The Power of Inner Strength

Old Wang has recently become obsessed with "inner strength" courses.

It started when the company organized a "corporate culture" training session. The main speaker was a so-called spiritual mentor, who spoke eloquently on the stage: “People with inner strength should have a positive attitude, embrace change, not be afraid of challenges, and dare to take responsibility...”

Old Wang was thrilled and felt that he was instantly filled with strength. He felt that he could no longer be the same as before, only complaining, he had to become a person with “inner strength”!

After the training, Old Wang started to actively face everything in life according to the methods taught by the mentor.

In the morning, he was awakened by the alarm clock. Instead of snoozing in bed like before, he shouted, “I’m the best!” Then he quickly got up and started his day’s work.

On the way to work, he encountered traffic. Instead of complaining like before, he began listening to "chicken soup for the soul" audio, telling himself, "This is a test from heaven, I must maintain a calm attitude."

When he arrived at the company, he found that his workload had increased again. Instead of complaining like before, he gladly accepted it, telling himself, "This is the leader's trust in me, I must dare to take responsibility!"

At noon, he found that his lunch had been taken away by his colleagues again. Instead of getting angry like before, he comforted himself, "This is a small setback, I must maintain a positive attitude!"

In the evening, he found that he was working overtime late into the night, exhausted. Instead of complaining like before, he told himself, "This is a necessary path for growth, I must embrace change!"

He felt that he had really become "innerly strong," that he could maintain a positive and optimistic attitude in the face of all difficulties.

However, one day, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

He found that he seemed to have become an emotionless robot, mechanically repeating those slogans of "inner strength" every day, but he felt less and less happy.

He began to wonder whether his so-called "inner strength" was just a form of self-numbing, an excuse to escape reality?

He suddenly remembered when he was a child, when he was unhappy, he would cry, he would fuss, he would vent. But now, he had lost even the ability to vent, he would only tell himself that he had to have "inner strength."

He suddenly felt that the so-called "inner strength" was just a beautiful lie, used to cover up social injustice, to make people accept all kinds of unreasonable oppression?

He began to reflect, had he really gotten better? Or had he just become more numb?

He looked at himself in the mirror, at the stiff smile on his face, and suddenly felt very unfamiliar.

He began to hate those "inner strength" courses, those "chicken soup for the soul," those arguments that encouraged people to accept everything unconditionally.

He began to miss the former version of himself who would cry, laugh, and complain.

He decided that he would no longer force himself to be "innerly strong," he wanted to find the real him again.

So, the next morning, when the alarm clock rang, instead of shouting "I'm the best!" like before, he slammed the alarm clock on the ground.