When you understand “The Old Man and the Sea”, you will no longer believe in the so-called fate
When you understand “The Old Man and the Sea”, you will no longer believe in the so-called fate
In 1950, Hemingway’s body was tortured by various diseases and his spirit was on the verge of collapse. He was unable to write.
At that time, many people asserted that Hemingway had become a thing of the past.
But Hemingway refused to give in and wrote “The Old Man and the Sea” with perseverance, answering all doubts.
In 1954, at the age of 55, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his novel “The Old Man and the Sea”.
The Nobel Prize award speech said:
Hemingway vividly shows the destiny of mankind. It is a eulogy for the indomitable spirit of struggle even if nothing is gained, a eulogy for the moral victory that is not afraid of hardships and failures, and the eulogy of man’s courage to fight against the unknowable nature. Praise of ability.
From this book, I am once again convinced of one sentence: Fate is the excuse of the weak, and luck is the humility of the strong.
Facing the ups and downs of fate, the most taboo thing is to blame others and shrink from moving forward.
As long as your state of mind is strong enough and you work hard to endure it, no matter how big the hands of fate are, they will not be able to control your life.
1. The so-called bad fate is just an excuse for the weak
In life, too many people believe deeply in fate and feel that everything they experience is destined.
So once they feel powerless against the status quo, they will simply lie down and accept the so-called destiny.
But this perceived fate is, to put it bluntly, nothing more than an excuse to escape reality.
In my opinion, an adult living like this is not as good as the old man in his eighties in “The Old Man and the Sea”.
The old man Santiago in the book lives by the sea and makes a living by fishing all year round.
He used to be the best fisherman in this small fishing village, but recently, he has become a well-known “unlucky egg” among everyone.
Because in the past 84 days, he didn’t catch a single fish.
Hunger and poverty tortured him, and the sympathy and ridicule of others also reached his ears from time to time.
Even the little boy who usually learned fishing from him was taken away by his parents and sent to other fishermen.
Under such a predicament, Santiago was not discouraged at all and was still full of enthusiasm for fishing.
Because he couldn’t catch fish and had no money to eat, he could make pancakes to satisfy his hunger by imagining a pot of fish and boiled yellow rice;
After returning home with nothing, he will not be sad about it, but will take time to read the baseball news he likes;
When others expressed concern about his plight, he would confidently say to them:
“85 is an auspicious number. Do you want to see me catch a fish weighing more than a thousand pounds?”
Waiting until the next morning, he will still go out to fish under the first ray of sunshine, firmly believing that he will catch something.
In Santiago, there is always a kind of bravery that knows what can’t be done.
And this kind of bravery is what many people lack most in the process of fighting against fate.
Once they encounter pain or setbacks, they will subconsciously escape, find various excuses to evade themselves, and cover up their incompetence;
And a truly strong person, even if he encounters a series of blows, will not complain about life, let alone attribute his misfortune to fate.
Because in their world, there is always an unchanging law, which is: My destiny is determined by me and not by God.
Destiny is determined by heaven, and everything else depends on man.
Even if they are in a desperate situation, such people can always find a glimmer of hope for themselves.
2. Fate is not terrible. If you survive it, you can turn around.
On the 85th day, Santiago went to sea as usual.
This time, he was still fully prepared.
He first carefully observed the position of birds in the air to determine the general direction of the fish school and then determined the position and put the fishing line straight into the ocean current.
Not long after, a big marlin bit his hook.
This would have been a joyful thing, but unfortunately, the marlin was so big that it could drag Santiago and the boat across the sea effortlessly.
In such an disadvantageous situation, Santiago did not admit defeat, let alone give up the idea of catching this big fish.
He bowed his body, tightened the fishing line, and assumed a posture of fighting to the death with the big fish.
In this way, one person and one fish remained in a stalemate all night.
During this process, his hands were strangled with several bloody marks, his left hand failed to obey and kept cramping, and his back was in severe pain.
But Santiago still insists on encouraging himself: as long as it can last, so can I.
