书城外语当英语成为时尚:生活全由你创造
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第22章 Don"t Miss Out on Life不要错过生活

Anonymous

心灵寄语

在很大程度上,我们内心的平和取决于我们在多大程度上享受眼前的生活。不管昨天或去年发生了什么,也不管明天将会发生什么或不会发生什么,现在才是你所在之处——生活就是这样。

Without question, many of us have mastered the neurotic1 art of spending much of our lives worrying about a variety of things—all at once. We allow past problems and future concerns to dominate our present moments so much, so that we end up anxious, frustrated, depressed, and hopeless. On the flip side, we also postpone our gratification2,our stated priorities, and our happiness, often convincing ourselves that“someday”will be better than today. Unfortunately, the same mental dynamics that tell us to look toward the future will only repeat themselves so that“someday”never actually arrives. John Lennon once said,“Life is what"s happening while we"re busy making other plans.”When we"re busy making other plans, our children are busy growing up, the people we love are moving away and dying, our bodies are getting out of shape, and our dreams are slipping away. In short, we miss out on life.

Many people lives as if life were a dress rehearsal for some later date. It isn"t. In fact, no one has a guarantee that he or she will be here tomorrow. Now is the only time we have, and the only time that we have any control over. When our attention is in the present moment, we push fear from our minds. Fear is the concern over events that might happen in the future——we won"t have enough money, our children will get into trouble, we will get old and die, whatever.

To combat3 fear, the best strategy is to learn to bring your attention back to the present. Mark Twain said,“I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”I don"t think I can say it any better. Practice keeping your attention on here and now. Your efforts will pay great dividends4.

佚名

毋庸置疑,我们中有很多人掌握了一种“神经质”的艺术,我们把很多时间浪费在对许多事情的担心上……我们会同时担心好多事情。我们是如此的焦虑,以至于任凭过去的烦恼和未来的忧虑来主宰此刻的生活,结果我们只会在整天的焦虑、沮丧、抑郁和绝望中度过此生。而相反,我们却在不断推迟享受成功的满足感,推迟我们理应优先考虑的事情,推迟我们的幸福感,我们常常宽慰自己,“总有一天”我们会比今天过得更好。遗憾的是,如此以来,我们的大脑动力只能重复不断地想着这些事情,以致于我们所期待的“总有一天”永远不会真正到来。约翰·列农曾经说过:“在我们忙于制订别的计划时,生活正在流逝。”当我们忙于制订种种计划时,此时我们的孩子正在长大,此时我们挚爱的人都渐渐离开了、去世了,此时我们的体型正在走样,而此时我们的梦想也在偷偷溜走。简而言之,我们错过了生活。

很多人把生活当做是未来某个日子的一次彩排。生活不应该是这样的。实际上,没人自己能肯定他或她到了明天还活在这个世上。“现在”就是我们唯一拥有的时间,也是我们唯一能够控制的时间。当我们的注意力就在此刻,我们就会将恐惧抛到九霄云外。所谓恐惧,就是对未来某些事情的担忧——担心我们赚不到足够的钱,担心我们的孩子会陷入困境,担心我们有一天会老去、离开人世,等等。

克服恐惧的最好策略是学会将你的注意力集中于当下。马克·吐温曾经说过:“我的一生经历过许多可怕的事情,有的真真实实地发生过。”我想我说不出比这更深刻的话了。经常试着将注意力集中于“现在”。那么,你的努力将给你带来丰厚的奖励。

词汇空间 ocabulary

1.neurotic adj. 神经质的,极为焦虑的

2.gratification n. 满足,满意,喜悦

3.combat n. 斗争,搏斗

4.dividend n. 红利,股金

文化链接 Culture Background

马克·吐温

马克·吐温(Mark Twain,1835年11月30日~1910年4月21日),原名萨缪尔·兰亨·克莱门(Samuel Langhorne Clemens),是美国的幽默大师、小说家、作家,也是著名演说家,19世纪后期美国现实主义文学的杰出代表。

马克·吐温幼时家境贫困,12岁时因父亲去世辍学,开始到印刷所当学徒,稍大一点便外出找活干。21岁时,对轮船上的领港员生活发生极大兴趣,决定拜师学艺。密西西比河上4年领港生活使他熟悉各式各样的人。这一段经历为他今后的创作提供了许多素材。他的代表作有《百万英镑》《哈克贝利费恩历险记》《汤姆·索亚历险记》《竞选州长》《卡县名蛙》等等。

妙语拾珠

1.Now is the only time we have, and the only time that we have any control over. When our attention is in the present moment, we push fear from our minds.

“现在”就是我们唯一拥有的时间,“现在”也是我们唯一能够控制的时间。当我们将注意力放在此时此刻时,我们就会将恐惧置于脑后。

2.Practice keeping your attention on here and now. Your efforts will pay great dividends.

经常将注意力集中于“现在”,你的努力终会得到丰厚的报偿。