On myself

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

Tue, November 28, 2023 | 19:50

Thoughts of the Times

On myself

Posted : 2023-01-18 16:50

Updated : 2023-01-18 16:50

By Park Sung-ik

I am the one who knows and understands myself well. Confucius said in the Analects, "I will not be afflicted at men's not knowing me; I will be afflicted that I do not know men." In the end, it means that I have to acknowledge and know myself. Jesus himself loved to eat, drink and play with his disciples and the people. He knew how to enjoy life. Don't wait for others to be good to you. You have to be good to yourself. Don't blame yourself for wasting your life because you weren't praised for making your spouse successful and your children educated, be nice to yourself. Also, to die well, you must live well, and to live well, you must be good to yourself.

Since 2010, a craze for special humanities lectures has been blowing up in society. People's curiosity about "Who am I?" is triggered. Socrates said, "Know yourself!" Buddha said, "Those who know themselves are Buddhas, and those who do not know themselves are mortal beings." People who have lived their whole lives without knowing who they are until their 60's can be called just "human beings," in other words, a shell.

Who am I? How will I live? How will I die? People usually think of death as darkness and despair. Also, they think that life and death are separate. However, don't be scared or afraid of dying. Because until I die, I will not die, and as long as I live, I will love and go to Heaven. Children who are not filial now will not be filial later. Also, I have to treat the benefactors in my life well now, not later.

Eating, drinking and playing are important. Let's live happily until the day we die. To die well, you must live well. You have to eat, drink and play with your parents from a young age to be happy as an adult.

Too many people live without knowing who they are. Many people cannot find the treasure within themselves. They have the ability, but they don't find it.

Here are 9 lessons Shakespeare gave to middle-aged people.

First, remain a student. The moment you give up learning, you start to grow old.

Second, don't brag about your past. When you have nothing but old stories, you become desolate. The wisdom of living your life is to enjoy what you have now.

Third, don't compete with young people. Instead, acknowledge their growth, encourage them and have fun with them.

Fourth, do not dare to give unsolicited advice. Rather, it is misunderstood as the useless worries and nagging of an old person.

Fifth, don't substitute philosophy for life. Remember what Romeo said, "Unless philosophy can make a Juliet, displant a town, reverse a prince's doom, it helps not, it prevails not. Talk no more."

Sixth, discover the beauty in life and enjoy it. Do not neglect a little aesthetic pursuit. It is good to enjoy painting, music, books and the beauty of nature.

Seventh, don't complain about getting old. Then you look pitiful. People will start avoiding you after hearing it a few times.

Eighth, don't hand over the world to young people. Like King Lear, who was betrayed by his two daughters, he will be cold and hungry in old age and eventually, be killed by them.

Ninth, don't talk about death often. Nothing is surer than death. There have been no exceptions in human history. Certainly, there is no need to deliberately go to meet what is coming.

Until then enjoy your life.

The writer (parksi48@naver.com) is a former teacher at Pungmoon Girls' High School.