I love all the unexpected twists in this. And it’s very beautifully written and sobering.

> the most important thing was to find xin fu in life, not to live your life in accordance to the expectations of anyone else

That is why I write all of my code in uncommented C. Your expectation of a maintainable program that doesn’t segfault all the time is just your expectation.

> he wasted his entire life, my mom said

In some ways, she did too by listening to her mother and not just getting divorced as she had wanted to. But I recognize that going against your family’s core beliefs is easier said than done.

There is no path without some things missed, or regretted. Some people will always see the regrets, some will always see the positives.

That it is any other way is just something we tell ourselves to try to provide more foresight or potential meaning than is really available.