The issues that made our year

Kind acts reflect core values

Last year, I was lucky enough to interview several really interesting people. They were not officials or experts, and what made them headline stars was that they lived interesting lives in accordance with their values.

They had all persisted with one thing for decades, which brought them constant happiness.

Zhang Xiaoli, a 64-year-old ragman from Aksu prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, has been collecting books from recycling stations for 20 years. It was hard for him to get books during his childhood, so he decided to establish his own library. So far, it has received about 50,000 readers.

Liu Jinghui, a 74-year-old retiree in Changsha, Hunan province, committed himself to doing 1 million good deeds for passengers at the local railway station, such as mending shoes and repairing suitcases or even giving people money to buy tickets. He has done this for 42 years and has four notebooks full of grateful words from passengers he has helped.

The directions and choices they have taken and made collectively show what they value. Another indication of their core values is that they spend most of their time and money on these acts of kindness.

Liu has spent about 120,000 yuan ($17,493) helping travelers and on materials for shoe repairs. Zhang values knowledge and education, and Liu loves helping other people.

They do so because these things bring them happiness, while illustrating their values. I could tell this from their voices and faces.

They look much younger than their real ages, with no excessive fat on their faces, and they sound like new staff members of a company who are always ready to tackle any thorny task with passion.

Successfully finding their values makes them dedicated to kind acts and enriches their spiritual lives.

As a reporter, one of my core interests is discovering different values and presenting the illuminating ones to other people.

It is not easy to copy their way of life, but we can build our own sense of value by remembering the things that bring us most happiness and a sense of achievement, and devoting ourselves to them.