The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck--Chapter Four

1 Questions

1) Use three sentences to describe Onoda's story.

Onoda, a solder served in Japanese Imperial Army, who was given the orders to fight at all costs and to never surrender. As a loyal solder, he follows the orders for thirty years and doesn't be persuaded by the leaflets, which tell him the war is over. After being found by Suzuki, an adventurous Japanese man, Onoda goes back to Japanese, things are quite the opposite compared with what he used to believe, in this case, he leaves Japan and move to Brazil until he dies.      

2) What can we learn from the Rock Star Problems?

Your values and metrics really matter and can decide who you will be in the future.

3) Can you name some values that you hold dear?

Be yourself, and do the right things.

4) Do you have any good/bad values stated in the book? How those values affect your life?

I used to care about the frequency of contact between my best friends and I. I used to believe that having a more-than-an-hour phone call at least once a month means we are intimate friends. Consequently, it was super time-consuming and literally became a burden to me. 

2 Expressions

And there's no positive way to spin in.

最近读Charlotte's Web里常能遇到spin这个单词，当然意思与这句话中所表达的含义不同。

spin还表示：to make thread from wool, cotton, etc. by twisting it; to produce thread from its body to make a web or cocoon. 

e.g. A spider is spinning a web. 

This, in a nutshell, is what 'self-improvement' is really about.

In a nutshell menas to say or express sth in a very clear way, using few words.

e.g. To put it in a nutshell, she nailed a victory in the competition.

Such questions are important because they illuminate what we consider success or failure. 

Illuminate means to make sth clearer or easier to understand.

e.g. His writings illuminate what he believes. 

这个词虽然认识它的含义，但并不会使用。如果是我写这句话，我可能会用explain，或者其他表达方式。这个词还有照明，装饰的意思。

3 Thoughts 

I resonate with what the author mentions about the story between he and his brother. I used to view the frequency and length of contact as the core value of friendship. Connecting with friends regularly is the golden role to measure the friendship. Then, when losing connection with friends, I thought our friendship was not as good as before. However, after reading this chapter, I realize how silly I was. Clearly, even if I don't talk to my best friends for a few days or even months, they still are my best friends. If they don't view me as their best friend just beacue we don't talk to each other regularly, I guess the friendship is not firm enough to maintain.