「千軍易得，一將難求」 ＂Top Managers Are Not Easily Located＂
作者註：「千軍易得，一將難求」一語源自三國演義，後為關漢卿轉而改用。
Writer's Note: Original wording of the title comes from ancient Chinese literature.
To XXX Chamber of Commerce
We
are grateful to your kind assistances, twice in a row, to those who are in
need. Through empowering those who have crafted different artworks, you
doubtlessly make a difference for the lives of those who are with scarce income
under situations of extreme poverty.
Regards
The
Knight Club & Quite a Few Public School Districts in Namanga, eastern
Africa
致XXX商會
感謝函原文
謹此誠摯感謝貴會接連兩次對國際社會中極為貧苦之人士所提供之熱心協助。
透過支持並賦能創作不同種類藝術作品之人士，貴會無疑為這些生活於極端貧困環境中的勞工朋友們，帶來實質且深遠之影響。
The
Knight Club義工
及
東非納曼加地區若干公立學校校區全體人士 敬上
前言：
坐擁天下然心煩意亂者，比比皆是；一無所有但知足常樂者，亦所在多有，這其中的關鍵，可能在於人們如何看待及實踐「施比受更有福」之精髓。
Prelude
Certain of those who possess so many can
be confusing, whereas ones who do not own too many materially speaking can be
simple and content—the key may lie in how
本篇作品由於行程緊湊倉促成書
英語首先書寫之後，憑藉網路AI的力量，進行大多數華語文字方面的翻譯，中文翻譯語氣與作者本人習慣書寫中文的方式有所不同，些許之處甚至語氣或者蠻橫無理⋯⋯然而目前不便進行細部更改，於是，本文不但作為一個記實，也煩請讀者多多見諒當中語意或不順暢的部份。
關於服務工作的部分，未來勢必仍然隨著作者本身不斷地成長，而做更為精細的調整，也充滿各種可能，以期讓更多人士受益之外、也使得像這樣的一篇文章當中，作者自己不甚滿意的網路AI的中文語氣、甚至在5分鐘之內針對同樣的英語文字，網路AI可以產生出的不同的華語的翻譯方式的情況之下，可以透過筆者與眾位義工夥伴真正暖心的實作、與各地人士的連結所拼接出來的溫婉氣息，造福在這個世界受苦受難的身、心、靈！
早上，我目前工作的教室需要被一個由另外兩位老師指導的社團所使用。剛好我也有一些事情需要在同一間教室處理，於是我坐在教室後方的一張桌子旁，專心處理我的工作。突然之間，一個我也教過的孩子走了進來，大聲哭喊、叫嚷，憤怒地拉動椅子發出刺耳聲響。我愣住了，看著此刻在他人管理下的他，行為與我平時教他與他同學時完全不同——
在我的課堂上，若不運用一些策略，整個班級很容易陷入混亂。難怪，有些導師曾對我說，在我嘗試教學、精進服務能力的各個地方，他們都這樣告訴我：
「妳不是一般的教師，妳不必像我們一樣對學生大聲斥責，他們就能安靜坐好、準備學習、甚至享受學習。」
請告訴我，如果你是我，你會只想拯救孩子，還是也想幫助那些被學生的行為所困擾的老師？我並不是說自己是救世主，完全不是。我只是運用了我在世界各地服務他人時所學到的各種方法。我體會到，服務是一件無論身在何處、從事何種工作都可以做到的事情。
正因為有這樣的信念，我會用不同的視角看世界。這也是為什麼當 Jourrina 再次代表她的商業協會向我訂購一批圍巾時，我會訓練一些非洲村民一起參與編織；當前輩們再次將我介紹給各種不同的人時，我不會因為發生什麼而感到冒犯或過度欣喜，只是心懷感恩；當琴主任所介紹認識的 Sisi 姊提議在蘇州舉辦一場音樂會時，我也不會因為我們過去的旅程從未聚焦於富裕地區而拒絕——我反而說「好」，因為我渴望認識更多來自世界各地、一起做好事的人。
