2025.01.06 - "Even if the dream is distant, pursuing it can achieve it; even if the wish is difficult, holding onto it can fulfill it

Title: 2025.01.06 – “Dreams May Be Distant, Yet Pursued They Can Be Reached; Wishes May Be Hard, Yet Held They Can Be Fulfilled”

Selected Classics:

The inscription on the Tang bronze pan reads: “If you renew each day, you renew every day, and again you renew.” The Kang decree says: “Create a new people.” The poem says: “Zhou may be an ancient state, but its destiny is ever new.” Hence a gentleman spares no effort in pursuing the utmost.

Today is Minor Cold, when yin and evil are at their strongest. Remember these six health tips to stay fit through the coming spring! https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Qf8iAiPUWCnBCnIOw4XDPw
Elders often say “train in the summer heat, train in the winter’s deep cold.” This is precisely the time to intensify exercise and boost physical fitness, because the body’s resistance to cold and pathogenic factors depends on yang energy. Only with abundant yang can disease be kept at bay. Right now, yang is beginning to rise, so you must practice proper health cultivation, follow the natural flow, conserve yin essence, gather essence and qi internally, nourish the five organs, and gradually strengthen yang. Daoist medicine holds that this period is when yin‑pathogenic factors are at their peak! As the saying goes, “When yin reaches its extreme, yang begins to arise,” so prevent cold pathogens from entering the body and safely get through this chilly spell, thereby storing energy for a healthy spring.

No wonder you’re constantly ill—your emotional energy has created serious blockages in the body! https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JiHAjMUQnqbLu1zfb5O68A
Blockages in the body’s channels are largely caused by emotions, with a smaller portion due to external forces. When you’re angry, you feel uneasy inside because emotions disturb internal drive, damage the vitality of the five organs, and cause internal consumption of bodily energy—what we call “internal friction.” Poor emotions affect us more than the external environment. Therefore, true health must begin with emotional work. A wise person once said: “What is emotion? Emotion is the heart. When the heart is unhappy, emotions slump, and bodily functions change.”

Zhuangzi on happiness: Happiness is having no bodily pain and no mental trouble! https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/wolYMcwIwS1DirtnhWG4_w
What is happiness? Some say it is to take good care of one’s life and settle one’s heart. Everyone has a life and a heart. The life given by our parents is the foundation of our existence; we must keep it healthy. Physical suffering lowers the overall quality of life. The heart is cultivated by ourselves; we must bring it to peace, attaining tranquility and joy. No bodily pain, no mental worries—that is happiness.

“Zhong” (Balance) Is a Living Standard https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OT8ly4LSS1g4RvXBJE9t8g
So, what is traditional Chinese medicine? It starts with the character “中” (zhong). First we must understand what “zhong” means, then we can grasp what “medicine” means. “Zhong” is a scale within our own mind, a hidden standard inside us. When you establish this standard and know the state that best suits you, you continually make adjustments. This adjustment process is what we call “medicine.” In fact, “zhong” is a standard we arrive at after long‑term pruning and refinement. “Medicine” is the ongoing practice of observing whether our actions and thoughts align with that standard, and correcting them when they do not. Thus, Chinese medicine first has “zhong,” then “yi.” In other words, you first set a cognitive benchmark, find a state that fits you, and then, in thought and daily life, keep adjusting toward that state until you and the state become one.

“Dreams May Be Distant, Yet Pursued They Can Be Reached; Wishes May Be Hard, Yet Held They Can Be Fulfilled” https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/eQGxbAKIbcqy-qXuwM9hNw https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/bR6Ns57VFXvd9QWntZJZFQ
“On the new journey of Chinese‑style modernization, every person is a protagonist, every contribution is priceless, and every ray of light shines brilliantly.” Small sparks gather into a torch. Our collective steps forward will accumulate into national progress; our combined efforts will converge into the mighty force of national rejuvenation.

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Originally written by Ping Xia (平侠) and published in Chinese on 拾一集 (Weekly Reflections). Translated and adapted for DriftSeas with permission.