溫故知新 Old wisdom, today’s insight — ONGO
Vanity of Vanities, Says the Preacher
When one who worked faithfully all their life and stepped down asks the meaning of it, what must they do with the time left to move past that vanity?
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.
The Preacher concludes that all is vanity, yet I see that the awareness of that vanity is precisely the start of a new question.
📝The Classic Answers
The Preacher concludes that all is vanity, yet I see that the awareness of that vanity is precisely the start of a new question. When a man who spent thirty years only stamping papers asks, before a terminal diagnosis, 'what did my life mean?', that question can be not the end of despair but the first step of a real life. In the moment the rank he stacked up looks empty, a person at last begins to seek meaning outside achievement. With the time left, one small, seemingly trivial thing — turning a vacant lot into a park where children play — becomes the trace that endures through the vanity. Vanity can drive a person to despair, yet it is also the urging to make at least one thing true. Rather than an end, I choose to make the awareness of vanity a door: use the time left truly.
🌱Apply It Today
If your achievements suddenly feel empty, decide on 'one thing to accomplish truly with the time left,' and take its first step today.
The film is honored as an equal questioner; its plot is rendered only as a universal dilemma. The classic source is an ancient text (Public Domain), and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
