10堂人生課 Ten Life Classes

There are so many lessons I wish I had learned while I was young enough to appreciate and apply them. The thing with wisdom, and often with life lessons in general, is that they’re learned in retrospect, long after we needed them. The good news is that other people can benefit from our experiences and the lessons we’ve learned.

我無比希望年輕的時候學到足夠多的東西，好好理解，好好利用。然而，關乎智慧以及人生課堂，往往都是在事過境遷之后的反思中才能得以領悟。我們這些過來人也十分愿意與你們分享經歷，以及我們領悟到的人生課。

1. Money will NEVER solve your real problems

錢不能解決你的實際問題

Money is a tool; a commodity that buys you necessities and some nice “wants,” but it is not the panacea to your problems. There are a great many people who are living on very little, yet have wonderfully full and happy lives… and there are sadly a great many people are living on quite a lot, yet have terribly miserable lives.

金錢只是個工具，能買到生活所需和一些不錯的“必需品”，但不是解決你問題的萬能藥。有很多人雖然沒有很多錢，但仍然過著充實愉快的生活，相反，有些人十分富有，卻活得并不幸福。

Money can buy a nice home, a great car, fabulous shoes, even a bit of security and some creature comforts, but it cannot fix a broken relationship, or cure loneliness, and the “happiness” it brings is only fleeting and not the kind that really and truly matters. Happiness is not for sale. If you’re expecting the “stuff” you can buy to “make it better,” you will never be happy.

錢能買來好房子、好車子、漂亮的鞋子，以及一些安全感和舒適度，但卻無法修復一段破碎的關系，無法治愈孤獨，它所帶來的幸福感轉瞬即逝也并不實在。幸福不能靠錢來買。如果你總是希望考買什么來獲得幸福，你永遠都不會幸福。

2. Pace yourself

放慢腳步

Often when we’re young, just beginning our adult journey we feel as though we have to do everything at once. We need to decide everything, plan out our lives, experience everything, get to the top, find true love, figure out our life’s purpose, and do it all at the same time.

年輕的時候，我們總覺得成人之路剛剛開始，總想一次把所有事都完成。我們需要為所有事作出決定，進行人生規(guī)劃，體驗所有的事情，達到頂峰，找到真愛，發(fā)現我們人生的目標，所有的都同時完成。

Slow down—don’t rush into things. Let your life unfold. Wait a bit to see where it takes you, and take time to weigh your options. Enjoy every bite of food, take time to look around you, let the other person finish their side of the conversation. Allow yourself time to think, to mull a bit. Taking action is critical. Working towards your goals and making plans for the future is commendable and often very useful, but rushing full-speed ahead towards anything is a one-way ticket to burnout and a good way to miss your life as it passes you by.

慢點吧，別太著急。慢慢開始自己的生活，等等看看自己到了什么地方，花點時間去衡量一下自己的選擇。享受每一口食物，花點時間看看周圍，讓別人完成他們的傾訴。給自己點時間去思考和沉思。行動是十分關鍵的。朝著你的目標前進，為未來做出規(guī)劃的確很值得有用，但全速前進似乎是張單程票，讓你無法回頭，還會讓你錯失路邊的風景。

3. You can’t please everyone

你無法取悅每個人

“I don’t know the secret to success, but the secret to failure is trying to please everyone” – Bill Cosby

我不知道成功的秘訣是什么，我只知道失敗的秘訣是去討好每個人——比爾•科斯比

You don’t need everyone to agree with you or even like you. It’s human nature to want to belong, to be liked, respected and valued, but not at the expense of your integrity and happiness. Other people cannot give you the validation you seek. That has to come from inside. Speak up, stick to your guns, assert yourself when you need to, demand respect, stay true to your values.

你不需要讓所有人都贊同抑或喜歡你。希望獲得認可、喜歡、尊重和重視，這是人之常情，但別以犧牲你的正直和幸福為代價。你在追尋的肯定感，其他人給不了，這需要來自你的內心。大聲說出來，堅持自己的想法，必要時捍衛(wèi)自己的立場，要求得到尊重，忠于自己的價值觀。

4. Your health is your most valuable asset

健康是最寶貴的財富

Health is an invaluable treasure—always appreciate, nurture, and protect it. Good health is often wasted on the young before they have a chance to appreciate it for what it’s worth. We tend to take our good health for granted, because it’s just there. We don’t have to worry about it, so we don’t really pay attention to it… until we have to. Heart disease, bone density, stroke, many cancers—the list of many largely preventable diseases is long, so take care of your health now, or you’ll regret it later on.

健康是無價之寶——要一直重視、呵護和保護它。年輕人往往在最值得呵護健康的年紀大肆揮霍，我們把健康當成理所當然的一件事，因為它就在那里。我們不想要擔心，所以也從未真正關注過它，直到健康出現問題。心臟病、骨質疏松、哮喘和癌癥——這個清單很長，這些病實際上也都是可以預防的，所以好好呵護自己的健康吧，免得以后后悔。

5. You don’t always get what you want

你不可能一直得到自己想要的東西

“Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” – John Lennon

當我們正在為生活疲于奔命時，生活已離我們而去。——約翰•列儂

No matter how carefully you plan and how hard you work, sometimes things just don’t work out the way you want them to… and that’s ok. We have all of these expectations; predetermined visions of what our “ideal” life will look like, but all too often, that’s not the reality of the life we end up with. Sometimes our dreams fail and sometimes we just change our minds mid-course. Sometimes we have to flop to find the right course and sometimes we just have to try a few things before we find the right direction.

