The old man's name was Sandiago and he made a living fishing.
He hadn't caught a big fish in a long time, and on this day he decided to set sail for an opportunity.
After a long and arduous wait, he finally caught a big marlin.
The fish was so big and fierce that it did not succumb, and dragged Sandiago from land to the sea, where they fought for a second round.
In this vicious battle between man and fish, the fish is also a rebel, and it also has a chance to win.
Moreover, the fish made the old man scaled all over, and on the battlefield of the ocean, it slightly gained the upper hand, and persisted under the water for several days and nights, and the old man did not get a good rest.
Here's the first place to think about:
The exhausted old man, Sandiago, he could have given up the fish, not it, cut the rope, and given the fish a way to live, while also letting go of his scaly self.
But he didn't.
He regarded the fish as a rival to the battle, and releasing it was equivalent to conceding defeat.
But the old man refused to concede.
Finally the old man defeated the big fish and carried the fish home.
On the way, the smell of fish blood attracts swarms of sharks.
The shark besieged him and his loot, and the old man was faced with a second choice:
Do you give up the spoils and leave the battlefield, or do you go into battle again?
There is no doubt that he chose to fight again.
He solved an invading shark and broke his harpoon;
He solved an invading shark again, this time even breaking the improvised harpoon.
He could no longer resist the shark's attack, so he resisted with a wooden stick, with an oar, or even with a swinging rudder.
And the cunning shark, while facing the battle, does not forget to feast:
They ate the old man's booty, the marlin, until only one fish bone remained.
The old man's battle eventually lost its meaning, and the shark gradually left.
At the end of the story, the old man carries a huge fish skeleton, mentally exhausted, in severe pain, and full of scales.
He went ashore and came home.
The neighbors, who usually spoke coldly to him, did not mock him this time (although this was a good opportunity).
Instead, he said from the bottom of his heart:
"You are a hero. Although you fail, you are still a hero. ”
I think that in everyone's life, there may often be some tests.
When you are a student, you face the test of grades and further education;
After working, they are faced with the test of promotion and salary increase and competition with others.
Everyone has to work hard to survive in this society and find their own foothold.
Others, not willing to live an ordinary and ordinary life, but choose a more tossed lifestyle, such as:
Be an athlete and challenge the physiological limits of human beings;
To study scholarship, to explore the truth of truth and the truth of the world in the vast and vast ocean of knowledge;
To delve into a skill, on a very good basis, excellence, the pursuit of the best, better;
Go start a business, go shop, go do business, take a huge risk, find a better way out for yourself.
I think such people, they all have an old man like Sandiago living in their hearts.
They are not willing to be ordinary, and if they have the opportunity, they are willing to use their limited time and energy to explore the boundaries of their abilities and find more possibilities.
Such people are worthy of respect, because they have chosen a path that few people take.
However, these people who are not willing to be ordinary will face a problem, that is, they must often accept the baptism of "failure".
I believe that everyone has their own limits, whether it is IQ or physical strength.
Everyone has a time when they are tired, when their head is not open, and when they can't achieve no matter how hard they try.
Just like the old man in the story, he is a good fisherman, but not every time he goes to sea, he must have a harvest.
The same goes for career and life:
Life doesn't extra luck on you because you've chosen a tough path;
Conversely, those who are always trying to explore boundaries and explore possibilities often taste frustration – because he is an insatiable challenger.
Do you know what kind of people are happiest?
People who don't try, are happiest.
People who don't have so many desires are happiest.
In your comfort zone, lying in peace, not doing anything adventurous, the happiest.
A person who always thinks a lot and constantly tries and tosses and turns will often fail;
A person who is very demanding of his own work and strives for excellence will often fail;
A person who has accomplished his goal and set a new one will often fail.
Only a person who is content with the status quo will feel very successful and happy, because in his world, there is no known opponent, he has nothing to conquer.
People who are not satisfied with the status quo, in the process of jumping high, struggling, and trying again and again, constantly break through the limits of themselves and the world, and will become an increasingly powerful person.
They are not afraid of failure and always have the courage to make the next challenge.
They are very tough, and they fight against their powerful opponents every day, fate.
Gradually, he will open up the gap with others and become a person who makes others look up to.
If I could, I would like to change the evaluation of the elderly neighbor:
"The old man is a hero, and he doesn't fail.
In the process of fighting the big fish and the sea, if he gave up once, it was a failure.
But he never gave up, and until the last moment, he fought to defend the spoils of war.
Although from the results, he brought back only a fish bone, but he was by no means a loser.
Because he never gave up fighting for a moment. ”
What is failure?
Encountering setbacks is not a failure, encountering difficulties is not a failure, the only real failure is to give up.
By giving up, you're out of the game and no longer a competitor, but a bystander.
We don't judge any way of life, and it's everyone's freedom to participate or not to compete.
But we must pay tribute to those who do not accept defeat, do not shrink back, do not give up:
They changed the world;
Or, about to change the world again.
Writer Hemingway, with the novel "The Old Man and the Sea", won the Nobel Prize and the Pulitzer Prize, becoming a double-award-winning writer.
It can be seen that the value of this novel, its most precious connotation, is not a simple story, but the spirit behind the story:
Man can be destroyed, but he cannot be defeated!
This set of books, with positive connotations and positive energy, is a good choice whether it is to read it yourself or to give it to friends, family and children.
The Old Man and the Sea Positive Energy World Masterpiece ¥69.8 Purchase
With this book, I pay tribute to the elderly and pay tribute to you who live seriously and never admit defeat.