© Yoon, Tae-Hun, November 2025

I want to make it clear that this writing reflects only my personal situation and thoughts. As I approach Hee-Soo age—77 next year—I find myself thinking that there are two things I must do every day. First, as my memory slowly fades, I need to keep using my mind. Second, I want to gather pieces of my life so that when I am no longer in this world, my descendants may remember something of who I was. That desire led me to pick up the pen again.

Who am I, truly?
Am I genuinely happy and satisfied with my life?
Do I know myself?
And is the “self” I think I know the real self?

It is said that a person experiences true happiness when body, soul, and spirit share a harmonious unity.
Those who insist that only the physical life matters have no concept of sin, and they will do anything if it benefits the flesh.
Those who emphasize only the soul pursue rationality alone and allow no place for God beyond a scientific framework.
On the other hand, those who seek only the spiritual dimension deny the physical and emotional aspects of humanity, believing that all human affairs are unnecessary.

When Jesus came to this world, He healed our sicknesses and weaknesses.
He restored the man with the withered hand,
He healed the lepers and sent them back into their communities,
and He brought healing to the woman with the issue of blood, the paralytic, and Jairus’s daughter.
Not once did He say, “What use is it to heal this worthless body?”

Jesus desired wholeness for our bodies,
and once healing came, He restored each person back to their family and society.
Then He called them into a spiritual life:
“You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13–14)

1. To find a truly happy self, I must care well for my body.
   (1) When my living conditions decline, I try to eat fresh vegetables and fruits often and maintain regular exercise.
   (2) I strive to be diligent, avoid luxury, and practice frugality.
   (3) I try not to take my body carelessly to unworthy places.
   (4) I aim to keep up with regular physical check-ups, maintain a balanced diet, and rest after excessive labor.
2. To find a truly happy self, I try to care well for my soul.
   (1) I must read many books—classics and autobiographies of great people. By reading lyrical poetry and essays, I broaden my thoughts and discover myself through the experiences of others.
   (2) By listening to good music—hymns, masterpieces, and classical works—I seek to refine and purify my emotions.
   (3) By staying close to nature, I try to sense the presence of the Creator who abides within the order of creation.
   (4) I try to manage my emotions well to preserve my energy. (Emotions are like a swamp—when we become controlled by them, we run toward the non-essential rather than the essential.)
   (5) I continually challenge myself toward self-development, gaining new experience and learning the mature attitudes of the saints.
3. To find a truly happy self, my spirit must run toward God.
   (1) I begin by acknowledging that I am God’s creation.
   (2) I believe my soul is like a virgin forest—so deep and vast that I cannot know or feel all the spiritual treasures hidden within it.
   (3) I believe that Scripture is like a guide that helps us discover and see the treasures of the soul. (Through the Word, God’s prophecies were proclaimed; through the Word, all these prophecies were fulfilled—and are still being fulfilled.)
   (4) Through prayer, a one-on-one conversation takes place between God and me. It is also through prayer that the treasures of the soul become my own.
   (5) The true self within me—created in the image of God—must be honored, loved, and spiritually nurtured. In the past, I claimed that the life given to me by my mother was mine to do with as I pleased. But now, knowing that my life is not my own but carries the image of God, I must learn to treat all that I am as precious.

Knowing that I bear God’s image—and learning to love my neighbors who also bear God’s image—will this not lead me to become a greater self?

This autumn, I ask myself:
“Is there still distance between me and my neighbor?”
“And is my soul truly at peace right now?”

If I cannot answer these questions fully and honestly, perhaps it is because I still do not love myself deeply enough. When my spirit, soul, and body come into unity and harmony in God, then I will be able to live this beautiful autumn with my neighbors—healthy, happy, and almost eternal in its joy.

For today’s life is a poem, written each day by Christ, the Poet of my soul.