Some find it warm, some find it blinding, and some even avoid it. Everyone has their own cause and effect, their own destiny.

Not acting on the desire to help others is a form of redemption for them, and also a form of self-protection for you. Your kindness can easily be used as an emotional dumping ground, and you will be overwhelmed by negative emotions.

True help is not about indiscriminate saving, but about guiding others toward self-help. Everyone must be responsible for their own life. Guard the boundaries of kindness; love yourself first, and then you can better love others.

No matter who you are standing in front of, if you don't owe them anything, there's no need to be subservient.

Your weakness will only make them look down on you more. Being soft-hearted and easily embarrassed will only kill you.

Rational ruthlessness and cold-bloodedness are the true weapons of survival.

Once you've decided to give up on something, let it go completely.

Thank you for reading!