One day in the summer, I was at the temple and watching the pond with the lotuses. Some were already passed the peak of their beauty, others dispersed their petals, and the rest of them were about to bloom. While I was watching those flowers, I remembered my old days. I thought of the past joys and hardships in my life. Whenever I saw flowers withering, my heart ached. However, when I shifted my eyes to the mud beneath the surface of the water, I suddenly realized something. The lotus flowers will eventually wither and die, but most of the flowers’ lives are nurtured in the fertile mud. And next year, the beautiful flowers will bloom again from the mud. I was standing in front of the lotus pond. This is because I see myself in the beauty of the lotuses’ appearance and its way of withering. I was impressed by the lotus because it had the inner power to live strongly.