My Existence: Utterly Fortunate

On Fortune and Existence

I’ve recently noticed that since our company welcomed Gen Z colleagues, I’ve started jokingly referring to myself as “old.”

Fortunately, I still feel young at heart. I maintain a fondness for exploring new things in the world, holding onto a bit of remaining curiosity, and I enjoy chatting with them and understanding their world.

Over the years, I’ve increasingly felt that “fortune” is truly precious—so precious that I realize some events and some people, once missed, are truly gone forever. Meeting them is indeed incredibly fortunate.

Perhaps because I feel as though I’ve taken many detours, I especially cherish those intersections that are so rare and hard-won.

Some time ago, I solidified two paradigms for understanding the world: one is logic, which confirms that the world can be understood; and the other is probability—many outcomes are simply a matter of chance.

I often tell my younger colleagues that reliability is much more important than absolute accuracy. In this world, nothing is ever one hundred percent certain. When you are more than sixty percent certain, you can move forward.

I used to find the concept of “destiny” hard to believe. But now, after continuously exploring philosophy, I’m inclined to believe in a creator. Unfortunately, based on our current understanding, Earth is the only planet we know of that harbors life. That I happen to exist within this civilization and leave even a small trace is truly fortunate. And within this context, the people you meet and the events you encounter are even more so.

Fortune has gradually become a luxury for me. I’ve started paying closer attention to my focus, almost fearing that life is too short to waste large amounts of time on unimportant matters. I’m also incredibly willing to dedicate limitless, lifelong time to the people and things that have been healing for me.

Many years ago, during the early days of my entrepreneurial venture, several of us were working around a small desk when a colleague, while reading a book, suddenly burst into tears. We were completely at a loss, filled with questions.

Years later, while reading myself, I would also, at any time, in any place, and under any circumstances, be profoundly healed by a certain sentence or concept, moved to tears and a state of complete absorption.

In Fu Peirong’s lectures on Western philosophy, he discusses Heraclitus, one of whose ideas is that all things are logic.

When I read this, I felt deeply that some things truly transcend time and space. I finally understood why Steve Jobs was willing to trade all his wealth for an afternoon with Socrates.

Because suddenly, you realize that in this incredibly complex world, thousands of years ago, someone shared your way of understanding it. This realization is incredibly moving.

I sometimes wonder if it is because of endlessly exploring the reality of the world that I have become fortunate or if it is because I am fortunate that I began to explore this endless world’s reality.

Perhaps probability is the truth of this world. My existence is utterly fortunate.