三十(30)而立 [Confucius for 30]
子曰：「吾十有五而志於學；三十而立；四十而不惑；五十而知天命；六十而耳順；七十而從心所欲，不踰矩。」
<<論語，為政篇>>
Confucius said, "At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right."
<<Analects, Wei Zheng>>
"....At thirty, I stood firm..."
"What does that supposed to mean?" I asked myself one night while staring blankly at the ceiling over my bed.
Thirty to me is a series of readjustment and repositioning: I finished a long-term relationship (quite dramatically) about six months before turning thirty; re-learn how to live as a single, moved back to live with my parents, made new friends, found new job, and re-examined my life.
Wow, so, here I am; being 30, the "thirty" in "At thirty, I stood firm(ly)...."
I have always been a big fan of Confucius' teachings, and, all of a sudden, I want to know what does that Confucius saying means!
If you try to search the saying "At thirty, I stood firm" in Chinese on the internet, the popular definition is "knowing your position at age thirty."
The word "position" can have many different meaning in Chinese when one refers it as the "position of self." For example, your life goal, who you want to become, personal philosophy/ethics, your way of doing things, etc. In other words, "stood firmly (in life)" points more at being independent at heart, having strength in your soul.
There is a good explanationon the internet,
"Standing firmly at thirty means standing firmly internally; being independent at heart; focus your learning on learning about yourself; building confidence; learn not to fight against external things, but learn how to get along or 'blend' with them. You should no longer talk about conquering 'the mountains' (or goals), but should talk about how the mountains (or the 'impossibles') help you becoming a better person; you should stop talking about stepping over someone or something, but elevating yourself to their heights.
Standing firmly at thirty is not about being successful (like having a house, a great job), but to be independent (mentally); it is about if you can self-reflect, and can be gracefully at ease; have confidence in the things you do; reconcile with your own standards."
I don't know if there are people like me who is on a similar path following this philosophy; but I have to admit, I like this philosophy a lot.
Happy 30, everyone.
三十而立...到底是什麼意思呢?
有一天晚上，我默默的躺在床上思考這個問題。
三十對我而言是一連串人生裡的重新教正。
分手，自己重新過一個人的生活，搬回家住，重新認識新朋友，找新工作，重新審視自己。
我...也終於三十了啊。三十而立的「三十」。
對於孔子一向很有興趣的我，突然很想知道「三十而立」是什麼意思。
目前網路上找得到的解釋普遍指向「在三十歲知道自己的位置」。
位置，有很多種意思: 人生的目標，未來的方向，個人的理念，處事的態度......等。換句話說，「立」這個字指的是心理上的獨立，一種心靈上的堅強。
網路上有一句話說得很好，
「三十而立指的是內在的立,內在的心靈獨立,把一切學習用于自我,心靈建立自信的年紀,不再與很多外在事物對立,而與其融合.不再講對山峰的征服,而講山川對自我的提升;不再講把高山踩在腳下,而講成為山峰上的峰巒。 三十而立不是指外在的社會坐標（比如房子，工作），而是指心靈的獨立，是否有了心靈的內省，并且從容不迫；開始對自己做的事情堅定自信；自己認可了，我一生的所為有什么樣的準則。 」(出處)
我不知道還有沒有人像我一樣走在類似"子曰"的道上，但其實，還滿不賴的。
祝大家三十快樂。