(Minghui.org) I used to suffer from a variety of illnesses, including severe anemia, gynecological diseases, and insomnia, which made me feel weak all day long. Life was a living hell. Everything around the house and our farmland had to be tended by me.
I had severe stomach pains in the summer of 2003. I tried all manner of treatment, but nothing helped. I was confined to bed for about five days. I didn't eat, and couldn't sleep. I was nearing the limit of my endurance, but my child was still young and needed me.
My aunt once tried to get me to practice Falun Dafa. I remember her telling me that it's powerful, and had improved the health of many people. So I went to her house and told her I wanted to learn the practice.
She lent me the book Zhuan Falun. I began reading it as soon as I got home. I hadn't slept for several days. By the time I got to page 80, I felt a little tired and dozed off for a while. When I awoke, I continued reading it. It took me one-and-a-half days to finish the book.
I knew the book taught people to be good. But, after reading it for the second and third time, I learned more about the true meaning of life.
The people around me witnessed the power of Dafa because, in less than two months, all my illnesses had disappeared and I was energetic again.
Ever since I started practicing Falun Dafa, my world view changed. I became a good person by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and got on very well with my in-laws. People envied us for having such a happy family.
My Husband's Mistress and His Misdeeds
Everything seemed to be going well after I started to practice Falun Dafa. For example, out of six times that our village was told to expropriate land, we experienced it five times. The compensation fee was several hundreds of thousands of yuan. My husband had a team of construction workers who made lots of money from the expropriation. People envied us, and I also felt proud.
There was a widow in the village who was a good friend of ours. Her husband and my husband had been close friends. Ever since he had an accident and passed away, my husband took care of things around her home, and I also visited her frequently, bringing food to her and her children.
After several years, someone told me that my husband was often seen with the widow. I found it hard to believe. So, when he came home I asked him about it. He said, “Everyone in the village knows except you. I feel guilty about it. I'm sorry. Well, now that you know, let's get a divorce.”
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. From then on, he seldom came home.
I discovered a deposit slip for 100,000 yuan in the widow's name. One day my husband came home and said he needed 30,000 yuan for a bidding project. Shortly after that, he wanted another 50,000 yuan, but he didn't say what for. I didn't ask, and wasn't concerned about it. He took all our savings, and I still didn't get suspicious. Now, I understood that he had given the money to the widow.
I couldn't imagine how he could do this. I thought about holding on to the deposit slips as evidence for filing a divorce. I also thought of showing them to our children when they grew up, to let them see what their father was like, and how much suffering their mother went through.
I later found another deposit slip for 100,000 yuan in her name. The pain in my heart had reached the limit. I wanted to confront her and embarrass her in front of everyone so that she couldn't lift her head in the village. Then I would divorce my husband.
But I'm a cultivator. Should I really be doing this? I needed to calm my mind.
Master said,
“Things will work out well if you are always compassionate and good to others, thoughtful towards people, and handle whatever situations you get into with people by first pausing to consider how well your actions will go over with the other party and whether anyone will be hurt by them. You should hold yourself to high standards and raise the bar still further as you practice.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I started to let go of my grudges, and no longer wanted to fight with them. I also shared my thoughts with fellow practitioners, which helped me to calm down.
Occasionally, when my husband did come home, I talked to him with my understanding of the Fa. I said, “What you're doing is against your conscience and heavens principles. Whatever is passed, let it pass. I won't quibble over it. Honestly, I hope you will think of our children and our family. Please come back.”
Treating My In-laws Kindly
Although my husband didn't change his behavior, I still treated him and his family well.
My in-laws were getting old, and in order to better help my mother-in-law, I went to her home to take care of her. I asked her to advise her son that he should change his ways for the sake of our children.
She said, “It's all because you practice Falun Dafa. You are too easy to take advantage of, so he bullies you. If you beat him every day, see if he'd dare to continue behaving this way? I can't do anything now. I think you'd better run off with your kids.”
Her words offended me, but with the Fa in my mind, I said to her, “It's precisely because I practice Falun Dafa that I don't file for a divorce, and that I treat your family nicely. Why do you still tell me to leave?”
She fell silent, so I left.
She called my name repeatedly, and said, “It's them who are wrong. Please don't leave. Don't leave this home!”
When I later spoke to one of the neighbors, they said, “Your husband and his mother treat you badly, but you still treat them with such decency. That shows how good Falun Dafa is! It's their good fortune to have you as a daughter-in-law.”
My mother-in-law is diabetic and has high blood pressure. She usually has to be hospitalized several times a year. When she broke her leg last year, I went to visit her frequently. Before she recovered, my father-in-law had a stroke and passed away. Her children had to take turns to take care of her, but my husband said he couldn't go because he was busy at work.
So when it was our turn, I did everything that she needed help with, including helping her in the bathroom, washing her clothes, cooking, and taking her out in a wheelchair. I told her stories about traditional culture and got her to recite, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is good.” She soon recovered.
Both my husband and mother-in-law were very touched, seeing my sincerity in caring for her. My husband said gratefully, “I'm really thankful for what you've done.”
“If I didn't practice Falun Dafa, I wouldn't have treated your family like this,” I replied. “It's my Master that taught me to be considerate of others. Don't thank me. You should really thank my Master.”
My husband's physical body isn't home, but his heart has returned. He takes care of everything around the house, and I don't need to worry about anything.
I held myself to high standards all these years, and it is Dafa that gives me the great and forbearing heart to support this broken family.
Falun Dafa has taught me how to be a good person, one that is noble and has no complaints.
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Category: Improving Oneself