讀點(diǎn)好英文:The Paradox of Happiness　矛盾幸福感

The Paradox of Happiness　矛盾幸福感

·Timothy·

What is the definition of“happiness?”Is it material wealth filled with fancy cars, a dream house, extravagant furs and jewelry?Or is happiness simply having a roof over your head?Food in the fridge?Having a child?A pet?A swimming pool?A designer Gucci bag?Parents?Grandchildren?Love?Money?The perfect job?Winning the Lottery?

According to the American Heritage Dictionary，“happiness”is derived from the Middle English word hap-meaning“Luck.”But does happiness really have anything to do with“l(fā)uck?”Based on this description, one could assume that if you avoided a fatal traffic accident but got fired by coming late to work, you would be filled with“happiness?”Is it luck or what you make of it?Maybe，“happiness”is exactly defined by its indirect alias：happiness-perhaps, happiness is in fact defined by the fortune that we permit to happen.

Do you recall a time-let's say when you were about 5 years old-what defined happiness back then?Was it getting a puppy for Christmas?Or maybe, you were a child of divorce；and all you wanted was for Mom and Dad to get back together again?Then as you got older, you were hoping that someone would ask you to the prom that would've made your day, maybe your life for the moment. During college, good grades made you happy, but it was short-lived.Because in the real world, you had to look for a job, and competition was stark.It's an employer's world you thought.But then, you got the perfect job-now you could be happy-or could you?

Life requires more than just what we want. InevitabIy, one must understand to truly find“happiness，”he must make his own happiness“happen”.Sounds a bit redundant, but truthfully, there is no set guidelines that will bring one happiness.There is no“magic wand”we can wave to bring joy into our lives.Human nature thrives on the thrill of the chase.We dream and we hope for the next big break-it is the grand adventure of living.

We are hopeless creatures of comfort. We like having and accumulating things.Whether one admits to it or not, to a certain degree, we all try to keep up with“the Jones”.We work so we can pay our rents, mortgages, credit card debts, school loans, car payments……the list goes on and on.And at some point, we realize, that aside from having most of what we want, we still aren't happy.Now since we've learned to adapt to new standards which we've created for ourselves, we find that we have less time, less patience, less sleep, which equates to more stress, more worry and more aggravation.So, is happiness honestly just comprised of“things”?

Sometimes, we virtuaIIy trade our lives for not only basic necessities, but for excessive items and services as well. We become so obsessed with finding happiness, that we lose sight of the fact that happiness is within-always.Certainly you've heard of individuals trying to“find themselves”，or“rediscover themselves”.The reason they are attempting these innovative approaches is because they are seeking inner happiness.But the point has been missed：Happiness is already there.

Disappointments and tragedies in life will come and go, but happiness never leaves you. The human's capacity to be resilient to trials is unfathomable.We can lose our jobs, but be grateful for our spouses.We can lose our homes to nature, but be thankful to be alive.

Happiness is a perception of each individual. We are instinctively compelled to find fault in our lives.By human nature, we begin our“fault-finding”mission the moment we're capable of free-thinking.It is then, that we lose sense of self-worth and the bigger picture of vitality altogether.Stuck in the patterns of the happiness paradox, we simply cannot find where our happiness has gone.

It's not a matter of bargaining, it's not an issue of money or fame-instead, happiness is what you resolve to accept. If we live through optimistic hope；if we dare to dream；if we empower ourselves to fully live；then we have regained our sense of happiness.There is no in between.There is no other replacement.We only have one physical life to live-we have no choice but to make the most of it.

蒂莫西

“幸?！笔鞘裁矗啃腋Ｊ菗碛泻廊A的汽車、理想的居室、名貴的裘皮和珠寶等物質(zhì)上的富足嗎？或者，簡單的只是有個(gè)遮風(fēng)避雨的住所，冰箱里有食物，有孩子、寵物、游泳池、個(gè)性的包，有父母、子孫，有愛情、金錢和理想的工作，彩票中獎(jiǎng)了呢？

在《美國傳統(tǒng)字典》中，幸福是從中古英語“hap”一詞演變而來的。“hap”意為“好運(yùn)”。但是，幸福真的與“好運(yùn)”有關(guān)聯(lián)嗎？基于此，想想看，如果你在一場必死無疑的交通事故中幸免于難，卻因此遲到，導(dǎo)致被老板炒魷魚，對(duì)此，你會(huì)感到“幸福”嗎？這是好運(yùn)嗎？還是要看個(gè)人如何看待這個(gè)問題呢？或許，確切地說，幸福的定義應(yīng)當(dāng)直接從它的詞源來看——事實(shí)上，幸?；蛟S就是命中注定要發(fā)生的事情。

