37-year-old folk singer Gong Shuang passed away suddenly from ovarian cancer. She concealed her cancer for 5 years and worked relentlessly till the last moment. We should value health and never force ourselves to overwork.
The sudden passing of 37-year-old Gong Shuang came as a complete shock. This singer, who had spent half her life performing ethnic music, ultimately lost her battle to ovarian cancer.The obituary was officially released by the Central Nationalities Orchestra on September 4. Upon hearing the news, the entire ethnic vocal music community was plunged into an indescribable silence.
Few people know that as early as the age of 32, Gong Shuang had already received her cancer diagnosis—that very day, her purse was still stuffed with her performance schedule for the following week. For the entire five years that followed, she never revealed a single word about her illness to her family, friends, or colleagues.Those who knew her well were aware that Gong Shuang had been performing ethnic vocal music for over twenty years. Ever since her days as a student at the conservatory, she had spent year after year in the rehearsal hall. After graduating and joining the Central Nationalities Orchestra, she devoted all her energy to performances and refining her repertoire—she was renowned within the orchestra for her resilience.Backstage while waiting to go on, the pain would be so intense that her fingertips would turn white as she clenched her fists, yet the moment she turned to walk onto the stage, she would resume her usual composed demeanor; even with a fever of over thirty-eight degrees, she would still crouch by the side curtain to go over lyric details word for word with the coordinator. Those around her simply assumed she was exhausted from back-to-back performances; no one suspected she was suffering from a serious illness.In earlier years, she often mentioned discomfort in her lower back. Even when the pain was so severe she couldn’t stand up straight, she’d simply rub the area a couple of times before lowering her head to follow the sheet music. To others, she was the very embodiment of professionalism—a reputation she earned by gritting her teeth and powering through performance after performance.It wasn’t until the very last day—when she could no longer hold on—that she finally realized she’d never had the chance to slow down. Only after everyone dug up her old performance videos did they realize just how much unseen struggle was hidden behind those moments when she smiled and said, “I’m fine.”
Many people who read this far can’t help but be moved; such resilience is something that not everyone else could have endured.
In fact, there are always plenty of people like this around us: those who refuse to take time off even when they have a headache or a fever, for fear of delaying the progress of their current projects;Elderly family members, even when their whole bodies ache, put off going to the hospital, afraid of spending extra money or disrupting their children’s schedules; even the ladies in the community square dance group, when they sprain an ankle, grit their teeth and insist it’s nothing, just so as not to fall behind the group’s practice schedule.
These people have always put others and their work first, but they never make their own health a priority.
But health should never be sacrificed for the sake of dedication to work. If you push yourself too hard today and burn yourself out tomorrow, when it all adds up, your body will eventually make you pay the price.
Don’t take pushing through illness for granted as the norm; don’t treat working yourself to the bone as something to boast about; and don’t wait until your body sends out warning signs to realize that the most important thing to protect is your own health.From now on, when you’re in pain or exhausted, don’t push through it. Rest when you need to, and seek medical attention promptly when necessary. Living well has always been the most meaningful thing.
