When you first encountered this world, your eyes were filled with clarity, eagerly gazing at the colorful wonders in the distance. But as you journey through life, your eyes turn cold, and you become indifferent to the vibrant beauty around you. Some say you have changed, yet you complain that the world has changed. Perhaps everything truly has changed. It is the human condition: from the initial curiosity of the uninitiated to the eventual weariness of the weathered, we all undergo change. We call this transformation "impermanence."
Perhaps even the most surging youthful passion will eventually settle into tranquility, and the boldest ambitions will fade into calm indifference. Many years later, when others mention your dreams, you might have already forgotten them. Many people walk the path of dreams only to lose sight of what they were chasing. You once said that "life is not just about the immediate struggles, but also about poetry and distant horizons!" Yet, like most, you find yourself caught in the trivialities of daily life, living out your long years in mediocrity.
In your youthful arrogance, you understood nothing of time and disbelieved in impermanence. You thought that by being steadfast, you could hold onto everything. Little did you know that in the years to come, your grand declarations would turn into helplessness. You once thought you were invincible, only to be defeated by yourself in the unpredictable currents of time; you once thought you were one in a million, only to become ordinary in the face of harsh reality. Perhaps we are all the same: we overvalued ourselves when we disregarded time, and only truly recognized ourselves when we began to respect it.
You once believed that what you desired was most precious, so you exhausted yourself to attain it, only to realize upon achieving it that what you lost was what truly mattered. Sometimes we are like those who "lose the watermelon for the sesame seed." It is not that we are foolish, but rather that we sacrifice what we deemed unnecessary in pursuit of what we thought we needed. No matter how much we ultimately possess, we often lose far more than we gain. Life may be a tragic and long-drawn-out story, where the conclusion is often a net loss.
Regardless of how you envisioned your future, you will likely evolve into someone you never expected, eventually understanding and even finding contentment in that version of yourself. This is because life rarely goes as planned; instead, it is filled with the confusion of lows and the hesitation of bumpy roads. Life is like a tree: initially, everyone strives to grow straight and strong, but along the way, to reach the light necessary for survival, we are forced to grow skewed. This is the cruelty of the world—no matter how well you plan, you cannot withstand the suddenness of change.
You once thought that companionship would ward off loneliness and help would alleviate helplessness. But one day, you will discover that even among many, you can feel alone, and even with much help, you can feel helpless. For you will finally understand: true loneliness is not facing the world alone, but realizing that when the world is loud, you must depart alone. True helplessness is not the absence of help, but when everyone willing to help is powerless to do so.
Some people enter your life, and you think they will stay forever, only to realize they were merely passing through. Years later, when you raise your glass again, those drinking with you are no longer your old friends; when you set out once more, those traveling with you are no longer your old brothers. You once believed youth would be immortal and friendships everlasting, only to find that time was never kind to you. Those who once wandered through life's hardships with you could not accompany you to the very end.
