“People will give up riches and go to ruin in their quest for short-lived gains.”
The first phase of life is all important. If in the beginning one decides on a grand purpose in life, and ceaselessly works to achieve it, that purpose will definitely be achievable for most people. But without setting such a goal, it is often the case that some people stray from the path, because of immediate pleasures or fleeting emotions and end up wasting their whole lives.
Like the silkworm, which has several stages of development, humans also have points of transition. That’s why, when young people, between the ages of about 12 to 16, establish goals suited to themselves and pursue those goals, they have enough perseverance to easily overcome impediments to their goals. This is because, even if they are distracted unexpectedly by moderate temptations or financial gains, they don’t lose sight of their original grand purpose.
By contrast, people without big goals and objectives are liable to fail, because they are dominated by their emotions or have given in to temptation. If a person gets off to a bad start, in the beginning, it’s not easy to recover.
In business as well as in one’s personal life, if one keeps the big picture in mind and works toward goals on the basis of comprehensive calculations and judgments, mistakes will be avoided and goals will be attained. For example, even though a merchant might satisfy a customer with a one-time bargain for a small immediate gain, it will later come back on the merchant as a misfortune. Therefore, no matter what the endeavor is, if people avoid being swayed by minor concerns, and always work towards their highest goals with overall evaluations of what is to be gained and lost, they will seldom fail.
But many people forgetting to build a strong foundation for their life’s purpose, become caught up in their passing emotions, and ruin everything. If a young person commits an extreme failure, it can become a curse, causing them life long suffering, because they are unable to recover the trust of others. It is common for instance, to see people involved in trivial emotional entanglements, when flower viewing or the like, and commit mistakes, that when serious, hurt other people. Therefore, while living life and passing through the world, it’s important that people always keep their overall goals clearly in mind, and avoid being controlled by momentary pleasures and passing emotions. When people with promise fail, and lose trust because of this, they often despair and end up throwing their lives away. Therefore, it’s especially important that young people be careful of this, and that the adults around them caution them not to take the wrong turn. A major reason why young people today incline towards uncontrolled behavior is because they lack major goals. When young people make poor decisions, based on passing emotions, they cannot achieve their aims. They need to have big ideals and goals that span their whole lives.