(Minghui.org) I'm a Falun Dafa practitioner. Given the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Dafa, I moved often over the past 10 years to avoid arrest. I could not hold any job for too long.
My wife and I recently had a baby. Now, as a cash-strapped father, I needed to think about settling down and earning a regular income to raise our child.
A friend of mine was selling a small restaurant, and we borrowed 85,000 yuan to buy it.
We did not have much experience in running a restaurant, and the customers were not satisfied with the food we served. When business was slow, I worried, wondering how to pay back the money we’d borrowed.
When I was studying the teachings of Falun Dafa one day, Teacher's words opened my eyes:
“In today’s society, some businessmen just want to take all the money from other people’s pockets so that they can get rich instantly. In regards to this point, I think Caucasian European businessmen have a very good state of mind. A Caucasian businessman considers his business a profession and a duty, and he does it whole-heartedly to the best of his ability. He doesn’t mind even if there’s only one customer a day. He thinks that it’s his job, it’s part of life, he’s doing something, and it’s fine as long as he can support himself or his family and save a little. This is the state of being human.” (Lecture at the First Conference in North America)
What Teacher said really inspired me. When business was slow again, I read this paragraph again and again. I reminded myself to be considerate of my customers, to have a positive attitude, and to make every dish to the standard I would expect when I visited a restaurant.
Gradually, our business began to pick up, and we had some return customers.
A New Challenge
Just as our business was starting to grow, my friend who had sold us the restaurant opened a bigger, high-end restaurant next to mine. This development was very upsetting, and my wife and I fought over this issue frequently.
My customers who used to eat in his restaurant went back to him. His wife actively sought out my customers and asked them to come to their new restaurant.
Our business slowed down again. My other friends said that I should confront him, but I did not want to get into a fight.
Then I remembered what Teacher said:
“How should you keep the interests of others in mind in all situations? Since I’ve said that your practice of cultivation should maximally accord with everyday people’s society, you have to maintain contact with people. So there will be matters that involve self-interest. I’d say it’s no good if you’re still really selfish, thinking of yourself first in situations and not considering others. After all, you still need to maintain contact with people in society. If at work you just sit there, cold and detached, doing nothing, I think your boss will fire you. You still have to observe the way of life in human society. You have to maintain contact with people, be kind to people, and consider others before doing things.” (Lecture at the First Conference in North America)
When I thought about what Teacher said, I realized that all the conflicts were trivial. When I was able to let it go, the problems were resolved one by one.
Extraordinary Experience
Over the past two years, I have disciplined myself based on the teachings of Falun Dafa and been considerate of my customers. My business just keeps growing. My monthly income grew from 6,000 to 20,000 yuan. I paid back what we borrowed and have accumulated 200,000 yuan in savings.
I could have never imagined this turnaround. It shows that if we let go of our human notions and worries and pay attention to Teacher's words, things will turn out well.
Category: Improving Oneself
