Elevating My Character While Being a Nanny

(Minghui.org) I’m over 60 years old and was arrested for practicing Falun Dafa in 2014 and put in prison. I then lost my job as a civil servant. My husband was a division manager and believed in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) defamatory propaganda about the practice. He insisted that we divorce after my release. To survive, I went alone to the provincial city to find a job.

I worked as a cleaner, a childcare worker in a kindergarten, and a dormitory supervisor in a high school. I was fired when they found out I had been imprisoned for practicing Falun Dafa. I was under a lot of stress, but Master encouraged and supported me to overcome the tribulations.

Through an employment agency, I started working as a nanny. My job was to take care of twin toddlers and cook two meals a day. The arrangement was that there would be two nannies. Each nanny took care of one child, and the mother would help look after the twins while we cooked. So that I could do my job well, I spent 400 yuan to take an online course in childcare and shared it with the mother so that we would be on the same page while taking care of the children. However, things did not go as I hoped. The mother was self-righteous and domineering. She did not help at all when we cooked, and I ended up having to take care of the two toddlers while the other nanny prepared the food.

I took the twins out to play in June, and one of them fell and cut his head, leaving a 1.5 cm cut. I picked up the child and asked for Master’s help. The child’s parents took him to the best hospital for stitches. It cost 2,500 yuan. I apologized to the parents and promised to pay the medical expenses. I stayed with them overnight to help take care of the child.

The child was quiet and slept through the night. More unusual was the fact that he used to get car sick very easily, but was fine riding in the car to the hospital.

I withdrew 5,000 yuan ($732) and gave it to the parents. The father berated me, saying they did not care about the money and were more concerned about whether a scar would be left on the child. They insisted I keep the money.

I said, “I know no amount of money can make up for the harm done to your child. I could get you more if it’s not enough.” I thought, as long as they could accept it and felt okay, I would agree to anything. But they didn’t name the conditions and only said they were not short of money. I didn’t know what to do. The air seemed to be stifling.

As a practitioner, I needed to follow ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,’ but I found that working in such an awkward situation under 37°C [about 99°F] without air conditioning was hard to stand. I planned to quit as soon as the child’s stitches were removed. But they would not let me go and wanted me to work until the end of July. I discussed it with my sister, who was also a cultivator. She encouraged me to maintain my xinxing and not to be anxious.

I dreamed I was riding a bicycle in a ditch as narrow as the bicycle wheel. I rushed forward, then started back-peddling. When I woke up, I knew that I had a very narrow path. As long as I had a righteous mind, I would have a way. I looked inward and found attachments to being impatient, worrying about losing face, self-esteem, fear of hardship, and resentment. I had to get rid of them.

I took every opportunity to cultivate myself. I found time after they went to sleep to study the Fa and send forth righteous thoughts. I felt that Master was by my side, supporting me. I did not feel tired, sleepy, or hungry. Gradually, my mind became calm, and I could treat these things rationally. I understood that nothing was coincidental as a practitioner. All conflicts involved things that I needed to cultivate away. I no longer cared about their tone of voice and ignored their disdainful looks. I treated myself as a practitioner and elevated my xinxing.

I then had another dream, where Master pointed out that I owed these people money in the past. I now realize the connection to our past lives, and I was here to pay off my debt.

The mother wanted me to cook some noodles with tomato, but did not specify that the tomato must be mixed with eggs first. When I finished the dish and put it on the table, she angrily tossed her chopsticks and said, “Are we out of eggs? Why did you ask me if you did not want to follow what I asked?” She listed several faults of mine and berated me for being worthless. I thought: “The child has recovered, so there’s no need to be angry. I will correct myself if I made a mistake and would be fine with leaving if you want to fire me.”

She called the employment agency that afternoon and sent them pictures of the child’s injury. She informed the company that I practice Falun Dafa. The husband called me over after he came home. He fired me after having me pay the medical bill for the child. I asked him about my wages, and he responded, “There are none. How can you ask for wages? I might come looking for you if the child has any other problems. Otherwise, we won’t look for you.” I said that’s fine and left.

Overall, I lost about 10,000 yuan ($1,465). Ten thousand yuan might mean nothing to the family, but it was quite a sum for me. I had no resentment or hatred and only felt that I had repaid my debt.

The whole process lasted a month. I did not have a single argument with them from the beginning to the end and took full responsibility for the incident. I worked day and night for a month, but they did not pay me a penny.

I quietly studied the Fa and looked inward upon returning home. I found my dry cough that started when I was a child was gone without my paying attention to it. I truly appreciated the Fa principle of “loss and gain” discussed in Lecture Four in Zhuan Falun. Thank you, Master!

I needed to find another job. I did not have a pension and didn’t want to burden my children. I needed to earn some money for retirement. I went to a few employment agencies but could not find a suitable job. They found me to be too old to be a nanny and too slow to be a housekeeper.

I could not calm down to study the Fa. I then thought, "Isn’t my wanting to earn money for retirement an attachment? Everything of a cultivator is arranged by Master. We cannot control it." After I found my attachment to wanting to make money for retirement, I sent righteous thoughts to get rid of it.

Within a month, I was able to let go of these attachments. Master then arranged an ideal job for me. It was close to my home, paid a high wage, and the bosses were particularly nice.

In the last couple of years, the unemployment rate has increased a lot. Many young people cannot find a job. At 60, without Master’s help, it would have been impossible for me to find such a good job.

Thank you, Master. I can only repay you by being more diligent.