因此，我提出我們應該在世界不同地方進行專業技能的志願交流，吸引各領域專家自願分享他們的專長與技術，提供給群眾與觀眾，例如 Sisi姊為我們介紹的那些飯店——雖然我未曾造訪，但早已聽聞其無可爭議的卓越聲譽。如此一來，專家、飯店業者以及其他相關人士，都能在這樣的交流中獲得曝光與成長，當各方的善意匯聚時，彼此的專業與事業都能受益。
身為一個促成者與協調者，我毫無疑問肩負責任，盡我所能讓所有參與者綻放光芒，不論是在專業技能或人際關係方面。也因此，我們第一次前往蘇州—這也要由衷感謝 Sisi姊與琴主任—預計會在今年秋天，像是一個前行之旅，而我所想到的是如何透過目前我們就有的人力推動，這些相關事宜。
在這場秋天的蘇州之行，我所希望策畫的是「專家們」將在義務的立場，與觀眾探討「服務學習」、「醫療保健」、「長期照護」、「家用水電」等議題，並現場提供英文口譯，讓在蘇州旅遊的外籍人士也能參與，同時提供活動中的影音檔案、連結等等，讓我們在非洲所服務的人群也能觀看與學習。
同時，我也希望透過自己的一己之力，讓在對岸從事服務業的人士，如何可以更好地服務他們的客戶、轉化自己的英語能力，讓自己的專業層次提升。
透過這些行動與實踐，我希望開創一種新的旅行形式——
在其中尋找意義、真誠交換善意、毫無保留地分享專業技能。
也在這樣充滿生命與愛的循環中，讓多方受益。
在這樣的架構之下，當我們的第一站是蘇州時，我會聯想到許多故事，例如「杜十娘怒沉百寶箱」的戲曲、傳說——她曾將滿載珍寶的箱子投入水中，因為她的付出成就了心上人的財富，卻未能成就她所以為的至死不渝的愛情。
從這以後，有些許舞台背景的我，自然聯想到我們可以在舞台上以祖先的智慧為基礎，不論那是唐詩、宋詞、元曲等等，而以英語演譯。
我甚至開始考慮有無在那座名為蘇洲的城市LONG STAY的必要，不但更好地讓這樣的實驗性活動持續進行，也讓我能更深入了解如何以各種我所知悉的方式，來恰如其份地服務當地的人們。
一如「杜十娘怒沉百寶箱」的故事一般，在各種文學作品中，「財富」一直是作家與詩人或者沒有明白表示，但卻不能不關注的主題。最近，我與一位來訪的朋友進行了長談，我們曾是同事。她觀察到兩件事：
第一，在許多同樣英語流利、甚至多數擁有海外學位的同事之中，我卻成為唯一一位能成功與外籍教師有效溝通的人。
她說：「他們說是因為你的英文更流利、更像母語人士，但我不認為這是唯一原因——妳在溝通上的敏感度更高。」
當她這樣說時，我想起過去幾次我代表政府單位或校方與外籍人士溝通的經驗。我常常觀察到對方情緒開始波動，在這些外籍人士本身可能尚未察覺、或者完全釋放他們的負面情緒之前，我已經採取方法緩解他們的焦慮，使雙方能找到共識——最終大家都能平和離開，甚至滿懷感激之情。
想到這一層之後，我們便談到了金錢——一個雖然敏感，卻也時常被提及的話題。
「妳做的事情和我們不同。我們領薪水，而妳做這些國際服務沒有薪水，可是妳做得比我們這些領薪水的人還要快樂，而且妳一年365天幾乎沒有休息……」
想到我在海外的經驗，以及那些參與我們服務之旅的人願意支付每日約100美元（其中約50美元用於幫助弱勢族群，尤其是東非地區的人），我對於這十幾名人士在我們的印尼之行後，他們所「捐助」的資金必須如何運用，內心感到非常平靜，因為這一次在印尼峇里島的行程結束後，我們仍選擇將資源轉向更需要的地方——非洲。
在那裡，資金長期使用於提供友善貸款，幫助村民建立或擴展事業，讓孩子能上學、社區能持續運作；也用於獎學金、糧食計畫、協助女性在缺乏衛生用品下的困境，甚至用來設計對抗女性割禮的措施；同時也持續進行農業計畫，提供更多營養來源。這些計畫多年來持續著，不但有所擴展，也從未間斷。
這些事情的「版圖」不是一朝一夕所能建立，所以，在極短的如幾十天必須看到全貌時，往往因為實際行程的安排及人員的配置、地點的抵達等等，而使人不免感到「怎麼只有這樣……」畢竟，「貧窮」往往有時可能變成一種極為主觀的認知，因為對我而言，甚至早上的那位情緒大暴走的學生，都很窮困，就算他的父母所可以提供的生活條件根本不在所謂中低收入戶的範圍之內，又或者看到這樣的學生而手足無措的教師，就算在物質生活上一點也不欠缺，但是在精神層面上卻因為這樣的事情，而可能飽受折磨，故而必須趁著放長假去調養身心、住院開刀等等，我甚至注意到在台灣的公立學校，現在有所謂的「身心假」，這對於落後地區的人民來說是不可思議的：
