I saw this on a poster while walking to Starbucks with the gang:
"The most selfish 1 letter word "I". Avoid it.
The most satisfying 2-letter word "WE". Use it.
The most poisonous 3-letter word "EGO". Kill it.
The most used 4-letter word "LOVE". Value it.
The most pleasing 5-letter word "SMILE". Keep it.
The fastest spreading 6-letter word "RUMOUR". Ignore it.
The hardest working 7-letter word "SUCCESS". Achieve it.
The most enviable 8-letter word "JEALOUSY". Distance it.
The most powerful 9-letter word "KNOWLEDGE". Acquire it.
The most essential 10-letter word "CONFIDENCE". Trust it."
I found the piece to be cliched, yet insightful at the same time. A few seconds of Googling showed that it was an article that had already been in circulation for a while.
But my epiphany of the day wasn't "what" I read. Nay... it was the "when".
It's like reading your horoscope after the date has passed and then remarking to yourself, "Holy shit this really did happen to me!"
Hence the title. It refers to the Chinese phrase "马后炮", a very rough equivalent of the English expression, "hindsight is 20-20".
But unlike horoscopes which are, by design, vague and carefully worded to give the illusion of accuracy, the above piece was not meant to predict an outcome. Rather, it was written for the purpose of stimulating reflection and inward thinking.
And yet, while chilling out at Starbucks, we covered 1 to 10 on that list.
I had spent 30 seconds reading an article; We spent the ensuing 3 hours living it...
