The present is eternity

Remember when I was a student just starting my internship,

Packing up my dorm belongings,

Before leaving,

I looked back,

Suddenly feeling a bit reluctant,

Recalling the times with my roommates,

Playing games together,

Skipping classes,

Talking about the future,

Bickering and teasing each other…

Now that I think about it,

I wish I could go back to the past,

Back to those carefree days,

Back to that innocent and naive period.

But upon closer reflection,

Actually, I can’t go back anymore,

Why? Because,

The reason I was able to be so naive and carefree back then,

And everyone could joke and tease each other,

Is because we hadn’t yet been tempered by society,

In other words,

We were all inexperienced,

And that’s why we could dream together.

It’s like when we played jump rope as kids,

Now that we’ve grown up, can we still feel the same as before when we gather? No, we can’t.

In other words,

From the moment we moved out of the dorm,

We could no longer go back,

We bid farewell to that student life.

Just like now, when I work as a delivery rider,

I’ve made a few friends in the delivery group,

We cheer each other on,

Complain together,

Argue and joke around,

It’s beautiful,

Precious,

But when I leave this job and move on to the next stage,

That state will never come back.

Because people change,

Mindsets change,

Even if I stay,

And don’t leave,

It’s really impossible to go back,

We can never find that happy feeling of being together again.

Talking about this might seem a bit abstract,

So let me use toys as an example,

When I was a kid, I loved playing with guns,

Toy guns,

Back then I fantasized about being a sniper,

Whenever I had free time, I’d take my gun outside,

Using grass as targets,

Practicing sniping,

Playing alone happily.

Now that I’ve grown up,

If I buy a toy gun again,

Will I still feel the same as before? No, I won’t.

Maybe I’d feel a bit of joy at first,

But after playing for a while, I’d find it boring,

And I’d never have that immersive experience again.

Because people change,

Thoughts change,

Mindsets change.

The reason I could have so much fun back then was because of the convergence of all conditions,

Interacting and creating a chemical reaction,

Just like performing a play,

It’s because of the stage,

Lighting,

Music,

Actors,

Partners,

Audience—these elements cleverly combined,

That a wonderful show can be produced.

What if these conditions are no longer present? Can the same effect be achieved? The answer is no.

So after saying all this,

What am I really trying to express?

It’s that everyone will go through different stages of life,

Crossing from one shore to the other,

Don’t dwell on the past,

Don’t linger,

Move forward with determination, without looking back,

Why? Because you can never go back,

Even if you stay here,

It’s futile,

Only leading to loneliness and sorrow.

And the reason to keep moving forward,

Is because life itself is a flowing state,

Each stage has its unique meaning,

And what we need to do,

Is to sincerely experience each present moment.

When I was delivering food and chatting with a few friends in the group,

We’d seriously complain,

Joke around,

And genuinely enjoy the fun of joking,

That’s all.

Life has no eternity,

The present is eternity,

Although we can never return to the old state,

But when we were immersed in it at that moment,

That moment,

Was already eternal!