📖 Introduction
Many people silently carry emotional burdens from family conflict, marriage difficulties, resentment toward in-laws, financial stress, loneliness, and overwhelming responsibility. Even while trying their best for their families, emotional exhaustion and pain can gradually build over many years.
This meditation testimonial shares the story of Jae-sook J., a postal service employee who spent much of her life sacrificing herself for her family while carrying deep emotional wounds inside.
After losing her father at a young age, she grew up longing for emotional connection and understanding. Later, as the eldest daughter-in-law in a large family, she faced enormous pressure, financial hardship, criticism from her mother-in-law, marital conflict, and emotional loneliness.
Over time, resentment toward both her mother-in-law and husband deepened so severely that life began feeling like constant warfare. Eventually, the emotional burden became so overwhelming that she collapsed from a cerebral infarction.
Through meditation and deep self-reflection, however, she gradually discovered her own attachment to recognition, approval, pride, and emotional expectations. As she learned to let go of resentment and see others from their perspective, her relationships with her mother-in-law, husband, and family transformed completely.
This meditation testimonial beautifully illustrates how emotional healing, gratitude, forgiveness, compassion, and inner change can restore family relationships and help life feel meaningful again.
💬 Meditation Testimonial: “These Days, Life Finally Feels Worth Living — Only Now Am I Learning How to Truly Live as a Human Being”
By Jae-sook J. | Postal Service Employee
Jae-sook was born as the youngest of eight children — four sons and four daughters.
Even though she grew up surrounded by family, she says she always felt alone.
Her father passed away when she was only seven years old.
Every dawn, her mother would place a bowl of clean water outside and pray anxiously for her children’s future.
Believing she could at least “clear the path” her children walked, her mother would massage her aching shoulders and sweep the roads outside the village before sunrise.
At night, she wove ramie cloth while silently swallowing tears and grief over losing her husband.
Watching her mother suffer, Jae-sook often cried quietly beneath her blanket.
Yet despite having family around her, she never had anyone with whom she could truly share her heart.
🌿 Becoming the Eldest Daughter-in-Law of a Family With Seven Siblings
When she reached marriageable age, a proposal came from a household where she would become the eldest daughter-in-law among seven siblings.
Her older brother warned her:
“Being the eldest daughter-in-law in a family like that is not something just anyone can handle.”
But she felt hopeful instead.
Because her future in-laws were relatively young, she dreamed of receiving the parental love she had missed growing up.
She also wanted to care for her husband’s siblings as though they were her own younger brothers and sisters.
So she married with sincere determination and did her best to live according to her in-laws’ wishes.
But no matter how hard she tried, she always felt inadequate in the eyes of her mother-in-law.
About twenty years into marriage, her father-in-law — the pillar who had supported the family — passed away.
Because her mother-in-law was physically weak, the family brought her to live with them.
But grieving the loss of her husband, the mother-in-law struggled deeply and gradually became dissatisfied with nearly everything around her.
Eventually, she began saying things like:
“I married into poverty at sixteen, gave birth to seven children, and worked myself to the bone raising and educating them — only for the daughters-in-law to enjoy the rewards.”
And:
“You married such a good son, so what hardships could you possibly have? You’re suffering only because your life is too comfortable.”
Day and night, she poured out the resentment and bitterness she carried from her difficult life.
🌊 “Life Felt Like War”
At first, Jae-sook felt sympathy for her mother-in-law.
But over time, the situation became emotionally unbearable.
At the same time, reality itself was overwhelming.
She had to somehow pay for:
- Her son and daughter’s university tuition
- Allowances
- Books
- Housing expenses
When her son called saying he was going hungry because he had no living expenses left, she encouraged her husband to start a business.
But the business failed.
Afterward, her mother-in-law’s criticism grew even harsher.
She blamed Jae-sook for everything, saying:
“The household is failing because the woman interferes too much.”
Her husband also blamed her for the failed business.
Life felt like constant warfare.
Her resentment toward her mother-in-law deepened more and more, and eventually she even grew to hate her husband.
Sometimes she cried, realizing too late that perhaps her brother had been right:
“Being the eldest daughter-in-law truly isn’t something just anyone can do.”
💧 Collapsing From the Weight of Life
Eventually, unable to endure the burden any longer, she collapsed.
It was a cerebral infarction.
At the moment she felt death approaching, one memory suddenly surfaced in her mind:
Her brother-in-law once saying urgently:
“Sister-in-law, please try this meditation. Otherwise, you’re really going to die.”
🌸 Discovering Her Own Attachments
Through this meditation, she realized how much desire and attachment she carried within herself.
Even while working hard, she constantly wanted:
- Recognition
- Praise
- To be seen as a good person
Because life always felt busy and exhausting, she had never truly listened patiently to her mother-in-law’s stories about her own difficult life.
Naturally, a distant and emotionally cold daughter-in-law could not have felt lovable to her mother-in-law either.
During meditation, she says she repented countless times.
Whenever her mother-in-law spoke, Jae-sook had always compared her to other mothers-in-law and complained about her own situation instead of sincerely listening.
As she continued letting go of those thoughts, she gradually began seeing things from her mother-in-law’s perspective.
And she realized something painful:
“I had truly been a terrible daughter-in-law.”
From the mother-in-law’s perspective, after raising her eldest son and relying on him her entire life, even the natural role of marriage may have felt like losing him to someone else.
Now, instead of resentment, Jae-sook feels compassion when she sees the traces of hardship left upon her mother-in-law’s face.
These days, she simply wants to do everything she can for her.
She cooks foods her mother-in-law enjoys, like pumpkin dishes and Korean pancakes, and buys clothes she never had the chance to wear before.
Her mother-in-law now often says:
“I caused you so much suffering. There’s truly no one but you.”
And recently, even her mother-in-law has expressed wanting to empty her own mind through this meditation.
☀️ “Only Now Am I Learning How to Truly Live”
Meanwhile, Jae-sook and her husband had once constantly fought.
Because they thought differently, arguments happened almost every other day.
They frequently threatened divorce, prepared divorce papers, and complained:
“If only I had never married this person…”
But after Jae-sook experienced profound changes through this meditation, she encouraged her husband to try it as well.
Only two weeks after beginning practice, he came home and said something she never expected:
“I was wrong. I truly didn’t realize what a terrible person I had been. From now on, I’ll never make life difficult for you again.”
Through everything she experienced, Jae-sook finally came to realize how precious and meaningful the people around her truly are.
“Only now am I learning how to live like a real human being.”
And thanks to this meditation, she says life finally feels worth living.