「物質條件已經達到你們那樣的層次，怎麼還會心情不好? 怎麼必須因為心情不好而要請假放鬆?」
所以多年下來，站在這兩者之中的我，對於誰是貧窮、誰是富有，我反而有了比較不一樣的定義。
因此，當要具體說明每一筆資金流向時，我的內心極有定見，即便所做的項目歷來累積而如此多元。一方面是我不擅長記帳，更重要的是，我清楚知道每年我自掏腰包投入的金額，往往遠超過他人所捐助的款項的總和。
我也想到書中提到的一種概念：「一比一對應樂捐」（MATCH）——當一般人捐款時，富有人士會捐出等額資金響應。
而我知道，自己幾乎總是在做這樣的「「一比一對應樂捐」，甚至對象是我未曾見過的人——因為我是給出了金錢，而且並非家財萬貫的我，往往給得比他人的總和要來得多。
而我之所以如此大方講述，不是代表自己多麼神勇、收入如何如何高，而是就像人們所言：
「這筆每一天50元美金的現款，根本不多」，我同意這樣的說法，所以我可以擔負超出這個數量的金流支出，而更重要的，是我發現我永遠得到了比我所付出還要多更多的「產值」。
在具體經濟條件上，我並不屬於富豪等級，但我可能因為在內心世界的質量上感到自己知足感恩、因樂於付出而感到自己無所不能，所以不需要外在任何物事來「妝點」我自己，例如在每天的飲料上，我知道，當我不去像某些人一樣每天買昂貴咖啡、或購買高價服飾時，我便能輕易節省許多資源，使用於讓世界更好之上。
更重要的是，因為人們透過我而看到的世界，花費並不昂貴，並且，在那些每日50元的款項，怎麼算都會在最後流向最需要的人的現況下，身為一個教育人、一個地球公民，我真正關心的是人們的心理狀態，以及如何成為一個催化劑，讓我們的同理心沒有天花板似地不斷提升，使我們在付出中學會以不隨意發怒及悲觀而真正疼惜自己，也讓他人感受到他們能夠為人所愛的潛在特質。
是的，某種程度上，我喜歡幫助每一個我遇見的人，甚至那些我尚未認識的人。我感覺自己承載著來自無數人的愛心——那些來自世界各地抵達台灣、我曾經協助公部門接待過的貴賓、那些曾經身為我在機上服務時所見的乘客、在世界不同地方的人們、各種我在不同工作當中所遇見的人們……
這種「幫助」可以是非常內在的，也可以是物質層面的。例如，當我看到一位學習者坐立不安時，我會想到他的父母；當我觀察到一個人表現出勢利或傲慢時，我會感覺他的內心其實在哭泣；當我注意到一位服務業從業人員沒有以愉悅的態度接待顧客時，我會意識到他／她正經歷著某些困難與煩擾……等等。
我記得曾有一段時間，我在台北市中心尋找無家可歸者與獨居長者，送上裝有現金的紅包。我也回想起許多在街頭與販售花朵、口香糖、文具的小販偶然相遇的時刻，我會把身上帶的現金給他們。除此之外，我也深刻體會到人們所經歷的痛苦與困境——來自我教過的所有學生，無論年紀大小，不論他們是在職場工作、已退休，或尚未接受正式教育。
總體而言，我認為每個人其實都有願意學習的動機；然而，並不是每個人都有足夠的機會去學習到底什麼是「無償的服務」，從而理解「施比受更有福」這個道理。正如一些社會科學家所指出的，人們傾向於與身邊的人緊密合作，因此當周遭環境形成像童工或童兵這樣的體系時，人們往往也會不知不覺成為其中的一員，甚至成為訓練他人成為這樣的體系當中的一環的人。同樣地，當一個充滿和諧與溫暖的環境被建立時，人們的心靈會得到滋養，視野會被拓展，慷慨的行動也會自然產生。
像我這樣出自於小康家庭、卻從小就有機會接觸經濟富裕家庭的人，也觀察到一些現象：那些孩子會想與我稱兄道弟般相處，是源自於我在某些表現上是他們無法達到的，例如擔任學生代表為全體學生發言。透過與這些相對富裕的同學相處，並沒有造成我希望與他們一樣，卻讓我體會到，想要功成名就所必須需付出的代價，往往超出我們的想像。令人驚訝的是我也發現，多數情況下家庭生活愈是優沃，孩子們或者反而越不願意投入精力去努力，包括在學業上的努力、以及其他一切的努力。
當然，一個人更成熟之後，學業成就未必那麼重要；然而，對於一個尚未認識自己、仍在摸索前路的人來說，在學業上表現優秀，或者願意努力，意味著能與更有教養的同儕們互動，而這無疑會對未來帶來極遠大而正面的影響。
事實上，我越來越清楚，我們與誰交流的時間最多，我們就會被型塑為什麼樣的人，就像童工或童兵所處的環境一樣。當我們花越多時間與正向、能看到事情光明面的人相處，我們的思緒會變得清晰，也更願意去手動執行有意義的事情。同樣地，當我們仰望那些善良並實際行善的人，我們的世世代代也會跟隨我們，做出類似的行動。