Finally, after two days and two nights of confrontation, the big fish’s strength was exhausted and it surfaced.
Santiago took the opportunity and used all his strength to insert the harpoon into the heart of the big fish, successfully killing the big fish.
In this story, isn’t the fishing process in San Diego a true portrayal of ordinary people’s lives?
In the process of fishing, Santiago can be said to have nothing. He has no food, no weapons, and no assistants.
In the face of a huge challenge, he only relied on his perseverance to defeat the big fish and win the final victory.
When ordinary people grow up, they will also not have a family to support them, no noble people to help them, and no opportunities to fall from the sky.
All we can do is suffer.
Holding on means everything, and only by holding on can there be victory.
In the face of pain, we can get rid of the shackles of fate and eliminate the seemingly impossible sufferings one by one.
As Shakespeare said:
Destiny, is it terrible? No, it was only in the process of fighting it that I discovered that I had mastered it.
3. When the heart is strong enough, You will no longer believe that fate is up to you
Bi Shumin once said:
You can’t ask for a storm-free ocean of life, because pain and suffering are part of life.
An ocean without storms is not a sea, it is a muddy pond.
Life is full of oceans, and from the moment everyone is born, ups and downs, pains, and frustrations are present in their lives.
It is a stumbling block and an obstacle, but its power is not enough to control a person’s life.
It is said in “ The Old Man and the Sea “ that when Santiago was preparing to return home with its loot, an accident suddenly happened.
After a large group of sharks smelled the bloody smell of the big marlin, they all swam over to prey on it.
At this time, Santiago was already exhausted, but he still kept up his spirits and persisted in the challenge.
During the fight, his harpoon was broken by the shark.
He immediately pulled out his knife and stabbed it hard into the shark’s head.
After the knife broke, he used a short stick.
The short stick was also thrown away, so he used the tiller.
Whatever he could get his hands on, he used it to beat up sharks without hesitation, without ever thinking of stopping.
In the end, the sharks died or escaped, and Santiago won the final victory in exhaustion.
His only trophy, the big fish, was also bitten by the sharks at this time, leaving only a skeleton.
Once again he was left with nothing.
But he was not depressed or gave up on himself. Instead, he calmly drove the boat back home and fell asleep as usual.
The next day, other fishermen were in awe of Santiago after seeing the huge fish skeleton.
But after Santiago woke up, he didn’t discuss the big fish anymore. He just said to others:
I should find a bigger anchor, I should make the boat stronger, I should bring more fresh water with me next time I set out…
If we measure Santiago by worldly standards, he is poor, old, and frail.
It can be said that his life has reached rock bottom and is not worthy of envy.
But such an old man who was devastated by fate was respected by countless people
Because he is persevering and unyielding, even if he has nothing, he never lacks the courage to start over.
He was not afraid of walking into such a torrential rainy night alone again.
He said: People can be destroyed, but they cannot be defeated.
This is the power of life, this is the power of will.
What can influence one’s destiny is one’s state of mind.
So, don’t believe in those unchangeable fates. Nothing can defeat a person unless he surrenders first.
The only thing you should firmly believe is that a tough soul can defeat all fate.
In the face of a strong state of mind, all difficulties will be easily solved.
I don’t believe that people have a so-called “destiny”. I firmly believe that human beings will always grow in the struggle against limitations.
They sent spaceships into space, and they also used rudimentary fishing gear to catch giant marlin in the Caribbean.
Anyone who does such incredible things is a hero.
More than seventy years ago, the old man Santiago accepted the challenge of fate with an unyielding attitude.
Today, you and I, why should we trap ourselves in barriers and surrender to the incomprehensible will of God?
Human life should be like a rushing river. Even if it encounters islands and reefs, it can still stir up beautiful waves;
Or like a lighthouse on the shore, even after being eroded by waves, beaten by wind and rain for several days and nights, it still stands silently and never goes out.
Don’t be afraid of where fate will push you in the days to come. As long as you stay calm, life will never be able to defeat you.
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