(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in August 1998. I was illegally sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment after the persecution of Falun Dafa began, and was released in February 2014.
When I was young, I was very spoiled by my father. He was the deputy mayor of our township. Even though I didn't take care of any household chores I was given a generous allowance every month. Everyone who knew us said that I was treated like a princess.
Soon after I got married, however, I was incarcerated for not giving up Falun Dafa. My husband divorced me, and my father passed away while I was imprisoned. After being released, I had to support myself.
Accepting Hardship and Being Tempered
After I was released from prison, my relatives offered to help me open a small business. However, I was afraid that it would consume too much of my time. I only wanted to do the three things well, while being able to support myself. So I declined my relatives’ kind offer.
When looking for a job, I wondered how I could possibly work for someone, follow their orders, or endure their temper. When I looked inward, I realized that I was attached to losing face and afraid of being looked down on by others. I eliminated these attachments.
My first job was in a supermarket. My boss was very tough. Whenever I made a mistake she yelled at me, sometimes in front of customers and other employees. When this happened I did not become upset, because I knew that Teacher was helping temper me.
My brother found a job for me, selling fruit in another supermarket. I was reluctant to take it since it might involve physical labor, but my brother insisted that I take the job. I worked there for two months. The work was physically demanding, and after work I was dirty and tired. I understood that it helped me accept any situation.
I worked very hard, but was still challenged at all times. This experience made me truly feel the hardship of working for someone else. If I hadn't practiced Falun Dafa, I wouldn't have been able to keep up for even one day.
Validating the Fa
I hoped that I could find more time to do things to validate the Fa. Seeing my wish, Teacher arranged another job for me, selling home renovation materials. About a year later, my boss asked me to do marketing. I was very glad.
Many customers bought our products because of my perseverance. They often praised me and said that I was very dedicated. I thought it came naturally because I was a practitioner.
There weren’t many renovation materials marketing personnel in our region. Many store owners asked me to help them promote their products and even offered me money, but I declined them all.
Some store owners wanted me to share our client information with them. I said that I couldn't do that. I told them that I would not do things against my conscience. They all admired my loyalty to my boss. I then took the opportunity to clarify the facts about Falun Dafa and helped them quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations.
My boss is a Christian. I talked to him many times about quitting the CCP, but he always declined. One day I told him that one of my coworkers had grabbed the order my client placed. Since there was a bonus involved, it was hard for him to say anything. I told him that I wasn’t angry and just wanted him to know the situation.
He smiled and immediately said, “You really are a Dafa practitioner, Falun Dafa is wonderful!”
The next time I talked to him about quitting the CCP again, he gladly agreed.
My store once organized a large-scale promotion event with nine other stores, with each store handing out gifts to customers. All of the store employees took the leftover gifts home after the event. One coworker suggested that I take a pillow home. I knew I shouldn’t take it, but I did.
However, I gave my boss the money for the pillow, but he didn't want to take it. I told him that I should not take anything home from our store. When the other employees heard that I did this, they said, “Falun Dafa is truly great! Practitioners have high morals.”
With this job, I had more time to clarify the facts to people, validate Dafa at work, and cultivate myself. My relatives, friends, and colleagues now all support Dafa.
From my experiences I truly feel that Teacher has arranged the path for every disciple. I feel truly fortunate to be a Falun Dafa cultivator and having Teacher guide me.
Teacher said:
“… treasure an opportunity as rare and precious as this” (“Shed the Human Mindset” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress VOL. III)
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
