In Liu Yang’s Outside the Heatwave, he says that when he is suffering tremendous pain, he tells himself:
When I one day look back on my inspirational story, this will be a major highlight.
Or, this moment is bound to become a great story.
This is a kind of narrative therapy, a positive kind of meaning-making and cognitive restructuring. Or, put plainly, it’s self-programming.
I hope I can master this skill fluently in 2026 as well.