Chinese reading: Just keep working

I took a taxi to meet with my friends at the gate of jazz festival.

It was a great night in the autumn when the cool breeze was caressing our faces. We sat on the grass, eating hotdogs, drinking beers, enjoying the jazz performance on the stage and having a little chat about our recent situations. We were so afraid of people around thinking us annoying but we just could not help making noise. To tell the truth, we were not jazz fans; we came here just for the exotic feelings.

After the festival, I decided to walk along the street till Zhonggang and then took a taxi there since there was a traffic jam around the block for the moment. When I got to Zhonggang, I thought it might be better if I took a bus near SOGO. However, when I arrived at SOGO, at second thought I thought I might as well walk home because it would take a long time to wait for a bus. In the end, I walked a long distance like crazy.

It never occurred to me to walk this far and I did not want to travel this far even by bike before. But I did walk all this way in my senior high school years from Yingcai Park with my friends. We talked all the time so it never seemed to be so long. I also remembered the days I spent abroad when I always walked but never felt tired. Maybe it was because I was a traveler that I didn’t regard it as toil.

I felt a bit cold in the wind and bought a hot drink to warm my hands. I walked along the street which I had been so familiar with but always had no time to enjoy the view. I didn’t take my MP3 with me, so I hummed to myself. And sometimes I thought about my life and worries of the future.

Recently it seemed I have come to a standstill. I knew people should not be eager to seek for something, and should not linger around either. I had both an angel and a devil living in my heart at the same time. The angel urged me to be joyful and honest and confident in the future, but the devil dragged me backwards, drowning me in the regrettable past and a pessimistic emotion.

I remembered the experience of watching TV. When there were many channels, I got bewildered, not knowing which channel to choose. But when there was only one channel, I enjoyed it with relish. Would it be the same with my present life? Perhaps I’ve got too many choices at hand. Maybe it would be easier for me to think through all the matters of love or life if I had no choice at all and could meditate quietly for a while without being in a rush to take a direction.

I should have walked more slowly if I hadn’t wanted my parents to worry about me. I turned at the crossing and right over there was my home.

Keep walking. If you still don’t know which way to take, then just keep walking in that you know the destination of happiness is right there. Although, you might take the wrong path, make a detour or get flustered, you will reach there someday. The only pity is that you can not take a taxi or have a companion easily who can take you directly to the right place without any hesitation. Well, if it is true, then what you should pay him if you finally get there.

I’ve come to realize that when I’ve made a choice, I may not necessarily stand at diverging paths. The people and sceneries along my way may accompany me for a while, but they may also stay where they are and become smaller and less significant in my eyes. The only thing I can do to open a new way is keep walking.

Just keep walking. When the Pandora’s box is opened, all misfortunes and evil things escape, but fortunately, hope, still stays at the bottom. As long as there is hope, I can walk on with confidence and perseverance. Suddenly I recall the poem, “Now I know well the taste of sorrow, It is on the tip of my tongue,On the tip of my tongue,But instead I say, “What a fine, cool autumn day!”