Confucius said: “Don’t mention what is past; don’t undo what is cast; don’t grasp what is blast.” —The Analects of Confucius （子曰：“成事不说，遂事不谏，既往不咎 。”—《论语》）

What does it mean?

If a person hurt (伤害) him, Confucius said, he would forgive (原谅) him. In his mind, people are never perfect and they make mistakes and do bad things. If people just remember others’ bad actions, they will become unhappy. So, why not let the bad things go and look at the future?

The story of Guan Zhong and Duke Huan of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period is a good example.

Guan Zhong once tried to kill Duke Huan of Qi. But when the Duke knew that Guan could help him look after his kingdom (王国), he forgave what Guan did. So, Guan did his best to help Duke Huan of Qi. Together, they made the kingdom better.

But letting go of bad things in the past doesn’t mean forgetting them. Instead, we should learn from them so that we don’t make the same mistakes.

Have you ever heard that “Success is a journey, not a destination (终点)”? As a man aged 30, I believe it’s true. In fact it’s my law (法则) of life. In my eyes, what matters is not necessarily where you are trying along the way. It means that no matter what, as long as (只要) you try, you can never fail. It means you can learn from your mistakes, and continue on the next journey a little wiser.

I think St Louis Rams, a professional American football team in Missouri, as a whole shared my law of life. They played every game with their full potential (潜能) instead of letting a few winning games go to their heads. They had the goal of playing in every Super Bowl, a football game played in the US each year on the first Sunday in February. Even though they lost some games, they didn’t give up.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the ability to be on top in the end or to win the game, what matters is that you work hard the whole time. You should understand that success is a non-ending journey. Everyone should realize that someone will win and someone will lose, but what’s important is that both sides need to try their best. After all, it’s not who wins or loses, but how well you play the game and you should remember this in your own life.

There was once an old man who went to the seaside every morning, walking along the beach drawing pictures and enjoying the beautiful sea. One morning, he came across a beach accidentally where thousands of starfish had washed up.

The old man noticed a little girl was coming in the distance. As she walked, she would stop to bend down (弯下腰) and pick up an object and throw it into the sea.

The man walked closer asking what she was doing by the seaside. She stopped, looked up, and replied, “Throwing starfish into the sea.”

The man asked her why, to which she replied, “The sea has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t go back to the sea by themselves. When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The man noted, “But there are miles and miles of beach and there are thousands of starfish all along every mile, how will you make much of a difference?”

The girl bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it as far as she could into the sea. Then she turned towards the old man, gave a smile and said, “I made a difference to that one!”

After hearing the girl’s explanation, the old man was shocked. People often think they can’t do enough to make a big difference so they put off their actions or wait for someone else to take the lead.

However, the little girl taught the old man a very important lesson. Everyone has the opportunities to create positive changes. One small step towards changing the world can make a big difference. Be the change for someone and inspire others to do the same. While you may not be able to change the whole world, you can make a big difference for a small part of it.