英语经典美文摘抄(2)

　　Whenever we start to let our fears and seriousness get the best of us, we should take a step back and re-evaluate our behavior. The items listed below are six ways you can open your heart more fully and completely.

　　当恐惧与焦虑来袭时，我们应该退后一步，重新反思自己的言行。下面六个方法有助于你更完满透彻地敞开心扉。

　　1. Breathe into pain

　　直面痛苦

　　Whenever a painful situation arises in your life, try to embrace it instead of running away or trying to mask the hurt. When the sadness strikes, take a deep breath and lean into it. When we run away from sadness that’s unfolding in our lives, it gets stronger and more real. We take an emotion that’s fleeting and make it a solid event, instead of something that passes through us.

　　当生活中出现痛苦的事情时，别再逃跑或隐藏痛苦，试着拥抱它吧；当悲伤来袭时，试着深呼吸，然后直面它。如果我们一味逃避生活中的悲伤，悲伤只会变得更强烈更真实——悲伤原本只是稍纵即逝的情绪，我们却固执地耿耿于怀。

　　By utilizing our breath we soften our experiences. If we dam them up, our lives will stagnate, but when we keep them flowing, we allow more newness and greater experiences to blossom.

　　深呼吸能减缓我们的感受。屏住呼吸，生活停滞；呼出呼吸，更多新奇与经历又将拉开序幕。

　　2. Embrace the uncomfortable

　　拥抱不安

　　We all know what that twinge of anxiety feels like. We know how fear feels in our bodies: the tension in our necks, the tightness in our stomachs, etc. We can practice leaning into these feelings of discomfort and let them show us where we need to go.

　　我们都经历过焦灼的煎熬感，也都感受过恐惧造成的生理反应：脖子僵硬、胃酸翻腾。其实，我们有能力面对这些痛苦的感受，从中领悟到出路。

　　The initial impulse is to run away — to try and suppress these feelings by not acknowledging them. When we do this, we close ourselves off to the parts of our lives that we need to experience most. The next time you have this feeling of being truly uncomfortable, do yourself a favor and lean into the feeling. Act in spite of the fear.

　　我们的第一反应总是逃避——以为否认不安情绪的存在就能万事大吉，可这也恰好妨碍了我们经历最需要的生活体验。下次感到不安时，不管有多害怕，也请试着勇敢面对吧。

　　3. Ask your heart what it wants

　　倾听内心

　　We’re often confused at the next step to take, making pros and cons lists until our eyes bleed and our brains are sore. Instead of always taking this approach, what if we engaged a new part of ourselves that isn’t usually involved in the decision making process?

　　我们常对未来犹疑不定，反复考虑利弊直到身心俱疲。与其一味顾虑重重，不如从局外人的角度看待决策之事。

　　I know we’ve all felt decisions or actions that we had to take simply due to our “gut” impulses: when asked, we can’t explain the reasons behind doing so — just a deep knowing that it had to get done. This instinct is the part of ourselves we’re approaching for answers.

　　其实很多决定或行动都是我们一念之间的结果：要是追问原因的话，恐怕我们自己也道不清说不明，只是感到直觉如此罢了。而这种直觉恰好是我们探索结果的潜在自我。

　　To start this process, take few deep breaths then ask, “Heart, what decision should I make here? What action feels the most right?”

　　开始前先做几次深呼吸，问自己：“内心认为该做什么样的决定呢？觉得采取哪个方案最恰当？”

　　See what comes up, then engage and evaluate the outcome.

　　看看自己的内心反应如何，然后全力以赴、静待结果吧。

　　美文赏析:生活中你错过了什么？

　　In this life, what did you miss?

　　在生活中，你错过了什么？

　　The wife asked the husband when she was 25. Despondently, the husband replied: 'I missed a new job opportunity.'

　　妻子25岁的时候这样问丈夫。丈夫沮丧地回答：“我错过了一个新的工作机会。”

　　When she was 35, the husband angrily told her that he had just missed the bus.

　　35岁时，丈夫生气地说他错过了公交车。

　　At 45, the husband sadly said: 'I missed the oppotunity seeing my closed relative before his last breath.'

　　45岁时，丈夫悲伤地说：“我错过了见至亲最后一面的机会。”

　　At 55, the husband said disappointingly: 'I missed a good chance to retire.'

　　55岁时，丈夫失望地说：“我错过了一个退休的好机会。”

　　At 65, the husband hurriedly replied: 'I missed a dental appointment.'

　　65岁时，丈夫匆匆地回答：“我错过了和牙医的预约。”

　　At 75, the wife did not ask the husband anymore, the husband was kneeling in front of the very sick wife. Remembering the question the wife used to ask him, this time he asked the wife the same question. The wife, with a smile and peaceful look, replied: 'In this life, I did not miss having you!'