因此，並不令人意外的是許多人告訴我，與我相處越多，他們在財務上反而變得更富足——因為當我們真心關懷他人時，內在的力量會增生，這種內在的力量會促成某種吸引他人的特質，是以，更多人會提供更多機會給我們，這使我們可以內外兼修，使我們在內、在外的富足力道增生。
而在這所有與財富相關的討論過程與實作經驗裡面，我謙遜的看法仍然不脫一個路線：
世上所有財富之中最令人驚艷的，是一顆願意為他人行善的心思、念想而產生的行動力。
或許有些僧眾、修士、修女等是在寺院、佛堂、教堂等等四方牆內閉關而修行精進慈悲；對我這樣的人而言，慈悲的修行任務幾乎總是在有人群與動物存在的地方。透過與無數人群的接觸，我所學習到的十分簡易，那就是我的目光所及，當人們不斷追逐享樂，不斷加碼於享樂，以及所有可以讓享樂更加放大的所謂「文明」時，人們反而會因為生命缺乏意義而更加疲憊。
這或許也是為什麼身為炎黃子孫的我們，不難理解一句古話：
「千軍易得，一將難求。」(在此，「將」為「入」聲字，即「四」聲。)
將者，需迎大難而絕處逢生，需遇大災而不受其擾，需身處亂世但思路清澈，不受紛爭所侵，或猶似周敦頤「愛蓮說」所言「出汙泥而不染……」：猜想因為如此，所以一將難求。
因為一將難求，在日常生活中，我們也往往無法確定自己其實可以是將才，我們的態度可以如何影響自己及他人的整體生命走向與態勢，就像我們常有這樣的經驗：
當我們花錢換取某種服務、商品或兩者兼具時，卻發現銷售人員、老闆或店員的情緒不但不正面，甚至極為負面，那種負面也許可能是生氣、不滿、憂傷等等。說到這裡，我想起有時候在一些（因特別邀請而前往的）高級餐廳時，我甚至立馬會讓自己成為那個改善當場的氣氛的人，讓服務我們的人感到更自在——這是現在的我會做的事情。
而多年前，一如在其他文章中我曾提及的，當我還是一名空姊時，就曾多次有乘客寫信到我所任職的航空公司，稱讚我服務時的態度：
「你們這位空服員真的知道如何讓乘客有賓至如歸的感覺。為什麼你們不能把所有空服員都訓練成像她一樣，既有流利的英語，又能以她的方式與機艙內每一位乘客應對進退？」
諷刺的是，我現在比較能夠把全部的局面看得清楚一點時，才能夠分析出來的地方是，在收到這些讚美信的同時，我也可能正處於在當趟飛行工作的困境當中——
與某些因該趟飛行的擔任領導角色的組員共事時，如果這些領導者認為「服務流程應該越快越好，其他都不重要」的話，那麼在我看來更重要的是「對我所負責區域內的乘客噓寒問暖」一事，就顯得不但無足輕重，甚至對於服務效率來說，是絆手絆腳的。於是，我可能在同一個航班被乘客默默寫下讚美的話語，卻也被身邊的同事，尤其是主管，指責為「一直在和乘客聊天」，認為是消耗時間與精力。
於是，一個現象是，特別是在經濟艙這樣有數百名乘客的環境中，在一些空服員眼中，乘客們「如果要求過多」而使大家忙於應付各種乘客的需求的話，甚至這些空服人員可能會在背後對這些「麻煩製造者」、或者「澳客」，議論紛紛。
我非常幸運，可以選擇自己所愛的職業生涯模式，也可以選擇無償服務他人，並且更重要的，是透過這兩種模式中的種種「混搭」，像是某種搭配法—「在大學教書 + 到中亞服務」，或者另一種搭配法—「在中學教書 + 到南非服務」，又或者「在業界翻譯 + 到東南亞服務」等等模型，來粹鍊自我的耐力與恆心。也許這些不同的混搭使我完全感受到相對富饒的地區、國度等等，所對我產生的呼喊、呼救，所以我選擇待在先進地區多一些時間也不一定。
不論如何，多年之後，我仍然保持著那種對人噓寒問暖的互動、服務方式，不論我所進行的是有收入、無償的工作，所以我進而發現，一旦一個人開始服務他人，不論時間多長多短，會養成多種良好習慣，而同時，「服務他人」的影響也就會不斷擴大。坦白說，我的許多人際關係都並非直接與金錢相關——而就在 Sisi 提出蘇州計畫的幾週後，琴主任告訴我她要舉辦一場高階主管的聚會：
「因為我跟妳去了國外，被妳在海外服務的勇敢而感動，我想讓更多人知道這些事情的可能性。」
我不覺得自己特別勇敢，我只是有觀察的特質、也認為關懷是要緊的。
實際上，人生充滿了學習、成長、持續學習與持續成長的可能。謙虛地說，在這趟「學會付出、在付出中學習」的雲霄飛車旅程中，我收穫最多。甚至就在兩天前，我為一群人做菜，他們一致認為非常美味——而我也可以如此坦白地說，只要不是調理肉類，那麼，廚藝絕絕對對是我想進一步精進的領域之一。
為什麼嗎?
