(Minghui.org) I have a habit of recalling my successes, such as how outstanding my son is or how others envy me for something. I felt satisfied and complacent.

Looking inward, I found an attachment to seeking recognition. I’ve worked in the Chinese Communist Party’s government agencies all my life. Although I have an advanced degree, because the principles I live by are incompatible with Chinese society, my coworkers looked down on me and even discriminated against me. My son, however, did so well that everyone noticed and admired him. This has been the one thing that made me feel proud or that I stood out. I often used this to be recognized by others.

Master said,

“As a cultivator, you cannot conduct yourself based on the standards of everyday people. It is not permitted if you go do things simply because everyday people consider them right. When everyday people say that it is good, it may not necessarily be good. When everyday people say that it is bad, it may not necessarily be bad, either. In an era when moral standards have been distorted, if you tell someone that he is doing something bad, he won’t even believe it! As a cultivator, you must assess things in accordance with the characteristic of the universe. Only then can you distinguish what is genuinely good and what is truly bad.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

Everyday people judge heroes by their successes or failures. People try to be successful by any means necessary. But as a practitioner, this attachment made me do things just to please others and to repeatedly recount my own successes to myself. When I sought recognition, my standard of measurement fell to the level of everyday people.

After I started practicing Dafa, Master rearranged my path in life. By following the Fa, I have swum against the current to assist Master in rectifying the Fa. I shoulder a major historical mission. Dafa disciples play a main role in this historical period. We should all be humble and have dignity. We shouldn’t seek approval from everyday people—we should use the Fa to evaluate ourselves.

I’ve now realized that I didn’t position myself properly among everyday people. Due to my lack of confidence, people discriminated against me and this hindered my ability to save them. I used to think it was their fault, that they were too deeply poisoned from working in the CCP system. But, in fact, the root cause was my own attachment.