"Dying Gracefully" While many people shy away from the topic of death, I believe we should actively and seriously contemplate it in our daily lives. I often seek out and read many books on the subject. Before my father passed away, I lit an incense for him. Religion is a personal matter, so please don't take it too much to heart. What I want to convey is that my father passed away in a very peaceful state. Despite three years of treatment for liver cirrhosis and late-stage complications requiring dialysis, he passed away peacefully, which lifted a heavy burden from my heart. Watching my father's difficult battle with illness made me consider the option of euthanasia from the perspective of a patient's right to die with dignity. Recently, medical advances have led to predictions that lifespan could extend up to 150 years. However, from the perspective of quality of life, this is concerning. Those with fewer possessions may suffer even more. In "For My Beauti...

  "Living a Moral Life" Lately, I've been feeling a lot of stress personally. As someone in the planning department, I find myself inundated with external documents, work reports, and the daily barrage of A4 papers fluttering in like leaves in the wind. Thankfully, my team members support each other with their assigned tasks, but I can't help but wonder if I'd go crazy if I had to do it all alone. Sometimes, the tranquility of everyday life feels awkward to me. I can't shake the feeling of unease, like something is about to burst at any moment, and I worry about myself in those moments. I think most working individuals might share similar sentiments, even if their lives look different on the surface. Occasionally, I find myself daydreaming about handing in my resignation and taking a break. I fantasize about building a small house in a quiet countryside, sitting in a sunlit living room, reading books, and writing. I wonder if I could survive by lecturing and c...

  "Charming People" The SBS Special Production Team once conducted a project called "Unlocking the Secrets of Success." Ms. Lee Eun-ah and Ms. Lee Si-an published the contents of the project as a book titled "Charming DNA." Nobel laureate in economics in 2002, Professor Daniel Kahneman, stated that the determining factor of success is not ability, diligence, or luck, but rather likability, or charm. That's right, charm. Charm doesn't merely refer to appearance. Cleopatra and Yang Guifei, who seduced the heroes of their time, were not actually the beauties we imagine. Cleopatra was an intellectual woman capable of engaging in conversations with any powerful figure or learned individual, and Yang Guifei had a charm that captivated people through dance and music. Recently, Professor Narini Ambady of the Psychology Department at Tufts University in the United States announced that there is a way to determine whether a person is successful or not just b...

  "Becoming rich like Warren Buffett" "Before investing, meet with the company's competitors, suppliers, and customers." "What I want is not money. The fun of making money and watching it grow is more important." "I do what I love and interact with people I respect. That's success." "When hiring employees, I look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and passion. Among them, integrity is the most important." "The reason why so many shareholders come from far and wide to attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha every year is because we have made them feel like owners." The reason Warren Buffett continues to be active and respected to this day is because, as he often says, he has been honest and diligent, and he has enjoyed living and working. The reason he has earned a lot of money is because he has invested in good companies for the long term and lived modestly without wasting money.

  "How to live?" Jean Giono, who was Camus's mentor. If Camus's writing is like the sunlight pouring down on top of your head on a midsummer noon, then Jean Giono's writing is like the slanted sunlight of the evening sunset, a phrase that resonates with me. In "The Inspiration of the Mediterranean," Giono's writing presents various shades of thoughts, like the shadows cast by the slanted sunlight. Light draws lines between objects as if it were poetry, but night makes us realize that we are one. We have been too indoctrinated by the aesthetics of distinction. "A deserted island without people doesn't ask me any questions. But the city asks me too many questions. Ironically, we feel even lonelier when we are with living things. Even though we are connected as one." That's why people, when promoted, end up raising lots of plants that cannot speak in too large solitary rooms... Because they are too lonely... The most concerning thing i...

  True Success in Life The real winner among African animals is not the lion but the antelope. If you look at the population numbers, it's clear. The reason for this victory is that the antelope doesn't run alone. The fastest land animal on Earth is the cheetah, capable of running at speeds of up to 110 km/h. While modern humans envy the cheetah's speed, its greatest strength lies not in its velocity but in its ability to seize opportunities and focus in the moment. "No one can run all the time." Isn't this the tragedy of modern humans? You say modern humans don't live on the savanna? Wisdom is the same wherever there is life. -From Stephen Swinford's '7 Days Journey' -

  Growing Pains Children experience significant pain when they start to roll over, sit up, speak their first words, stand, and walk. It's called growing pains. But it's not just babies who go through growing pains. Even as adults, we experience pain when we break up with someone we love, fail an exam in college, fail a job interview, feel betrayed by a close friend, or face business failures. It's all part of the process of gaining experiences and insights that allow us to live life more gracefully. As long as we don't give up on life, that is. When, in the face of difficulty, you find yourself saying, "That's just the way life is..." with a smile, you've probably reached at least the third level of expertise. There's a saying, "You die when you stop growing." Even Confucius was scolded by Laozi. Has anyone succeeded without experiencing pain? How about Jesus, or Buddha?