動物是我的好朋友，如果要把牠們宰來入口，對我而言幾乎已經是「令人無法忍受」……
總而言之，在這種「素食」及「反速」的情況下，把我們的「旅行活動」轉化為更具藝術性的形式如何呢？結合我熟悉的手作領域，讓每一位無論是否志同道合的人，都能一起交流、一起編織、一起烹飪、一起製作藝術紙張、蠟燭等等？
Sisi 姊擁有宏大的願景，就像 Jourrina 一樣，曾對我說過許多美麗的話語，讓我覺得她們本身就是美的化身，這也包括了琴主任，以及所有透過她們與我相遇的人。
事實上，這個世界上有太多善良的人——有些人扮演了提醒我的角色、有些人教導著我、有些人透過對我的怒氣讓我得以成長，而我也因此能在歌唱時笑得更加開懷。
「妳一直有著成功的紀錄，因此人們會把你妳為一個值得信賴的品牌。」一位睿智的朋友曾這樣對我說。
因此，當 Sisi 姊傳來她孫女的影片，說希望這個小女孩能成為「小一號的 Hope」時，我忍俊不住又笑了起來——因為我非常清楚，只要在正確的環境中，每一個人都能茁壯成長，甚至觸及比我所能夠觸及的，更加高遠的星空。
而無論我走到哪裡，我都感謝所有曾共同訓練我的人，讓我在這樣的「在職訓練」中成長，從而能更好地幫助那些在心靈或經濟上需要支持的人。
從來，龍的傳人都在地大物博的土地上生活著，而我除了曾在海峽兩岸及離島工作過，也從來對於要把在經濟條件上極為吃緊的人群找到、具體訓練他們的某種像是語言表達力和英語力，未曾放棄過，即使在我進入國際社會之前，為了這個項目，我曾經獨自一人進入對岸的山川湖畔。現在要從蘇州出發，我所有的只有無限的感動，和因為這樣的感動，而更加有意願透過各種方式，使自己變得更加有能力讓更多人受惠的決心。
所有這些前輩因為我而牽出的線，我都非常寧靜地面對著，像是自己是一脈山川，包括Sisi姊認為我可以和她在音樂背景上資歷雄厚的同儕，進行兒童歌謠雙語型態的創作，或者要進行一場非常正式的音樂會等等。這些都回到我自己的初衷，那個只有十多歲的少女，因為別人所給予的一絲絲溫暖，而知道這個世界上沒有任何事情比之於給予他人溫暖的力道，更能穿越時空所設下的迷障，打破人心無形之中所設立的疆界，而使所有的人都因為彼此而更加美好、活出亮麗的色采及生命。
In the morning, the classroom where I currently
work needs to be utilized by a chess club, instructed by two other teachers. I happened
to have some issues to be handled in the same classroom, where I sat at the
back of the classroom at a desk to properly attend to my tasks, when, all of a
sudden, a child whom I also teach arrived, wailing, shouting, angrily pulled a
chair loudly. Stunned, I looked at him now under others’ rein, acting totally
different when I am teaching him and his classmates, with whom some tactics are
much needed or else the entire class could fall into chaos. No wonder, some
homeroom teachers used to tell me, wherever I have tried to teach so that I can
advance my skills in serving the needed,
“You are the kind of master teacher who
does not even have to shout or reprimand the kids like us when they students
sit there well enough, ready to learn.”
