My father ran his own business, but life wasn’t easy.
He had huge debts, and just paying the interest was a struggle.
I was working as an employee elsewhere, but I wasn’t just giving my mother money for food every month.
My mother would tell me that an appliance had broken down, and I would pay for the replacement.
There were also times when she would ask me to lend her money, saying she would pay me back in six months, but I would never get it back.
The money I had diligently saved would disappear just as it was about to reach a substantial amount.
Even so, I believed that my family was in this together, so I cooperated with her.
My father was indeed the president, but that’s how things are inside small companies.
Although I have only ever worked as an employee, thanks to my father running his own business, I was able to learn from both the employee’s and the manager’s perspectives.
When reading the magnificent Indian epic ”Mahabharata,” there are descriptions that make it seem as if a nuclear war has taken place.
”As the two Brahma Astras drew closer, darkness enveloped the horizon. A fierce wind began to blow, and dust rained down everywhere. Birds cried out in madness, and the vibrating earth was scorched by the intense heat emanating from the Brahma Astras. Elephants burst into flames and galloped wildly. Horses fell to the ground and died. The two Brahma Astras extended their tongues of fire toward each other, attempting to destroy one another.”
Probably and Japanese people would think it was a nuclear attack.
French scholar Emmanuel Todd has started that ”the only way for Japan to feel safe is to acquire nuclear bombs.”
However, I believe he is missing a crucial perspective.
Here is the difference between French and Japan.
France doesn’t just possess nuclear weapons;it’s also a major agricultural power and one of the few food exporting countries. Furthermore, it’s energy-sufficient thanks to nuclear power plants and exports electricity to other countries.
In contract, Japan has a low food self-sufficiency rate, and most of its agricultural workers are elderly. Although it has nuclear power plants, it has not yet decided on a final disposal site for radioactive waste. Currently, it is being temporarily held by France, but there is an agreement that it will eventually be returned to Japan.
In other words, as things stand, even if Japan were to possess nuclear weapons, it would only result in a decrease in food and energy imports, and Japan would end up in a dead end.
It seems that Japan should continue with the strategy it has pursued since World War Ⅱ.
That is,
○adherence to international law
○free trade
○maintaining win-win relationships with other countries and striving for coexistence and co-prosperity with them.
I believe this is Japan’s only survival strategy, and perhaps the only survival strategy for countries all over the world.
The other day, I saw a fire truck🚒 passing by with its siren blaring.🚨
While the surrounding cars immediately pulled over to the side of the road to let it pass, one car deliberately stopped right in the middle of the road.
It was a two-lane road, and it stopped just above the white line in the middle.
It was a clear obstruction of traffic.
Despite the fire truck’s plea to ”Please move aside,” the driver completely ignored it.
He might have been harboring darkness within his heart.
The car in front of the fire truck moved further, allowing the fire truck to pass safely.
The other day, when I went grocery shopping, I bamped into an acquaintance.
He teased me, saying, ”Haven’t you gained weight again?” I replied with a bright smile, ”Oh no, I’ve lost a lot of weight.Maybe your nearsightedness has gotten worse? You might even have astigmatism.”
Then, a woman nearby started giggling.
She was the one who cleaned the shop. She’s always cheerful and energetic, and she greets customers with a smile. Meeting her always lifts my spirits.
The next day, I had a vision during meditation.
I was watching from above, a narrow stream flowing through a mountain valley.
That stream may not connect to a great river.g
However, just as capillaries carry nutrients to every corner of the body, that narrow stream also carries the water of life.
I too may be a narrow stream that does not connect to a great river, but it that is my role, I will quietly filfill it.
I’m alive！
Tulip (チューリップ🌷)Spring starflower (ハナニラ)Kaffir lily (君子蘭)Chocolate vine (アケビ)Camellia (椿)Old rose (オールドローズ)Ixia (イキシア)Bunny tail (兎の尾)Cornflower (矢車草)Freesia (フリージア)Azalea (ツツジ)Koi fish (錦鯉)Koi fish (錦鯉)
A reason for becoming a counselor：It was because I got tired of listening to endless stories of problems that had no intention of being solved.
They exist.
People who keep complaining about the same things.
Those complaints have been brewing for 5 years, 10 years, and yet they don’t take any action to solve the problem.
I thought that if I became a counselor, I could specify the date and time I would listen to their stories and the duration of my consultations, and only people who are willing to pay to solve their problems and change themselves would come to me.
I recently received a letter from an old classmate.
It seemed she was going through a lot of troubles.
I immediately wrote back to her.
“I’ve obtained two counseling certifications. I’m offering consultations at a special introductory price right now.”
よし爺 