Looking at Xiaojun asking such a question, I smiled and didn't answer immediately.

Not long ago, I visited my classmates Xiao Ai and Xiao Jun in Beijing. Now they are married and have a lovely daughter who is just full moon.

After graduation, they stayed in the imperial capital Beijing. Because their family background is not very good, life in big cities is also difficult. They just made up the down payment some time ago and settled in remote Gu 'an.

I learned something about their lives from the conversation.

Xiao Ai has been working in a children's English training and education institution with a salary of 4,000 yuan, which has not changed for two years. Xiaojun found a lot of jobs under the strong pressure of survival. He once co-founded a biopharmaceutical company with others, but eventually failed because of poor capital turnover.

Now I work in a construction company with a monthly salary of over 10,000 yuan. He only gets paid once at the end of the year. He is facing the high mortgage and the pressure of life in Beijing, especially his newly born daughter, whose life is still a little tight.

Nevertheless, he has gained a lot in these years of struggle. He still has dreams and is indomitable.

He once asked me, "What is your dream?" I said I wanted to be a writer.

I asked him again, "What is your dream?"

When he mentioned his dream, his calm eyes suddenly flashed. He said: "My dream is to stay in Beijing. I hope I can succeed in starting a business and live the life I want. When our family walks down the street and wants to eat, we can walk into a restaurant at will without worrying about whether the price of this restaurant is too expensive for us to consume before entering the door. "

He knew that after I left Beijing, I went back to my hometown and found a job in the neighborhood Committee with low salary and no future and development. In the eyes of others, this is just a muddling job.

So he asked me, "Are you going to waste your life in such a small place?"

I smiled and didn't answer him immediately. I reflected on the experience of the past two years.

Wandering alone in Beijing after graduation, I don't have strong ability and enough self-confidence, and I can't even get a glamorous college diploma and a beautiful resume.

After graduation, I decided not to accept the relief from my parents, so I went to interview for a job in English customer service in the catering industry and went to work the next day.

Our company is run by a strict New Zealand foreigner. Although the company is small, it operates in strict accordance with the company's rules and regulations.

Everything from personal development to eating and dressing is strictly controlled by the system. I don't like this system of managing death, but in order to have a mouth to eat, I have been insisting.

Although life is not easy, I always have gratitude and hope in my heart. I always insist on reading and writing in my spare time and never give up my dream.

Later, for some reasons, I had to go back to my hometown, an ordinary and quiet town.

When I first came back, I was wondering whether I should go north again and continue drifting north, or wander in other big cities. Or, stay and face a land that is no longer familiar with the changes of time, an unknown world.

I am not afraid of the hardships and loneliness of drifting north. These years of studying and living abroad have been my real stage of rapid growth and independence. I cherish and appreciate this experience.

I am not afraid to stay, because in the face of the unknown world, I have found my own center, not confused or confused.

But I thought of my elderly parents and the lack and loneliness of affection in the distance over the years.

I also know that people who travel alone should not care too much about their parents. After all, we have grown up and have our own way to go, but this kind of affection that blood is thicker than water is my most painful weakness and my greatest helplessness.

So, I chose to stay. Fortunately, I still have hopes and dreams in my heart.

I made a plan for myself soon and got used to it soon. I still insist on reading and writing, getting closer to my dream step by step.

After adapting to life here, I even have more time to read and write. I suddenly feel that maybe this kind of life is what I want and is more suitable for me.

At this time, I found that your development is not contradictory to your family, and your dreams are not necessarily related to where you are.

These years, whether in Beijing or in my hometown, I have always been like this, with dreams and hopes, and I have worked hard to persist.

For most people, there are many opportunities in big cities, people's horizons are broad, their development is relatively good, and their values and dreams are relatively easy to realize.

But for me, small places have warm human feelings. As long as I work hard, I can get good development in small places. People always have to stay in a place that suits them.

Whether life is happy or not and whether it is successful or not is not judged by other people's eyes.

Everyone has the right to choose, choose the lifestyle that suits him or wants, and go through his life according to his own will rather than the ideas of most people.

Some people sharpen their heads and try their best to squeeze into big cities, while others are indifferent to fame and fortune and live in remote mountain villages.

If that world doesn't belong to you, what's the point of you squeezing in? The most important thing in life is to be happy, comfortable, valuable and meaningful, and follow your heart.

Erdong is such a hermit who obeys his inner choice and lives by the mountain.

With his talent and philosophical mind, he can go to more places, see more scenery and live a life that most people look more ideal in big cities.

However, he thought the world was too impetuous, so he went to Zhong Nanshan to live in seclusion and lead a leisurely life, plowing and studying in the rain. He is accompanied by flowers, trees, birds and animals in the mountains, his captive poultry and three pet dogs all day. Life is also easy.

I can't eat all the fresh vegetables and fruits planted in each season, and they are all natural, pollution-free and healthy.

In his book Living by the Mountain, he summed up the interesting things in this mountain, his life experience in seclusion in the mountain and the thoughts and feelings touched by his life in the mountain, with photos of his daily life taken in the mountain. ?

The mountains are full of scenery, and the clear blue sky and vibrant branches bring people a lot of reverie and emotion. ?

Someone once said to him:

His answer is:

Perhaps in his mind, it is his dream to live in seclusion in the mountains like this. With his persistence and hard work, he realized his dream in a remote mountainous area and enriched his life.

I also know such a teacher, Xu.

She said: "My dream is to start my own business. I want the girls to understand that you can live well alone. "

She is just a girl in a third-tier town. Like me, she has experienced the struggle of staying in a big city or returning to a small place.

Later, for some reason, she chose to return to her hometown. However, her life has not been overshadowed by this, and she has never forgotten her dreams.

She has been exposed to the English training industry before. After coming back, with the limited resources in her hand, she bravely and decisively recruited and formed a team to develop in a small place when the English training industry was still immature.

Originally, it was a team, but there were actually two or three people at the beginning. Later, the two men couldn't hold on, and they both became deserters, so she had to try to find other partners.

Of course, this period is very hard. She wears several hats and forgets to eat and sleep. She not only substitutes for her own classes, but also trains the team with better teaching methods and skills, and leads the team to publicize and expand students everywhere ... But in the end, her efforts have not been in vain, her dream has come true, and people are deeply impressed by girls like her.

She now has her own training company of nearly 400 people and more than a dozen chain training schools.

There is no pressure in her life now, but she still doesn't give herself a chance to relax.

She is busy training and lecturing everywhere, being a teacher, being a school leader, being a parent, trusting her and giving her children at ease. In fact, she is optimistic, cheerful and confident, and really trustworthy.

She also disseminates the excellent teaching methods she painstakingly summarized in the training lectures, and answers questions for other teachers.

In addition, she also set up special training for female friends to teach them to learn English, help them regain their confidence and encourage them to be brave.

Today, her business has become more extensive. Not only do many schools buy counseling materials directly from her, but she also keeps pace with the times and starts learning activities in winter and summer vacations.

I watched her take her children to play and study around the world in a circle of friends. Her happy and confident smiling face in the photo once again convinced me that the stage is as big as my heart. How far is the dream, how far is the footsteps.

As long as you have a dream and keep working hard, you can shine even in a small place.

Once again, I went back to the question posed by Xiaojun at the beginning:

"Are you going to stay in a small place and waste your life?"

I thought for a moment and answered with a smile:

"As long as you have dreams, hopes and unremitting efforts, you will shine in a small place!"

Staying in a small place is not a waste of life, at least I have my own dreams, at least I am trying. Life is meaningful everywhere, the key is to look at yourself!