Chill with style
If you're too tired, take a short break, chill just enough, like a gentle comma in the long essay of life, don't turn chill into a period.
"Chill with style" is an inspiring phrase I recently heard on a popular podcast from a media outlet. The person who defined "chill with style" was Mr. Hoang Nam Tien, Vice Chairman of the FPT University Board of Directors. After hearing it, observing and reflecting on the young people around me, I gained a lot of insight…
"Chill" is an English noun meaning coldness or indifference; however, in everyday contexts, young people today often use "chill" to express relaxation, leisure, letting go, and leaving behind the worries of life. "Chill" appears in many situations: "The scenery here is so chill!"; "I'm so tired, chilling is the cure!"; "My chill corner every morning"; "Just chill, don't think too much"; "Life is short, take advantage of chilling"...
There's nothing wrong with relaxing. In the hustle and bustle of life, filled with the pressures of studying and working, people need to unwind, focus on nurturing their inner selves, and find balance in their minds. Relaxing a little allows you to recharge your energy and continue facing the realities of life. Relaxing just enough helps you learn to love yourself, to comfort and soothe the wounds and setbacks of life. Relaxing is like a gentle rest on a long journey, a quiet time to reflect on the past and determine the next steps for the future.
But no matter how much you chill, always remember that chilling isn't the purpose of life. In reality, today's youth are immersed in chilling: living carefree to the point of apathy, living aimlessly without thinking about tomorrow, content with a limited reality without the motivation to strive for improvement, living selfishly for themselves without wanting to be burdened by anything… Chilling isn't an excuse for young people to lie lazily in bed all day, neglecting household chores, ignoring social injustices, spending hours scrolling through TikTok and Facebook, taking hundreds of photos and dedicating their youth to editing and retouching them online to gain likes and live a virtual life. Chilling isn't an excuse to think, "At worst, I'll go back to my hometown/ I'll raise fish and grow vegetables…", giving up whenever they encounter difficulties in their studies or work, going back to their mother's care, eating three meals a day, wearing the same clothes all day, living a meaningless, idle life, and contributing nothing to society. Chill doesn't mean letting yourself drift aimlessly, with a "whatever happens, happens" attitude, letting things take their course.
Young people who are still chilling like that should wake up, get up, find a book to read, find a job to do. Life is about working – manual labor is fine, and intellectual work is also good. If you're too tired, take a short break, chill just enough, like a gentle comma in the long essay of life, don't turn chill into a period.
Returning to the inspiring phrase: Chilling with style. Speaker Hoang Nam Tien cited examples of stylish chilling that he greatly admired. One group of students dedicated their weekends to charitable projects: organizing book donations for remote villages; teaching literacy to homeless children; Helping out at orphanages… There are young people who contribute to community projects using their expertise, abilities, and talents, such as designing patterns for craft groups for people with disabilities, advising on tree planting and reforestation in the "Green Living" project, practicing hashtags like "10 days of house cleaning" or "1 month of reading 5 books"… When young people immerse themselves in these activities, separate from the rhythm of daily life, they find relief from pressure and stress, and the feeling of usefulness from their small actions evokes a rare sense of satisfaction and peace, helping them look deep into their own selves, understand who they are, what they need, and what they can do to make life more beautiful. That's chilling with style, chilling usefully, chilling with value.
Casual chilling and stylish chilling are both forms of chilling, but the difference lies in the choices made. No one has the right to judge your life, but no one can help you live it well either. Therefore, how your life turns out—whether good or bad, success or failure—all depends on your choices. So, before you start chilling, perhaps you should pause for a second to confirm to yourself that it's the right choice for your life!
