(Minghui.org) I grew up in a poor family. After I finished middle school, I lived with my married older sister and her family. They eventually got tired of taking care of me and arranged a marriage for me when I was 20 years old.
My husband was a drunk and didn’t like to work. Sometimes he would beat me after he drank. We often fought. After our daughter was born, I had to go get a job to keep us afloat. I worked very hard but didn’t take care of myself or eat right. After a while, my health deteriorated. I had hypotension, vertigo, and severe stomach pains.
I Take Up Falun Dafa
My life changed in July 2004. I told a friend at work that my breasts hurt and I was afraid that it might be cancer. I worried about my daughter if something were to happen to me. She suggested that I sincerely recite the following words, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” telling me that it would help with my ailments.
I was stunned and looked at her in disbelief. At the time I was fooled by the Chinese regime’s propaganda and believed that Falun Dafa practitioners were not to be trusted. Then I had second thoughts and told myself that I should believe my friend. She was a very nice and kind person, was never picky about her work assignments, and never fought with anyone.
She told me that Falun Dafa was nothing like what was said on the state-run television stations – the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) mouthpiece – continually broadcasting false news about Falun Dafa. She brought me a DVD the next day with information about Falun Dafa and the persecution. After watching the videos on the disc, I was shocked by how the CCP staged the self-immolation incident as a ploy to frame Falun Dafa.
My friend explained to me in great detail about the persecution. That night I lay down and couldn’t stop thinking about the three words, “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance,” and how wonderful they are.
I began to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” and in four days, my breasts stopped hurting. I was exhilarated. From then on I became a practitioner and started reading the Falun Dafa books.
I stopped arguing with my husband. My antisocial and dark personality disappeared. I became outgoing and cheerful. A friend who hadn’t seen me for a long time said that my cheeks had become rosy and my skin smooth. Seeing all the positive changes I underwent, my daughter encouraged me to practice despite the ongoing persecution.
Persevering Amid Difficulties
My husband eventually divorced me because of an affair, leaving me with almost nothing. My daughter lived with me; I had to pay the rent and her tuition with no help from my ex-husband.
All my relatives knew that I was poor and in difficulty and didn’t want to have anything to do with me. I felt that I could barely breathe with all the pressure on my shoulders. But I continued to read the Dafa books, and gradually, I could see things in a positive light again. I don’t know what I would have done without Falun Dafa.
I resented my ex-husband when we got divorced, but the teachings of Falun Dafa have guided me along the way. I was able to stop hating him and could actually greet him when I ran into him.
My grudge against my ex-husband was gone but my daughter still bore a grudge against her father. This year, she bought everyone presents for the holidays, except him. I told her that she shouldn’t do this, because he is her father and that she should remember how nice he used to be. I was able to persuade her, and she bought him a present.
That night she told me, “Mother, you are right. Dad was so happy.”
Safe Harbor
In order to save money, I ate very poorly. I barely ate meat or fresh vegetables and had mostly porridge with pickles or corn. Others might think that I would definitely be malnourished and in poor health after being on such a poor diet. But that hasn't been the case at all. I haven't been sick in the past dozen years, and I have all the energy I need for work.
Someone once made fun of me and the practice, “Why practice Falun Gong? Can you use it to make money?”
Seeing so many around me spending so much money to cure their illnesses, I can only imagine how much I have saved, or earned, through the practice.
At work I never was picky about the job I did and never spoke ill of others. Later my boss closed down the business and referred me to a similar job. My new boss had a rule that the first month’s salary would be delayed until the second month, so that people wouldn't leave after a month. But he didn’t apply this rule to me because my former boss spoke so highly of me.
I had to work with a newcomer for the same salary. She did very little and I had to do most of the hard jobs. I reassured my new boss that I wouldn’t fuss about it and I kept my promise, never complaining.
I was always at work early to finish the harder projects or the more urgent assignments. After a while, the new person felt bad and thanked me for all I did for her. I could never have been this kind or tolerant if I hadn’t practiced Falun Dafa. After a while my new boss trusted me completely and entrusted to me the key to the warehouse, with goods worth millions of dollars.
Falun Dafa has turned a weary, sad person like me into a happy, positive and healthy person. The best choice I made in this life was to become a Dafa practitioner. Finally, an aimless boat sailing on the sea of bitterness came to dock in the harbor of blessings.
