When you feel tired, read Tao Yuanming s Words of Return .

When people reach middle age, they are old and young, and for most people, they are really in a dilemma, and they can't help themselves.

Being yourself may live up to the expectations of your family, and for the sake of your family, you may be willing to serve.

With the passage of time, people's pursuits are constantly changing and developing, and people's troubles are mostly similar throughout the ages.

More than 1,000 years ago, in 405, Tao Yuanming was 40 years old.

What should I do if I am a miserable middle-aged man with a bunch of children waiting to be raised, an unstable job, and no savings?

Previously, he had already had several career experiences, and he was really tired of the twists and turns in the officialdom. He decided that he would never go out again, and would work as a "freelancer" at home.

But this year, Tao Yuanming's freelance work was too difficult, there was not enough food in the field at all, and the family couldn't open the pot.

A group of children are still young, and the family is still waiting for him to feed, looking at the family, Tao Yuanming's heart began to be entangled.

At this time, if you still insist on your own freelance work, what should your family do? Do you let them starve and suffer with you? I don't care, anyway, I have decided that even if I die poor, I will never bend my eyebrows and waist to the powerful.

But what about the children? They're still young, what's wrong with them?

Tao Yuanming's heart was shrouded in a shadow. At this time, the people around him also told Tao Yuanming, intentionally or unintentionally, that you are a scholar, it is a shame to live like this, even if you suffer a loss, let your family accompany you to endure hardships.

In the end, Tao Yuanming decided to compromise, but he didn't want to make a career, he just wanted to support his family and earn some wine money by the way.

Pengze County, a hundred miles away, just needed a county order, and under the recommendation of others, Tao Yuanming went to make a county order.

However, when he became an official, people wanted to use authority and money to bend a man's backbone, and the people above came to check, and he wanted to receive him at will, but he was told that this was not good, he had to be neatly dressed, respectful, and then he had to say something nice.

Tao Yuanming didn't want this, so he left.

My body is sold for money, and I am already very aggrieved, and you still want me to sell my soul, I'm sorry, I'm gone.

Tao Yuanming left, feeling in a good mood along the way, and wrote "Words of Return".

Many years later, Ouyang Xiu said:

"There is no article in Jin, but Tao Yuanming's "Words for Returning" is just one. ”

I, Tao Yuanming, a loser in the eyes of the world, when I am middle-aged, I have not become an official, I have not made money, I have returned home, planted land, written articles, and written poems.

That's my life.

Looking back at the Wei and Jin dynasties, my Tao family is also a well-known family.

My ancestors, there was a famous general.

My maternal grandfather was also a famous scholar in the Wei and Jin dynasties, and he was full of learning.

However, the world was difficult, and the family business gradually declined, and by the time I was born, my family only had a few acres of thin fields to maintain food and clothing.

After the death of his father, life at home became even more difficult.

At that time, I wanted to study hard, get ahead in the future, help the country, and uphold justice, so I especially admired Confucius, and felt that he was really a teacher in the world, and a husband should be like this.

But I don't like these things.

If I have to say a very popular sentence, it is that I am ** by this tradition, and I can't resist it, so on the one hand, I convince myself to believe it, and on the other hand, I can't really believe it.

Rather than seeking fame and wealth, I prefer poetry and wine to the countryside.

However, some things were too powerful, some ideas were too powerful, there was no way, I had to be forced into those things, into the world.

Fortunately, my family was more open-minded and didn't force me to do anything, so I was happy most of the time, writing poems and essays, playing the piano and drinking, and living a leisurely rural life.

But life, sometimes it's really too difficult.

When I was almost 30 years old, I could no longer maintain the pastoral life, and I could no longer grow food and clothing, so I went out to work, and my boss also valued me.

However, my damned conscience, my damn nature, I can't open my eyes and talk nonsense, I can't flatter, I can't please others.

In this workplace, many times, what you can say is often the protagonist.

The workplace is difficult, they are either greedy for pleasure, or chasing fame and fortune, and there are too few people who really do things for the people.

I read so many books not to be with these villains, but to serve the country and ask for the people's lives.

So, I quit my job and went back to the countryside.

This time, I felt relieved.

I wrote a few articles at that time, and I was also a little famous, plus this era pays attention to family relationships, and it didn't take long for someone to hire me to work, but I just came out of the wolf's den, how could I get into the tiger's mouth again.

So, I turned down all the offers and just wanted to live my life in peace.

But this life, often always backfired, I want to farm well, but this land is difficult to plant, fortunately, I have a good wife, a lot of work at home, she helps to do, work in the fields, cook at home.

In this way, I lived a stable life for a while.

But this life is always not reassuring, and there are many hardships to come, but my wife died unexpectedly.

At that moment, I felt that the sky had fallen, the earth had sunk, and I borrowed wine to drown my sorrows, but I was even more sorrowful.

My mother is old and still working hard for the family.

I'm really unfilial.

The children are still young, and they are all waiting to be fed.

