Sorry, sadness: I am happy right now. Sorry, pain: I feel at ease. Sorry, exhaustion: I am full of energy.
………
On the way back to school from the gym
Dad makes money selling liquor. His son makes money trading stocks. When Dad makes money from liquor, it is his son who is happy, not Dad. When his son makes money trading stocks, it is Dad who is happy, not his son.
The hardships Dad faces selling liquor are his to bear. The hardships his son faces trading stocks are his own to bear too.
I suppose that is what it means to share the good fortune and shoulder your own troubles.
………
I woke up naturally at 5:40 this morning, five minutes before my alarm. For a moment, I felt superior for having beaten an electronic device. That lasted only a few seconds before humility returned.
People say getting up early is painful, but for me it is the most ordinary thing in the world. Over the summer, I got into the habit of going to bed early and waking up early, which also laid a good foundation for living in my car. To me, an early start means I have already beaten most people before the day has properly begun. Of course, I invented this little contest myself. The people sleeping in are freer than I am. They can spend their time as they please, do what they want, and keep life from holding them hostage. They get up whenever they like. Isn’t that a way of fully enjoying life in a human body too?
After getting up, I went to a Starbucks. I had never realized coffee shops in America opened so early. Nor had I realized that, even before six, the freeways were already busy with cars speeding toward their separate destinations. Those cars have people driving them. My car drives me. Why don’t they want to try Tesla’s self-driving? Maybe their thinking just hasn’t caught up yet. If they could ride in a self-driving Tesla, they would surely fall in love with this car from the future.
I bought an espresso and hurried to the gym. The moment I walked in, all my tiredness vanished. As the saying goes, if you want to read, go to a bookstore; if you want to play games, go to an internet café. Whatever you want to do, go somewhere with the right atmosphere for it. The gym was already packed at six in the morning. Looking around, I saw that American gyms were full of equipment for losing fat, with much less for building muscle. That suits me: my body fat is low, and building muscle is exactly what I am here for.
After half an hour of training, I felt refreshed and clearheaded, with no symptoms of low blood sugar. It seems your surroundings really can change how your body functions and release all the energy you have inside.
After a shower, I let the car drive me to school again.
Now I am eating the breakfast in the picture. I have a feeling today is going to be a very happy day. Happiness is such an everyday word, with no lofty meaning, yet it describes a state that is both utterly familiar and so hard to come by. So I do not ask for much. Being happy is enough.
I can feel that I am in good form today. I love the air, the sky, the white clouds. I love every car speeding along the road and every person giving it their all at the gym.
要政阳
September 22, 2026, Santa Clara