你能回憶起你五歲時(shí)對(duì)幸福的理解嗎？那時(shí)，幸福是從圣誕樹上摘下的一只小狗嗎？或者爸爸媽媽離婚了，你唯一的愿望就是他們能和好如初，重新生活在一起？當(dāng)你漸漸長大，你希望有人會(huì)邀請(qǐng)你參加舞會(huì)，希望所有的日子都凝固在那一天、那一刻。上大學(xué)期間，考試得了高分讓你無比開心，但這種幸福感都是短暫的。因?yàn)樵诂F(xiàn)實(shí)中，你得找一份工作，而社會(huì)競爭也相當(dāng)激烈。于是，你就會(huì)想，這是一個(gè)雇主的世界。隨后，你找到了一份理想的工作——現(xiàn)在的你很開心，是嗎？

生活向我們索要的遠(yuǎn)比我們想要的多。一個(gè)人必須明白，要想真正找到幸福，他就必須讓自己幸福?？赡苈犉饋碛行┒嘤啵_是如此——生活中，沒有能帶來幸福的現(xiàn)成指南，也沒有揮一揮就能帶來歡樂的魔棒。人性在追求幸福的刺激中不斷升級(jí)、完善。我們夢想著、期望著下一個(gè)大的轉(zhuǎn)變——這就是生活中的大冒險(xiǎn)了。

我們是無助的享樂者，喜歡擁有和積攢東西。不論人們承認(rèn)與否，一定程度上，我們都在相互攀比。我們之所以工作，是因?yàn)橐斗孔?、償還抵押貸款、還清信用卡透支費(fèi)用、償付助學(xué)貸款、買車等。此類費(fèi)用接連而至，讓我們應(yīng)接不暇。于是，我們會(huì)突然意識(shí)到，盡管擁有了想要的一切，我們?nèi)匀徊恍腋?。自從適應(yīng)了自己定下的新生活標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，我們的時(shí)間短了、耐性沒了、睡眠少了、但壓力大了、焦慮多了、脾氣也暴躁了。鑒于此，幸福真的是由“物質(zhì)”組成的嗎？

事實(shí)上，有時(shí)，我們不僅用生命交換生活必需品，還用生命交換多余的物質(zhì)享受和服務(wù)。我們這般沉迷于追求幸福，卻忽略了一個(gè)事實(shí)——幸福一直就在我們心中。當(dāng)然，你一定聽過這樣的事，即有些人一直都在苦苦“找尋自我”或“重新發(fā)現(xiàn)自我”。他們創(chuàng)新嘗試的理由只不過是想找尋心靈深處的幸福。但他們忽略了一點(diǎn)，即幸福從頭至尾都在心中。

失望和悲傷在生命中交替輪回，但幸福從不會(huì)舍你而去。人類對(duì)困難的適應(yīng)能力無可限量。我們可以失去工作，但會(huì)為擁有愛人而感恩不已；我們可以流離失所，但會(huì)為活著而心存感激。

幸福是個(gè)人的一種感知。我們本能地受限于外界，找尋著生活的瑕疵。出于人的天性，我們從有能力自由思考的那刻起，就開始對(duì)生活吹毛求疵。也就在那時(shí)，我們失去了對(duì)自我價(jià)值的認(rèn)知，也失去了生命的活力，陷入幸福的矛盾中，找不到幸福的方向。

幸福是你決定去接受的東西，沒有任何商量的余地，它與金錢或名譽(yù)毫無瓜葛。只要我們活在樂觀希望之中，敢于大膽夢想，活得簡單純粹，那么，我們就會(huì)重新?lián)碛行腋５母杏X。那種感覺并非懸于幸與不幸之間的真空地帶，也無任何替代品。我們只能活一次——除了好好活著，我們別無選擇。

核心單詞

paradox['p?r?d?ks]n.自相矛盾的議論

extravagant[iks'tr?v?g?nt]adj.奢侈的；浪費(fèi)的；過分的

inevitabIy[in'evit?bli]adv.不可避免地；必然地

redundant[ri'd?nd?nt]adj.多余的，過剩的

mortgage['m?：gid?]n.抵押；抵押借款

virtuaIIy['v?：tju?li]adv.實(shí)際上，事實(shí)上；差不多

optimistic[，?pti'mistik]adj.樂觀的

實(shí)用句型

Because in the reaI worId, you had to Iook for a job, and competition was stark.

因?yàn)樵诂F(xiàn)實(shí)中，你得找一份工作，而社會(huì)競爭也相當(dāng)激烈。①這里是由because引導(dǎo)的原因狀語從句。

②look for尋找，類似的表達(dá)還有l(wèi)ook up查找；look after照顧；look at看等固定搭配。

翻譯練習(xí)

1.他們按年齡分成了三組。（according to）

2.實(shí)際上，我是想和你一起去的。（in fact）

3.她退休后一直同一些朋友保持著聯(lián)系。（keep up with）