What's even more helpless is that I have no money, no rice at home, what should I do?

What else can I do but go out to work?

So, I got another job.

I just want to do things well and earn some money to support my family, but my leader, he is not a good person, he actually wants to rebel, although I have not made meritorious achievements, but I also don't want to be a rebel and thief.

Doing things against my own heart is not in line with my will, so I don't want to do it.

And just like that, I'm leaving again.

My colleagues all persuaded me, Yuan Liang, why bother? It's hard to find a job.

I was okay at that time, there was no age anxiety, otherwise, I don't know if I dare to leave, after all, I am in my thirties, and the boss is not small.

In this way, I rekindled my hope, thinking that as long as I planted those few acres of land at home, it would always be a problem to eat, but God soon told me that I was naïve in this idea.

I've been busy all year, I can't even eat, I'm not afraid of hardship, I'm not afraid of anything, but I still have my mother at home, I can't go on like this.

So, I went out a few more times, and my mother died.

At the end of the three-year period of filial piety, I am also forty years old.

Forty is unheard, and Si is not afraid".

I don't think it's a big deal to get nothing done.

Whether a person is successful or not, and whether he is happy or not, does not necessarily depend on worldly standards.

The inner voice can only be heard clearly by yourself.

Life is one's own, and what others see is just a firework.

When I reach middle age, I am no longer the ignorant teenager I was at the beginning.

I look at myself in the bronze mirror, my face is full of vicissitudes, but I look at the world, it is always young, it blows the young wind, it rains young, and breeds young generations.

We, our children, our children, generation after generation, are toiling in this young world.

We will grow old, but the world will always be alive. Because life is endless, and there is no limit to oneself from generation to generation.

I've often wondered, what is it that forces people to be so busy?

Most people say, it's just eating.

But how much can you eat? In my time, the grain production was relatively low, but I tried my best to go to work, and it was not enough to have enough food and clothing.

"Whoever made this trip seems to be driven by hunger.

Lean into the camp and have a little more than enough. ”

No way, forced by life.

Damn life.

At this time, I had a lot of children, and I couldn't let them starve to death, and I didn't have any other skills.

My relatives and friends saw that my life was so depressed and persuaded me to go out and become an official.

It just so happened that Peng Ze recruited a county magistrate.

Why choose this place? Because the world is too chaotic and I don't want to go to other places, Peng Ze is close to home, and the grain harvested in the public field is enough for me to make wine and drink.

But this matter is forced by life.

Doing things against my nature is painful.

At this time, the boss will come to inspect, you say to inspect, I will do my thing, you inspect yours, but people tell me to dress well, and greet you with a respectful attitude.

Think I'm a man, can I be like this?

The crops in the fields were not yet ripe, and the sake had not yet begun to be brewed, but I stopped drying, and when I came home, I felt really happy.

Everything went smoothly, and I wrote "Words of Return", which not only shows my happiness, but also explains my ambition.

After many years of ups and downs, go back, go back, my countryside will be barren.

For many years, in order to live, I wronged my soul.

But from now on, I don't want to do that again.

Our bodies should be dominated by our minds, so why not go with the flow of our hearts, but also be sad and frustrated?

For many years, I've turned this thing upside down, enslaving my mind for the sake of my body.

Probably not only did I get it backwards, but many people in the world got it wrong.

Look at them, busy.

You want to ask him, do you like your current job? He would shake his head and say he didn't like it, and then say it was all about living.

You ask him again, do you like your life now?

They still shake their heads and say they don't like it, and then they say it's life.

In fact, this is just the life they understand, the life they know.

Now, I understand.

That's it, that's it, the past is hard to recover, but the future will continue to come.

From now on, I will guard my countryside and live the life I like.

Go back, go back.

From now on, I will leave the world and become famous, not what I want.

However, I am also a little sad because I am getting old, and I understand this simple truth.

Forget it, forget it, it's useless to think so much, you might as well live and die as it is.

I had a good time all the way back home, and I really wanted to tell the countryside that I was here and would never leave again.

I've been in and out all my life to live.

From now on, I'm going to live the life I love.

I wrote this "Words of Return" for half a lifetime, and finally finished it, as follows:

Return! Will the countryside be ruined? Both self-conscious and self-serving, melancholy and sad? Realize that the past is not admonished, and those who know the future can be traced; It's not far away, and I feel that today is but yesterday is not. The boat is far away with a light flutter, and the wind is fluttering and blowing clothes. Ask the husband the way forward, hate the morning light.

It is Zhan Hengyu, and he is happy. The servants are welcomed, and the children are waiting for the door. The three paths are barren, and the pine chrysanthemum still exists. Bring the child into the room, and there is a bottle of wine. Introduce the pot to drink yourself, and the court is pleasant. Leaning on the south window to be proud, judging the ease of the knee. The garden is involved in the fun, although the door is set up and often closed. Help the old to rest, and look at it from time to time. The clouds have no intention of going out, and the birds are tired of flying and know how to return. Jing Puff to enter, stroking the lonely pine and coiling.