Please tell me, if you were me, do you
only want to save the kids, or do you also want to save those teachers who are
much troubled by their students? I am not saying I am the savior, completely
not. I am simply adopting all the different ways I have utilized worldwide when
I serve the others, whom I have learned that to serve is something I can do
everywhere, regardless of where I am or what I do. With notions like these, I see
the world with different perspectives, which is the main reason when Jourrina
orders yet again another bunch of scarves from me, on behalf of her business association,
I train the villagers in east Africa to weave with me for at least a part of
the scarves; when Chair Chin links me yet again with some other people who are again
very different, I never feel offended or overjoyed due to whatever takes place
but only gratitude; and when Sisi, also introduced to me via Chair Chin,
proposes a concert to be held in China, I never say NO based on our journeys
never focus on richer parts of the world with a bunch of people going
altogether—I say YES because I feel like meeting more people from different
parts of the world doing good things altogether, which is why I’ve proposed that
we do voluntary exchange of professional skills frequently at different places
of the world, attracting experts from different fields to willingly offer the
crowd, the audience, these experts’ talents and skills, at places such as the
ones introduced to us via Sisi, hotels I have never been to but have already
heard of their undisputable well-acclaimed reputations. This way, the experts,
hoteliers and many others may receive such exposures benefiting their own
professional realms and/or businesses they run when all the best wishes from
all sides merge. Being a facilitator or a coordinator myself, I doubtlessly carry
the responsibilities to flower those involved with the best I can offer, whether
it can be in terms of my professional skills or people relations. These said,
the first time we visit Suzhou, thanks to Sisi and Chair Chin, should be some
time this autumn, when we have enough manpower to at least begin doing things
from our side, that we shall have “experts” who can discuss with the audience
about SERVICE LEARNING, MEDICINE, LONG-TERM CARE, HOUSEHOLD WATER and
ELECTRICITY APPLIANCES while every single matter can be interpreted into
English, on site, so that not only expatriates there at the same time with us
can also attend this function, but also footages can be recorded for those whom
we have served in Africa to watch and/or listen to.
From our gestures taken and actions executed,
I am in the wish to pioneer a new form of travel, in which meanings are searched
dearly, good intentions are exchanged wholeheartedly, and professional skills
are shared doubtlessly. In such circles of life and love, every party benefits,
as far as I am concerned. When our first “station” is Suzhou, a place where I think
of many stories like Ms. Du who madly threw a chest filled with treasures into
the waters, seeing that all her time and care to someone she used to love fumed
his success and wealth but not their romantic story, I naturally link myself
with the dramas in English we can perform on the stage by using our forefathers’
ancient wisdom as the basis. Believing I am in adequate to the city itself, I have
even begun to consider doing a LONG STAY there so that after a group are there
with me for such an experimental stage, I will be able to find out more about
how I can best serve the people there, everywhere, by anything, and/or
everything!
In many forms of literary outputs, of
course, fortune is something writers and poets write about. Lately, I’ve a lengthy
discussion with a friend visiting me. We used to work together. There’re two
observations she witnessed. One would be that out of quite a few colleagues who’re
also fluent in English, with most of them earning degrees overseas, I became
the only person successfully communicating with foreign teachers working with
us in the same environment.
“They say it’s because your English is
more fluent, native-speaker like, yet I doubt it to be the only factor: your
senses are a lot higher when it comes to effective communications.” When she
talked to me like that, I remember there were quite a few times when I was
talking on behalf of either government offices or faculty members to some
expatriates working at our parts of the world, I saw how these ‘foreigners’ begin
to get emotional, not necessarily due to me, but more or less a result of some
other issues involved; before they themselves were aware of their emotions
surging, I had utilized certain ways to quench their levels of anxiety so that
mutual grounds could be made—everyone left peacefully, feeling graceful.
After that, this former colleague and I
were talking about money, a sensitive topic everyone would mention now and
then.
「老師，妳所做的事情和我們所做的不一樣，我們在領薪水，妳做這些國際服務的工作相關事宜，沒有拿薪水，可是妳做起事情來，比我們這些領薪水的人，還要樂活，而且我看妳全年365天，天天從不休息……」
Thinking about things I have done
overseas and those buying our version of service works that they would like to leave
us 100 USD per person per day while traveling around, with roughly 50 USD per
day geared towards assisting the needed, particularly those who are very
financially impoverished in our scopes of services, particularly those from
east Africa, I find myself to be really serene when it comes to how the budgets
are diverted after a journey, say, the Bali Island, Indonesia, came to an end.
