Invite yourself

 　　When you see your child grow taller, do you secretly feel a sense of relief? Your child is grown up; not only do you no longer need to worry about their little things, but you also have another friend in the family—how wonderful! Until one day, your child's views clash with yours, and you realize that truly grown-up children can no longer be your friends. The sign of their growth is that they are increasingly distant from you in appearance, voice, and thought. At that moment, you secretly breathe a sigh of relief, thinking it's time to rest, but also feel a secret sense of loss. Your child no longer needs your much attention and worry, and a large empty space has appeared in your life that was once centered around them—you don't know what to fill it with.

　　You recall a sentence you recently saw: How can middle age not be lonely!

　　How can middle age not be lonely! Besides work and earning money, even your spouse, sitting across from you with a bowl of rice, has reduced their sentences to one, two, or three words.

　　In middle age, you may become a person of few words. Your children are far away, your parents are old, your siblings are scattered across the country and rarely gather, and what about those around you? You know many people, but who are your friends?

　　Each stage of life has its own friendships, but those who accompany you now are not the faces of the past. Tomorrow, who knows who I'll lose, or who I'll meet?

　　The love that was once so profound has faded, the familiar faces have blurred. Time flies, forcing people to rush about, weary from the storms of life. After weighing priorities, the first to be neglected, indifferent, and shelved are those we thought could be put aside for now. Little did we know, that shelving them would mark the first step in estrangement. No one will stand still for you forever; no aspect of life allows them to. When you want to contact them again, you realize that you've lost touch with friends since some point, from some farewell. You keep that number in your phone book, unwilling to delete it. But one day, when you try to dial it, the other person's question, "Who is this?" stifles your excited call, and the tone softens, a forced, lighthearted "Nothing, just checking if you're busy," and the number is gone forever.

　　No one is truly yours forever except yourself!

　　Learn to talk to yourself, accompany yourself, be your own friend forever!

　　Loving yourself is incredibly important. When I wake up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, gazing at the moon, the moon hangs high and cold outside my window. She doesn't want to know your secrets; the one who understands you, the one who stays with you, is another you in her heart .

　　Life has come full circle; from walking independently to today, it's still my independent heart that walks. Only, my body is thinner.

　　I've almost given away all my love; I've left a little for myself. I raise a glass, to share joys and sorrows.