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失败是刚迈进成功的那只脚
The Uncertainty Principle
佚名 / Anonymous
Two sailors ran into each other in a pub. Over a few beers, one of the men told the other about his last voyage: “After a month at sea,” he said, “we discovered our masts had been eaten through by termites ! Almost nothing left of them.”
“That’s terrible,” said the second sailor.
“That’s what I thought at first too,” the first sailor said, “but it turned out to be good luck... As soon as we took the sails down to fix the masts, we were hit by a squall so suddenly and so hard, it would surely have blown us over if our sails were up at the time.”
“How lucky!”
“That’s exactly what I thought at the time, too. But because our sails were down, we couldn’t steer ourselves, and because of the wind, we were blown onto a reef. The hole in the hulls was too big to fix. We were stranded.”
“That is bad luck indeed.”
“That’s what I thought, too, when it first happened. But we all made it to the beach alive and had plenty to eat. But now here’s the real kicker: While we were on the island whining about our terrible fate, we discovered a buried treasure!”
As this story illustrates, you don’t know if an event is “good” or “bad” except maybe in retrospect, and even then you don’t really know because life keeps going. The story’s not over yet. Just because something hasn’t turned out to be an advantage yet doesn’t mean it is not ever going to.
Therefore, you can simply assume whatever happens is “good”. I know that sounds awfully airy-fairy, but it’s very practical. If you think an event is good, it’s easy to maintain a positive attitude. And your attitude affects your health, it affects the way people treat you and how you treat others, and it affects your energy level. And those can help pave the way for things to turn out well. A good attitude is a good thing. And a bad attitude does you no good at all.
So get in the habit of saying “That’s good!”. Since you don’t know for sure whether something will eventually work to your advantage or not, you might as well assume it will. It is counterproductive to assume otherwise. Think about it. If someone ahead of you in line at a store is slowing everything down, say to yourself, “That’s good!” They may have saved you from getting into an accident when you get back in your car. Or maybe, because you slowed down, you might meet a friend you would have missed. You never know. The truth is, life is uncertain. And even that can work to your advantage.
两个水手在一个酒吧偶遇，喝了几杯啤酒后，其中的一个水手向另一个说起了他最近的航海经历。他说：“我们在海上走了一个月后，发现桅杆被白蚁蛀空了！几乎什么都没有留下来。”
“那太可怕了。”另一个水手说道。
“开始我也是这么认为的，”第一个水手说，“但后来情况有了转机，因为我们刚把帆降下来准备修桅杆时，就遭到一场突如其来的暴风雨的袭击。如果当时我们挂着帆，船肯定被掀翻了。”
“真幸运啊。”
“我们当时也是这么想的。但是因为帆降下来了，我们无法控制帆船。由于风很大，我们被风吹着触礁了。船撞出一个无法修补的大洞，我们都束手无策。”
“那确实太倒霉了。”
“一开始我也这么想。但我们都活着来到沙滩上，并且有充足的食物。然后就发生了真正让人兴奋的事：就在我们抱怨自己时运不济时，我们发现了一处深埋在地下的宝藏！”
就像这个故事阐释的，一件事的好坏，也许只有在你回顾过去时，才能确定；即使是那个时候，你可能仍然不知道，因为生活还在延续，故事尚未结束。一件事还没有呈现出它有利的方面时，并不意味着它永远不会。
因此，发生的所有事情你都可以简单地假定是“好事”。我知道这听起来像天方夜谭，但非常实用。如果你认为一件事是好事，要保持一种积极的心态就比较容易。而且，你的态度影响着你的健康，影响着你和他人彼此间的态度，并且对你的精力也有影响。而这些又有助于事情向好的方向发展。良好心态本身就是一件好事，而不良心态则对你毫无益处。
所以，我们要养成说“那很好！”的习惯。既然一件事最终对你是否有利，你无法确定，那就先假设，来肯定它。否定的假设会产生不良的效果。好好想想吧！你购物时，如果排在你前面的人正在磨磨蹭蹭，浪费其他人的时间，你可以对自己说：“那很好！”这也许能使你避免回到车上时碰到事故。或者，因为你的速度放慢了，你可能会碰见一个朋友，而本来你们会错过，你永远都不知道。事实是，人生变幻无常。即使这样，你仍然可以从中受益。
老子说：“福兮祸之所倚，祸兮福之所伏。”世间万物均在各自矛盾交替的轮回中存在着，没有一劳永逸的成功，也不存在永恒的失败。正如阴晴雨雪的天气一样，成与败，喜与悲，总是轮流登场，而你只要拥有良好的心态，天阴的时候，也可以心晴。
1. “That’s what I thought at_________ too,” the first sailor said, “but it turned out to be good luck... As_________ as we took the sails down to fix the masts, we were hit by a squall so suddenly and so hard, it would_________ have blown us over if our sails were up at the time.”
2. As this story illustrates, you don’t know if an event is “good” or “ ” except maybe in retrospect, and even then you don’t really know_________ life keeps going.
3. If someone ahead of you in_________ at a store is slowing everything down, say to yourself, “That’s good!” They may have saved you_________ getting into an accident when you get back in your car.
1. 就在我们抱怨自己时运不济时，我们发现了一处深埋在地下的宝藏！
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2. 良好心态本身就是一件好事，而不良心态则对你毫无益处。
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3. 事实是，人生变幻无常。即使这样，你仍然可以从中受益。
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1. Two sailors ran into each other in a pub.
run into：偶然遇见
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2. You don’t know if an event is “good” or “bad” except maybe in retrospect...
in retrospect：回顾往事；检讨过去
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勇敢地攀登到人生的峰顶
Reaching the Top of the Mountain
佚名 / Anonymous