Since in comparison, those living in Africa are poorer financially speaking, naturally
we would utilize such finance for the generation of better impact there in
Africa, where villagers can obtain friendly loans from us to build or keep
building their businesses, imbuing enough resources for their kids to go to
school and the communities to be alive; certain amounts are for the
scholarships specifically speaking, whereas there can also be food programs
supporting those who go hungry, projects financing ladies who would still have
to endure menstruations without sanitary pads and/or even the curbing of FGM
(female genital mutilation); plantations to offer more nutrients for the locals
never stop, particularly with larger and larger amounts of land cultivated for
crops feeding more people. The scopes are large throughout the years.
Therefore, when it comes to very specific
amount goes to where, I find it overwhelmingly challenging to describe, though
that peacefulness in me is standing strong. One is due to the fact I am not
skillful in bookkeeping. More importantly, though, would be that I am very
aware that yearly, out of my own pocket I would be financially supporting these
projects with a few times more than the money directly handed to me for better
works to be done there, or, like this time, those who’ve travelled with us have
left around a few thousand USD in total to be utilized for our continual
efforts in places like east Africa. Always, I remember on the books I have read
that there are wealthy businesspersons donating the same amount when there’re more
“financially ordinary” people giving away a certain amount: this is called
MATCH. In this sense, there are those who would like to give away what they own
when they are inspired by those who do not have their finances as large as
possible to boast, so they MATCH with what these people without such financial
means in terms of donation.
As for me, I know that I am always
playing or performing MATCH with even people whom I do not see in person, for
almost always, I would choose to give away far more than all the amount I have
received. I am not an individual of financial means, yet I know by not drinking,
like that colleague of mine visiting me, two to three cups of coffee daily from
some very famous restaurants, or others like this colleagues who enjoy purchasing
bags or clothes with their prices quite high, daily, I consciously save quite a
lot for such contributions I can make to make the world a better place. Most importantly,
though, I do not think I am aiming at people’s money when it comes to their visiting
places with us, with me, the person whose English name is Hope, or Hao-Pu, for
in the end, such donations, such money, would flow to those who have dire needs;
what I care about would be these people’s psychological wellbeing, and how I may
be the catalyst fuming their compassionate spirits to be higher and higher so
that we all learn to love ourselves truly while giving away, making the others
feel they are loved.
In a way, YES, I feel liking HELPING EVERY
PERSON I see, and even those whom I do not yet know. I feel that through me,
there are many things to be shared, based on the nutrients I have received from
thousands of individuals landing at my heart and soul: those foreign guests
invited by our government to visit Taiwan, many of them, each and every year,
some of them from quite prestigious backgrounds scattering at different parts
of this global village; those who used to be my passengers; those who are
dwellers of various places of this world; those whom I have met when I’ve
worked at different places, …etc. This form of HELP may be a very inner one, or
it can be of the material side, as when I see a learner fidgeting, I see this
person’s parents; when I observe a person being snobbish, I feel that his/her heart
is crying; when I notice a person working in the service industry not pleasant
enough to welcome his/her customers, I am aware s/he experiences something
tough bothering him/her, …etc. I remember those days I searched for the
homeless and/or elderly living alone at the heart of Taipei, presenting them
with red envelops containing money. Also, I recall many chance encountering between
me and vendors selling flowers, chewing gums, stationaries on the streets where
I offer them the cash I have with me. On top of all these, though, I recognize
the pains and troubles people go through, from all the students, young and old,
I have taught, be them working inside their offices, retired, or have not
joined proper education yet.
Generally, I see that every person has
that motivation to be willing to learn; not every person, however, has that opportunity
to learn well enough so they are aware of the secret of “It is better giving
than receiving.” Like what some social scientists have reported, people enjoy
working tightly with those around them, so when those around them trigger a
system like transporting child labor or child soldier, they doubtlessly become
such labors, soldiers, or those working to train them. Similarly, when an
environment filled with harmony and warmth is offered, souls are nourished,
worldviews are expanded, and actions of generosity are performed. For someone
like me who have had the opportunities to meet financially wealthy families
ever since I was little, that those kids wanted to be with my friends because my
performances were something they could not attain, such as the student
representative to speak on behalf the student body, I have learned that prices
needed to be paid in order to be financially well off or famous can be higher
than our imaginations. Shockingly, I have noticed, most of the time, the more
income a family has, the lesser amount energy their children would like to put
into hard work which includes academic excellences. Certainly when a person is
more mature, academic advancement can be with little significance; nevertheless,
for someone who cannot even know who s/he is, to excel academically means more
cultivated peers to socialize with, and that make a huge difference.