無論你多么仔細的規(guī)劃和努力，有時候事情總是不按照你的計劃發(fā)展，沒關系，我們都有些許期待，對理想的生活有一定的設想，但這并不是我們真正的生活。也許有時我們的夢想無法實現，或是中途改變了想法。有時我們不得不放棄而去追求正確的事物，而有時我們需要在找到正確方向時經歷其他的東西。

6. It’s not all about you

世界不是圍著你轉的

You are not the epicenter of the universe. It’s very difficult to view the world from a perspective outside of your own, since we are always so focused on what’s happening in our own lives. What do I have to do today? What will this mean for me, for my career, for my life? What do I want? It’s normal to be intensely aware of everything that’s going on in your own life, but you need to pay as much attention to what’s happening around you, and how things affect other people in the world as you do to your own life. It helps to keep things in perspective.

你不是宇宙的核心。的確用你以外的視角來看世界有點難，我們都太過于專注自己生活里的一切，我今天需要干什么?這對我、我的工作和生活又意味著什么?我想要什么?對自己生活中發(fā)生的一切了如指掌無可厚非，但你也需要關心周圍發(fā)生了什么，你生活中類似的事情又是如何影響到你周圍的人的。這樣會讓你看待事物更加客觀。

7. There’s no shame in not knowing

不知為不知

No one has it all figured out. Nobody has all the answers. There’s no shame in saying “I don’t know.” Pretending to be perfect doesn’t make you perfect. It just makes you neurotic to keep up the pretense of manufactured perfection. We have this idea that there is some kind of stigma or shame in admitting our limitations or uncertainly, but we can’t possibly know everything. We all make mistakes and mess up occasionally. We learn as we go, that’s life. Besides—nobody likes a know-it-all. A little vulnerability makes you human and oh so much more relatable.

沒有人知曉所有事，沒有人知道所有問題的答案。所以說不知道根本不是什么丟臉的事。裝著完美只會讓你不完美。還會讓你看上去像一個神經過敏的偽完美藝術品罷了。我們必須知道，有時需要承認我們的無知和不確定，我們不可能知道所有的事情。我們都會犯錯，還會弄砸一些事情。邊走邊學，這就是人生。再說了，沒有人喜歡萬事通。一些無知反而能讓你更加人性化，更易接近哦。

8. Love is more than a feeling; it’s a choice

愛不僅僅是感覺，而是選擇

That burst of initial exhilaration, pulse quickening love and passion does not last long. But that doesn’t mean long-lasting love is not possible. Love is not just a feeling; it’s a choice that you make every day. We have to choose to let annoyances pass, to forgive, to be kind, to respect, to support, to be faithful. Relationships take work. Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it’s incredibly hard, but it is up to us to choose how we want to act, think and speak in a relationship.

迸發(fā)的愉悅，讓你心跳加快的愛情和激情都無法持久，但這并不是說長久的愛情并不存在。愛與感覺無關，是一個你每天都需要做的選擇。我們需要選擇忘記煩惱，去原諒，去友善、尊敬、支持以及忠貞。感情需要經營，有時很容易有時似乎無比艱難。這都取決于我們自己的選擇，到底想在這段感情中如何表現、思考和說話。

9. Perspective is a beautiful thing

遠見很美妙

Typically, when we’re worried or upset, it’s because we’ve lost perspective. Everything that is happening in our lives seems so big, so important, so do or die, but in the grand picture, this single hiccup often means next to nothing. The fight we’re having, the job we didn’t get, the real or imagined slight, the unexpected need to shift course, the thing we wanted, but didn’t get. Most of it won’t matter 20, 30, 40 years from now. It’s hard to see long term when all you know is short term, but unless it’s life-threatening, let it go, and move on.

往往失去遠見時，我們就會變得焦慮和低落。我們生活里發(fā)生的每件事都那么重大那么重要，不做好就會死，但長遠來看，這一件小事似乎根本就微不足道。我們經歷的沖突，沒有得到的工作，或有或無的輕蔑，突如其來的改變航向，我們想要卻沒有得到的東西。20、30、40年之后，大部分都會變得微不足道。當你的眼光只放在近期，那么很難去看得長遠。所以除非是威脅到生命的事情，否則其他的就放下吧，繼續(xù)前進。

10. Don’t take anything for granted

別把任何事當做理所當然

We often don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone: that includes your health, your family and friends, your job, the money you have or think you will have tomorrow. When you’re young, it seems that your parents will always be there, but they won’t. You think you have plenty of time to get back in touch with your old friends or spend time with new ones, but you don’t. You have the money to spend, or you think you’ll have it next month, but you might not. Nothing in your life is not guaranteed to be there tomorrow, including those you love.

很多東西直到失去我們才會懂得珍惜，這包括健康、家人和朋友、工作，現有或未來會有的金錢。年輕的時候，父母一直在身邊，但他們不能一直陪伴下去;你總覺得有充足的時間，和老朋友們保持聯(lián)系或是花時間和新朋友玩樂，但實際并沒有;你有錢花，然后覺得下個月也會有錢花，其實也許沒有。你生活中所有的事情明天都不一定還存在著，包括那些你愛的。

This is a hard life lesson to learn, but it may be the most important of all: Life can change in an instant. Make sure you appreciate what you have, while you still have it.

這些人生課很難學習，但卻是至關重要的：生活可以瞬間萬變。只要好好珍惜現在所擁有的就足夠了。