"The China Experience"
By: Justin Markowitz
Imagine yourself 10,000 kilometers from anything you've ever known, surrounded by a foreign language you can't understand, in one of the world's largest megacities, Shanghai...
Everything is unfamiliar, shocking, and magical. Food is different and oily, the sidewalk is always crowded, and people look at you like you're from Mars... Could you adapt quickly enough to survive?
Traffic echoes off of the concrete towers at every hour, lights block out every star in the sky, and the wind howls. Looking out over the endless skyscrapers from a 16th story balcony, you look for a sign...
And then ancient philosophic knowledge comes to you...
Everyone, you included, has the power to overcome adversity. The human spirit is strong, and only in struggles of life and death does a person find out what they are truly capable of withstanding.
“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.”
― Confucius
And you ask yourself...
"Will I run, give up, and flee back to where I came from? Or will I face my fears, grow as a person, and endure the struggle necessary to become a better version of myself?"
To press on is the only option. To give up is a path to regret. But the future is uncertain, and the path towards actualization gradually reveals itself only to a person with faith in what they are doing.
Carry on, with sureness that you can prove wrong all the doubt swirling around in your head, seize every moment of clarity and relentlessly fight to make order in your chaotic world.
From the ground up, a rennaissance begins. New routines, a stronger body, and healthier thought patterns follow. Throwing yourself into the fires of change pays off after months of cultivating your volition!
A mystic transformation begins, and the past fades into a distant story. Fear’s conquest sets you free. You cannot understand, exactly, what is happening, but your inuition repeats "you are on the right path."
And each successful conversation in Mandarin, gig landed, and class passed, changes the wind ever more in your favor- reinforcing the whispers in your head. Sometimes you wake up and think "is this really my life? I could never have forseen this being my life a couple years ago."
You find that in slaying the part of you perpetuating doubt and negativity, your patterns change. Your resillient and disciplined mind invigorates your body, and soon more than you dreamed could ever go right blesses you.​
The Master said, "Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?"
-Confucius
Adventures, family, and philosophy make a person strong. You relish each opportunity to further their presence in your life. You barely recognize yourself compared with a few months ago. And even your friends look at your transformation in disbelief.
But the world is a big, powerful entity, and the power of feeling small in foreign lands is nothing compared to what happens next. Even the shocks you absorbed and overcame pale in comparison to this...
Can you outrun the covid virus? Are you brave enough to try?
Premonitions of the future necessitate prudence. But to thrive is impossible without following a higher calling. And if that calling takes you out into a world endangered by forces impossible to understand...
Is there a responsibility to take that plunge? If you ignore adventure’s call, will you live with regrets? Will you be able to process what is happening around you with a clarity elusive to most peoples of the planet?
“To try to achieve something is like digging a well. You can dig a hole nine fathoms deep,
but if you fail to reach the source of water, it is just an abandoned well.”
-Mencius 7A29
Looking back I understand that a large part of the shock was an amazing combination of boredom and terror. I was mostly alone every day, and there was nothing to do but study and explore. The life of a student is full of leisure and my primary stimulus being the shock of isolation in a foreign country and one of the world’s largest concrete jungles felt like a constant psychedelic trip. I was literally always on my seat’s edge, captivated and in a state of suspended terror.
Justin Markowitz, "The China Experience"
“An ignorant person is inclined to blame others for their misfortune. To blame oneself is progress. But the wise person never has to blame another or themself.”
-Epictetus, "Enrichirdion"
In a never ending saga, join Mental Sweat Official's Justin Markowitz in exploring China, Vietnam, and Thailand, all while outrunning the corona virus.