　　75岁，妻子不再问丈夫同样的问题，丈夫跪在病重的妻子面前，想起以前妻子常常问起的那个问题，这次他也问了妻子同样的问题，妻子笑了笑，一脸平静地说：“我这一生，没有错过你！”

　　The husband was full of tears. He always thought that they could be together forever. He was always busy with work and trifles. So much so he had never been thoughtful to his wife. The husband hugged the wife tightly and said: 'Over 50 years, how I had allowed myself to miss your deep love for me.'

　　丈夫满眼泪水，他总是认为可以和妻子白头到老，于是总是忙于工作和琐事，从没在意过妻子。他紧紧地抱住妻子说：“这50多年来，我怎么能允许自己错过了你对我的爱呢。”

　　In the busy city life, there are many people who are always busy with work. These people revolve their lives around their jobs, these people sacrifice all their times and health to meet the social expectations. They are unwilling to spend times on health care. They miss the opportunity to be with their children in their growing up. They neglect the loved ones who care for them, and also their health.

　　在繁忙的城市生活中，有人总是忙于工作。他们整天围着工作转，甚至为了达到社会的标准，牺牲了自己的健康。他们不愿花时间来关注自己的健康，在孩子成长的过程中错失了与之共享天伦之乐的机会。他们忽视了那些关心他们的人，以及他们的健康。

　　Nobody knows what is going to happen one year from now.

　　没有人知道一年后会发生什么事情。

　　Life is not permanent, so always live in the now. Express your gratitude to your loved ones in words. Show your care with actions. Treat everyday as the last episode of life. In this way, when you are gone, you loved ones would have nothing to feel sorry about.

　　生命不是永恒的，所以活在当下吧。把你对爱人的感谢说出来，用行动证明你关心他们。把每一天当作人生的最后一个篇章，只有这样，当你离开时，你爱的人们才会没有遗憾。

　　美文赏析:去经历去体验 做最好最真实的自己

　　Truly happy and successful people get that way by becoming the best, most genuine version of themselves they can be. Not on the outside--on the inside. It's not about a brand, a reputation, a persona. It's about reality. Who you really are.

　　真正快乐成功的人会长成最好最真实的自己——从内心而非外表上。重要的不是品牌、名誉或者外表形象，而是真实的自我。

　　Sounds simple, I know. It is a simple concept. The problem is, it's very hard to do, it takes a lot of work, and it can take a lifetime to figure it out.

　　道理很简单，讲出来也很容易。但问题是，做起来就不简单了：这需要付诸很多努力，甚或一辈子才能实现。

　　Nothing worth doing in life is ever easy. If you want to do great work, it's going to take a lot of hard work to do it. And you're going to have to break out of your comfort zone and take some chances that will scare the crap out of you.

　　需要穷尽毕生精力的事情必定不容易。成大事者必先苦其心志。因此，你必须走出舒适区，去经历、去体验那些会让你害怕的机会。

　　But you know, I can't think of a better way to spend your life. I mean, what's life for if not finding yourself and trying to become the best, most genuine version of you that you can be?

　　况且，人这一辈子，若到头来都认不清自己、未能长成最好最真实的自己，还有什么意义呢？

　　That's what Steve Jobs meant when he said this at a Stanford University commencement speech:

　　正如史蒂夫-乔布斯在斯坦福大学的毕业典礼上所言：

　　Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.

　　时间宝贵，不要虚掷光阴过着他人的生活。不要让周遭的聒噪言论蒙蔽你内心的声音。

　　You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something--your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

　　你要相信，生活中的偶然冥冥中也能指引未来。你要心怀信念——相信你的直觉、命运、生活抑或因缘。这个方法一直给我力量，促使我过得卓然不同。

　　The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.

　　成大事的唯一途径就是做自己喜欢的事情。若你还没找到，那就继续追寻吧，不要停下来。

　　Now, let's for a moment be realistic about this. Insightful as that advice may be, it sounds a little too amorphous and challenging to resonate with today's quick-fix culture. These days, if you can't tell people exactly what to do and how to do it, it falls on deaf ears.

　　现在我们来实际一点：建议或许很深刻，但听完却让人无从着手，难以运用到当今的快节奏文化中。现如今，如果一个建议讲不清具体做什么、该怎么做的话，那么说了也等于白说。

　　Not only that, but what Jobs was talking about, what I'm talking about, requires focus and discipline, two things that are very hard to come by these days. Why? Because, focus and discipline are hard. It's so much easier to give in to distraction and instant gratification. Easy and addictive.

　　不仅如此，乔布斯的讲话和我要说的话都需要集中和自制——这两个品质在当今社会非常难能可贵。何以见得？因为集中和自制都不容易做到。人们很容易分散注意力、寻求即时快感——舒服且容易上瘾。

　　To give you a little incentive to take on the challenge, to embark on the road to self-discovery, here are three huge benefits from working to become the best, most genuine version of yourself.