In fact, I am more and more aware with
whom we socialize can truly result the ways we are, like the environment where
child labors or child soldiers are involved. When we spend more and more time
with those who are positive, who look at the silver lining of things, we clear
our thoughts and look for something good to be done. Equally, when we look up
to those who are kind and execute actions of kindness, generations following us
learn to go with us, doing similar things. Not surprisingly, many have told me
that by spending more time with me, they are richer financially speaking—it is
through truly caring for the others, our wealth inside out is accumulated, and
the most astounding fortune of all the fortunes in the world is the kind of
heart and mind to do good to the others, in my humble opinions.
Perhaps there are monks and nuns facing
the four walls to advance their skills in practicing compassion. For me, though,
the tasks are almost always at places where many people and/or animals dwell. Through
thousands of souls I learn that when people chase after pleasures, funs, more
pleasures and funs, people feel even more tiresome due to the fact the void of
meanings gnaw the persons’ willpowers. These may be one of the major reasons
that in ancient China, there is a saying which goes “Top Managers Are Rare.”
千軍易得，一將難求
Daily, we are uncertain how our attitudes
affect our entire existences, so we’ve got this kind of experiences all the
time, that we are somewhere to spend certain money of ours, for an exchange of
a form of service, commodity, or even both, when we find the sales, owners, and/or
clerks there working inside that particular place to be in unpleasant spirits,
be those upset, displeased, poignant, and so on. Upon stating this, I remember
from time to time, when I am at, for example, a fancy restaurant, due to some
special invitations, I can even be the person boost the environment there for
those serving us the meal feel more comfortable. This happens at the current
stage. Years ago, when I was a flight attendant, quite a few times there were
passengers writing to the particular airline I worked at, praising me of my demeanors
while serving the others, that
“This flight attendant of yours truly
knows how to make her passengers feel at home. Why can you not train your
flight attendants to be all like her, with the kind of fluency in English, and
that style of hers to reach to every single passenger in the cabin?” By the
time when such comment letters were received, I could be in pathetic situations
working with different cabin crew who believed that the service flow should be as
quickly as possible, nothing else matter, and in my eyes what could be
important, the knowing as many passengers as possible in the section where I needed
to serve, I would be accused by those working side by side with me, specially
those supervisors in the cabin where I served, of being “chatting with passengers
all the time,” which could be considered as squandering our time and energy
while working inside a cabin like that of the economy where hundreds of
passengers sat everywhere, asking for different things, and looked as malicious
as they could be in many other flight attendants’ eyes, since they might feel
that “A lot of them could be trouble makers demanding this and that from us.”
Many years later, I still practice the
same. To tell the truth, when one begins to serve the others, regardless of the
timing, that person is used to the style, and that service can just become
larger and larger. Frankly speaking, one can easily find many of my relations
never are in relation directly to cash—just a few weeks after Sisi talked about
the idea of us visiting Suzhou, Chair Chin informed me she’s going to host a
reunion of a group of top managers she has known, “… because I am touched by
how people’s lives can be different after knowing what your service is like
overseas. I want more people I know become aware of these possibilities.”
Indeed. Life is filled with
possibilities to learn, to grow, to keep learning, and to keep growing. Humbly,
I must confess that to be on this roller coaster ride of learning to give and
giving to learn, I have gained the most, so much so when I cook for a group of
people, just two days or so ago, they unanimously stated the dishes being delicious.
They dived into the dishes and to be very direct, culinary skills would be something
I would like to polish as well. What about forming our “touring events” into
something very artistic, joining the elements I am familiar with, those handmade
stuff domains, with every person, likeminded or not, who is in the wish to
mingle with the others, to weave together, to cook together, to make things
such as artistic paper, candles, and much more together?
Sisi, with her grand visions, like
Jourrina, used to tell me something so beautiful that I feel they are the embodiments
of beauty themselves, alongside with Chair Chin and all those whom she and the
others have linked me with. In reality, there are just so many good people,
those who are here to warn, teach, and be angry with me so I can grow a lot
more in my life that I can only laugh more when I sing more.
“You’ve records of successfully pulling
different things, which is why people view you as a trusted brand.” A wise
friend used to say these words to me. That is why when Sisi sent us the videos of
her granddaughter, stating that she would like this little girl to be a smaller
version of Hope, I was laughing, for I am very aware that with the right
environment, everyone, anyone, is thriving to catch the stars at places a lot
loftier than those I can reach! And for wherever I’ve been, I am grateful to
all who have jointly train me to receive the form of on-job training so I can
better assist those who’re in need, inward and/or financial situation-wise.
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