Return! Please pay for the trip. The world is contrary to me, and I am begging for words? Joy relatives' words, music and piano books to dispel worries. The peasants told Yu Yichun that there would be something to do in the west. Or a life towel car, or a lonely boat. It is not only slender to find a ravine, but also rugged and through the hills. Mu Xinxin is proud, and the spring trickles and flows. When all things are good, I feel that my life is resting.

That's it! When will Yu Xingyu be restored, will he not be committed to staying? What do you want? Wealth is not my wish, and the emperor's hometown is unexpected. Huai Liangchen is lonely or planting a cane. Dengdong Gao is a poem with Shu Xiao and a clear stream. Talk about multiplication to the end, Lefu's destiny is doubtful!

After returning to the countryside, I didn't care about a lot of things because I thought it through.

Although my life is poor, I live comfortably.

I farmed, wrote poetry, and drank.

But the reason why I am so happy is not because I have no worries about food and clothing, but because I always follow my heart.

I'm not afraid of your jokes, when I was the poorest, I couldn't even eat, I had to go out to beg for food, and I was embarrassed to speak.

Fortunately, people knew what I was here for, gave me wine, and fed me.

These days are so poor, poor neighbors can't stand it anymore, and one morning my lovely neighbor knocked on my door with a jug of wine.

What's going on?

It turned out that he saw that I was a scholar, and my life was so depressed, that he felt that I was not familiar with the world, and that he was contrary to the world, so he made himself so poor.

This poor neighbor, he said to me earnestly, "A scholar like you shouldn't live so depressed, this world is like this, people are busy and chasing fame and fortune, why don't you be like them?"

Hey, in fact, I know that this lovely neighbor is right, if I become like everyone else, my material life may be better, and I will not be so depressed.

I also know that those things can be learned, of course, but I am in this nature and do not want to disobey.

went out to be an official against his original intention, and he was already a ghost.

He had good intentions, but unfortunately I couldn't live like he said, it doesn't matter, he doesn't understand me, I don't blame him.

In fact, I knew very early on that if I chose this kind of life, I would most likely suffer from poverty and cold.

But what is easy in this world?

Everyone wants to have a superior material life and a smooth spiritual life, but to live like this is a blessing that has been cultivated for several lifetimes, and I don't have this blessing anyway.

The vast majority of people, if they are not wronged in their hearts, will inevitably become an outlier in the eyes of others, and even become a loser in the eyes of many people.

The most difficult thing in this world is actually to see clearly, to truly see your own inner needs, not to say things that go against your heart, not to do things that go against your heart, and not to take the road that goes against your heart.

Many years later, I'm probably going to have my bones rotting.

It was a good time, rich in material things, but people were spiritually poor, and some people said that I was a coward and an evader when they thought of me.

Because in their opinion, life is difficult, even if they don't like it, they have to face the difficulties, that is not an escape.

Well, in fact, I understand what they say, but they ignore a very important thing, that is, human nature, that is the human soul.

I don't blame them for their misunderstanding of me, but some of them are the real poor people, and according to a word of their time, they are "hollow people".

That's it, that's it, that's it, in this world.

It's hard to live with your heart, and it's hard not to live with your heart.

But I still want to organize my own life.

So be it. Good-looking skins are easy to find, and interesting souls are hard to find.

If everyone went to be an official and sought fame and fortune, there would probably be a lot less precious poems of literati in the world, and there would be a lot less "food" in the spiritual world of future generations.

There are thousands of floating worlds, people in the world are pursuing many, non-stop, busy, some people live in a sense of self-created fulfillment, but forget to stop at the right time, waiting for the soul to catch up.

Some people see the dividends of the times and flock to it without thinking.

Some people want to seize the opportunity in front of them and rush to be the first.

There are people who are in an environment they don't like, and for some reason they are rolled up, exhausted and still struggling.

In this world, some people see prosperity, some people see stars, and some people see dust.

People are in a hurry, trying to keep up with the pace of the times, but they only forget that they should always clean the field of their souls.

Everyone has their own way of living, and everyone has their own pursuits.

Life is day after day, today is like a replica of yesterday, and tomorrow has a shadow of today in the outline.

But few people take a hard look at themselves and are brave enough to ask questionsIt's always been that way, right?

Sometimes, the closer you are to the bustle, the more confused your heart becomes, and the closer you are to the crowd, the more lonely your heart becomes.

Away from the hustle and bustle, you can see more clearly and know more clearly what you really want in your heart.

A person who dares to avoid the world and pursue the true outward of his heart is a maverick.

And being alone also requires great courage.

Tao Yuanming is not afraid of the powerful, he does not violate his nature, he lives out his true self.

Ask you how you can be, and your heart is far away. ”

If a person does something that suits his nature, he will not regret it, and he will not be stuck if he takes the path he wants to take.

Tao Yuanming is exactly like this, what he wants all his life is just a real return to the basics.

Text|Not interesting soul & plain shoes.