Tucked away in our subconsciousness is an idyllic1 vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows, we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands2 and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.
But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw3 puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering —waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.
"When we reach the station, that will be it!" we cry. "When I' m 18. ""When I buy a new 450SL Mercedes Benz!" "When I put the last kid through college." "When I have paid off the mortgage4!" "When I get a promotion." "When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!"
Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.
"Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." It isn' t the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.
So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Intend, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.
在我们的内心深处，总隐藏着一片诗情画意的风景。我们觉得自己正处于一次跨越大陆的漫长旅行中。坐在火车上，窗外流动的风景在我们的面前一掠而过：附近高速公路上驰骋的汽车；十字路口挥手的孩童；远处山坡上放牧的牛群；电厂排放的袅袅烟尘；成片的玉米地和小麦地；还有，平原、峡谷、山脉和丘陵；城市的轮廓和乡间的农舍。
可是，我们想得最多的还是目的地。某天的某一刻，我们抵达站点，会有乐队演奏，欢迎旗帜飘扬。一旦我们到达了目的地，梦想就会变成现实，而我们破碎的生活会像一幅拼好的画图，变得完美。我们焦躁不安地在车厢里踱来踱去，诅咒火车的迟缓——等啊等，等待进站的那一刻。
“进站时，一切都好了！”我们呼喊着。“我满１８岁时。”“我买了一辆新的450SL奔驰轿车时！”“当我供最小的孩子读完大学。”“当我还了所有的贷款。”“当我退休的时候，就从此过上了幸福的生活！”
迟早，我们会意识到人生没有终点站，没有什么地方真正完美。生命的真正乐趣在于旅行的过程。终点站只是一个梦，它永远在我们的前方。
“品味现在”本身就是一句很好的箴言，再加上《圣经·诗篇》第118章第24行的这样一句话，使得它更显特别，“主创造了今天，我们为活在今日而欢欣雀跃。”导致人们疯狂的往往不是今日的沉重，而是对昨日的懊悔和对明日的畏惧。懊悔和畏惧如同一对孪生的窃贼，偷走了我们的今天。
因此，不要在车厢内徘徊，不要计算着余下的行程！让我们攀登更多的高山、吃冰激凌、赤脚漫步、游泳、欣赏日落、多点欢笑，少些泪水吧。让生命活在我们前进的脚步中，那么车站很快就会到达。
积极思维效应
Be An Optimist
佚名 / Anonymous
Do you see the glass as half-full rather than half empty? Do you keep your eye upon the doughnut1, not upon the hole? Suddenly these clichs are scientific questions, as researchers scrutinize2 the power of positive thinking. Research is proving that optimism can help you to be happier, healthier and more successful. Pessimism leads, by contrast, to hopelessness, sickness and failure, and is linked to depression, loneliness and painful shyness. If we could teach people to think more positively, it would be like inoculating them against these mental ills.
Your habits count but the belief that you can succeed affects whether or not you will. In part, that' s because optimists and pessimists deal with the same challenges and disappointments in very different ways. When things go wrong the pessimist tends to blame himself. "I' m not good at this." "I always fail." He would say. But the optimist looks for loopholes. Negative or positive, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. If people feel hopeless they don' t bother to acquire the skills they need to succeed.
A sense of control is the litmus3 test for success. The optimist feels in control of his own life. If things are going badly, he acts quickly, looking for solutions, forming a new plan of action, and reaching out for advice. The pessimist feels like fate' s plaything and moves slowly. He doesn' t seek advice, since he assumes nothing can be done. Many studies suggest that the pessimist' s feeling of helplessness undermines the body' s natural defenses, the immune system. Research has found that the pessimist doesn' t take good care of himself. Feeling passive and unable to dodge life' s blows, he expects ill health and other misfortunes, no matter what he does. He munches on junk food, avoids exercise, ignores the doctor, has another drink.
