"Even if we go back, we'll still reach each other eventually."
It's okay to wander and waver
Because everyone has their own season

★★ First essay by Kim A-young, winner of the Korea Broadcasting Journalists Award
★★ The book was born from the requests of countless readers.

The first essay by Kim A-young, former MBC reporter and winner of the Korea Broadcasting Journalists Award.
His life was a series of twists and turns.
He ran forward, obedient to the world's voice telling him to climb higher, and became a flight attendant, but soon quit his job despite everyone's opposition.
And I ran hard again to achieve my long-time dream of becoming a journalist.
When I became a reporter for 8 years, I suddenly realized something.
The fact that I've been running away from so much in life.
I ran away, abandoning the novels, ice cream, dramas, and time to organize my day by taking a slow walk, but every day was an unhappy day.


One day, in the place I ran away from, I realized what I truly wanted and where happiness in life comes from.
So he started walking to find his happiness again.
This book contains Kim A-young's journey to find happiness.
For those who are running to survive today and those who are so exhausted that they want to just sit down, this book will be a 'map to happiness.'

Could it be that humans cannot see themselves because it is God's will for them to look more closely at others?
Sometimes, you notice the other person's sadness and comfort them, and sometimes, instead of being absorbed in yourself, you look at the other person and find something to learn.
I searched for the puzzle of life in the faces of the people I met on my travels.
--- p.18 From “Wandering is written, but growth is read”

For me, life has been a series of hardships.
The time spent trying piles up and eventually leads to death.
That was life.
I struggle for my reputation, I struggle for my livelihood, I struggle for my health… .
There should be happiness at the end, but strangely enough, there was mostly unhappiness.
It feels like the important things have slipped away and only the superficial ones remain.
…I was just a common animal, living every day to win the competition, to get ahead of someone, to pass by without a second thought, to avoid having cobwebs in my mouth.
When I look back carefully at the goal I worked so hard for, it was happiness.
But I was definitely more unhappy than ever.
--- pp.67-68 From "The More I Struggled to Be Happy, the Further I Fell from Happiness"

He answered with a smile.
An old gentleman with shining eyes at the age of seventy-seven.
His calling was still in progress, and his fortunes in life were far higher than mine.
Maybe my friends and I were pressured to find our calling at too early an age.
The time to find one's calling comes differently for each person.
Flowers are always ready to bloom beautifully.
--- p.130 From “A flower is a flower no matter when it blooms”

At that moment, the pieces of life I had missed began to slowly appear.
These are scenes that passed by so quickly when I was running at 100 kilometers that they were captured blurrily in my eyes.
The call from my parents after work, who were always complaining about how tired they were, the look on my husband's face when he was upset that I didn't take him to the new restaurant that opened in front of our house...
I always said “later” and turned away, thinking, “I have more important things to do.”
A thought suddenly occurred to me as I looked at them.
'What will I look like at the end of my life?' I thought about it and saw myself standing there with deep wrinkles on my face.
By that time, even dermatologists' machines would not be able to remove wrinkles.
In that future day, when my appearance, which I took great care of morning and night, will no longer be important, my job, the world's evaluation, and the clothes I wear may not be as important as they are now.
--- p.162 From "Today I picked up the 4 o'clock afternoon I had lost"

As we live, there are times when people cause us indelible scars in life.
At times like that, I swear I'll never trust anyone again and I distance myself from them.
Nevertheless, there is something I believe in.
Humans are strongest when they are with other humans.
That you must love without getting tired.
That is the only way we can survive.
I still firmly believe in that one thing.

--- p.204 From “Hot Solidarity Blooming in the Fire”