The True Meaning of Life and Life's Choices: Letting Go of Material Obsession, the Life Philosophy of Living in the Present

Life is a short and impermanent one-way journey. We busy ourselves and toil for most of our lives in this world, yet often only in some quiet late night, or after a major turning point in life, do we suddenly realize: the most precious wealth in life is never how many material things we own under our name, but those tiny moments in which we truly feel ourselves “alive.”

Based on a deep reflection on the essence of life, the author has gradually overturned the trajectory of past life in recent years — letting go of the anxiety and obsession over the book numbers of financial investments, no longer spending energy on pointless material hoarding, but instead choosing to arrange two or three pure trips each year, to see the mountains and seas in distant places never reached, to taste favorite foods, and to do things that truly make one’s soul smile.

This shift in the focus of life is not passive withdrawal from the world or a passing whim, but stems from the most thorough realization of the four words “life is impermanent.”

The Illusion and Transience of Material Things: After a Person Passes, What Remains in the World?

When young, most of us, influenced by traditional concepts, always thought that diligence and thrift, and carefully storing every old item, was a virtue. The wardrobe at home is stuffed with out-of-season old clothes that one cannot bear to throw away, and the drawers are piled with chipped ceramic teacups, yellowed receipts, and old objects no longer in use, as if the more things one owns, the more secure one feels inside.

However, when a person truly calms down, walks into a hospital ward, or attends the farewell ceremony of a beloved relative or friend, and gazes at the end of life, only then does one clearly see a cruel truth:

Decluttering at the End of Life:
Once a person passes away, the clothes carefully worn in life, the bedding slept under, the bed slept on, and even the wheelchair used for mobility in old age and daily toiletries, without exception, will be unhesitatingly packed into black garbage bags by the survivors and the cleanup team and sent to the incinerator.

Those miscellaneous items that we carefully cherished and treasured as if they were precious during our lifetime lose all weight for those left behind from the moment we close our eyes. Apart from immovable property such as houses and the numbers in bankbooks, the world will leave no trace of our physical existence.

However, even houses and money — what can they buy? When life reaches its end, we cannot take away a single cloud, nor a single brick or tile. We come naked and leave naked; what can truly accompany the soul is only the horizons and experiences accumulated in this life, as well as the compassion and temperament with which we faced this world.

After three generations, the long river of time will ruthlessly erase the traces of the existence of the vast majority of ordinary people, and descendants will even find it hard to accurately remember our full names. While alive, we are often tightly bound by various red tapes, social expectations, and pointless face — afraid to do this, afraid of losing face over that; but when life draws its final period, those worldly gazes that once bound us instantly seem so insignificant. Since the end is but a handful of yellow earth, why do we not, within our limited breaths, broaden our hearts to pursue true happiness?

Every Moment of Being Alive Is the True Wealth Held in Hand

In this life, as we walk, we reach middle age; as we age, we step into our twilight years. All things in the world are like dew and like lightning; nothing external truly belongs to us.

• Money Cannot Buy Back Life: Even if one is as rich as a nation, in the face of serious physiological aging and major illness, modern medicine still has its insurmountable limits;
• Power Cannot Exchange for Health: How many celebrities and dignitaries were infinitely glorious in life, yet ended up with family disputes and a desolate old age. To risk one’s life to earn money, yet not necessarily have the life to leisurely enjoy the blessings — this is the fateful curse that countless people cannot break.

Since the length of life cannot be forced, why do we exhaust our minds over those external things that cannot be taken away?

Once you understand this, you will suddenly see the light: every day you are alive, able to breathe freely, see the morning light, and walk through the green grass, is the priceless asset we truly possess.

The open and covert struggles encountered in the workplace, the gossip and disputes encountered in interpersonal relationships, and those nagging trivialities that once kept you awake all night — if stretched to the scale of a whole life, they are but tiny specks of dust on the road of life, not even worthy of being called “passing clouds,” and not worth wasting any precious emotion on internal friction.

Treat Yourself Well, and Do Not Fail This Rare Journey on Earth

Having seen through the essence of life, life can actually become extremely pure and light:

1. No Longer Over-Anxious About an Unborn Future: The future’s storms have their own future umbrellas; do not borrow tomorrow’s troubles to torment today’s self;
2. No Longer Dwelling on Past Gains and Losses: Missed investments, lost opportunities, and people who left are all inevitable arrangements of fate; only by letting go calmly can you free your hands to embrace new sunshine;
3. Reserve Time for the People and Things Worth Loving: Set aside several complete blank periods for yourself each year, buy a ticket and set off, go taste a steaming authentic snack in a distant place, feel the Pacific sea breeze, and watch the sunset glow of a foreign town.

Life is only a short thirty-thousand-odd days, and coming to this mortal world for a visit is itself extremely rare. If we are enslaved all day by fear, stinginess, and anxiety, would we not be failing this hard-won miracle of life?

Conclusion: Let Go of Obsession, Move Forward Lightly

The true meaning of life lies not in how magnificent a castle you built, nor in how illustrious a false reputation you left in the world, but in whether you spent every ordinary day earnestly, sincerely, and warmly.

Let go of the obsession with material desire, cherish the warmth within reach before your eyes, and treat your body and mind well. When one day in the future we finally have to bid farewell to this beautiful blue planet, we can at least smile calmly and serenely: “In this life, I have lived earnestly, I have loved deeply, and I have not failed this rare journey on earth.”