As a flight attendant, she flew all around the world. Many people admired her, but her brother teased her as being a woman with no skills at all.

Life is impermanent and the world is full of changes. My family had been scholars for generations on the mainland. However, after he came to Taiwan, my father lost everything in business. When he passed away, he left behind tremendous debts.

When I graduated from junior college, I went to work for China Airlines as a flight attendant. Several years later, my family's financial situation had improved. All my brothers and sisters got bachelor's degrees, and some even got doctorates.

A Squandered Youth

In 1976, I married a businessman in Hong Kong. He was a furniture importer, and we lived a luxurious life. Although we were married for more than ten years, we had no children. I continued to work for the airlines, flying to many places, eating, drinking, playing, and enjoying life.

When I think about those days, I guess I was really spoiled. I had plenty of time to play mahjong and plenty of money to squander. Actually, I wasted too much precious time by sleeping away my life. You could say that I was a dreamer, since that's what I did most of the time.

My younger brother used to tease me. He would say, "As a flight attendant, all you can do is say 'coffee or tea?' What else can you do?" My brother was right. In the past I was like an embroidered pillowcase, with a good-looking exterior but an empty brain. I spent my days maintaining my beauty, and I never thought of learning anything.

One day, I heard some of the other flight attendants talking about Tzu Chi. I started to donate some money now and then and became a member of the foundation. In 1990, my whole life underwent a change, as Sister Li Chia-yin taught me more about Tzu Chi.

I remember once in the Tzu Chi Taipei branch office, Master Cheng Yen gave a lecture to the Tzu Cheng Faith Corps. She said that a doctor's wife came to see her one day, crying bitterly. The woman said her husband had been a good doctor. Except for eating and sleeping, he had served his patients all day, every day. Even if someone knocked on their door in the middle of the night, he would get up to treat the patient. His wife could not accept the fact that such a kind doctor would suddenly pass away in his early fifties. She wept bitterly every day.

The Master told her that since her husband had worked much longer than other people did, he had actually lived longer than ordinary people. The meaning of life doesn't lie in how many years one has lived. It lies in how much one has done. Whether or not one is alive depends on whether one has exercised his abilities. One who has done all that he is capable of doing will be a "dead living person" even after he has passed away, because in people's hearts he's still alive. One who hasn't made good use of his life can only be called a "living dead person" even though he's still alive. So the Master told the woman that her husband had actually lived much longer than others, even though he'd lived only a little more than fifty years, and that she should be happy for him.

What the Master said woke me up. Looking back on the past forty years, what had I done? How much love had I given to others? I felt ashamed to admit that in my forty years I'd been a "living dead person." I had become old without having accomplished anything.

A Few Words Opened Our Hearts

In September 1991, my mother had some misunderstanding with my brother and she angrily moved out of his house. We were all worried and didn't know what to do. As a Tzu Chi commissioner, Sister Chia-yin was very enthusiastic about helping people. She accompanied my whole family to Hualien to visit Master Cheng Yen.

The Master was very kind and compassionate. She listened attentively while my brother dumped out all the garbage in his heart. When he had finished talking, she told him that among all good deeds, filial piety ranks number one. If one cannot respect one's parents, it's useless to do any other good deeds or worship Buddha. Parents are the living buddhas at home. If you don't respect them, who else can you respect? You should not only cultivate your mind through everyday experiences, but also set a go

The Master opened the hearts of my whole family with just a few words. With pleasure, my brother promised to take our mother back home and to look after her.

Back in Taipei, I became more active in Tzu Chi. I attended tea parties, went to the hospital to do volunteer work, took part in chanting "Amitabha" for the dying, and visited poor families. Through these activities, I saw birth, aging, illness and death. Seeing the impermanence and suffering of the world was like looking at myself in a mirror, and this aroused vigilance and gratitude in my heart.

The luxurious life I'd lived in the past made me insatiable. I always wanted more than I'd been given. I frequently quarreled with my husband about money. I thought my life was always missing something, so I was never happy. However, one visit to a poor family had a big impact on me.

Cherish Your Blessings and Give to Others

We went to visit a woman who was receiving long-term care from Tzu Chi. She suffered from a strange disease that made her bones ache with extreme pain and her four limbs atrophy. She could only lie in bed and rely on painkillers to reduce her suffering. She had bedsores and her skin had cankered and stuck to the bedsheet. Her husband had left her, and her mother had to look after her. Not long after, her mother had a stroke. The woman was very lucky to have a kind sister-in-law to take over her mother's job of caring for her.

When we went to see her, she said to us, "The Master is great. I always wished I could follow her in doing charity work, but it's too late now. You are healthy and you have good hands and feet. You should take every opportunity to do good deeds."

That poor old woman was so miserable and helpless, unable to die or live well. What I saw made me realize the significance of appreciating, cherishing and recreating my blessings. Because of this I decided to change my bad habits. I gave up playing mahjong, and I found that there were other things more meaningful than gambling.

My husband saw the change in me, and he was moved to join the Tzu Cheng Faith Corps. Our friends around us also participated in doing Tzu Chi work.