by Veronica Hay

“There are two things to aim at in life： first， to get what you want； and after that， to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. ”

—Logan Pearsall Smith注1

I recently overheard[偶然聽到] something that surprised me. I heard that people who win the lottery[彩票] are happy for about three weeks. Yes！ Only three weeks， and then they go back to their previous[以前的] state of being， before they won the money. This really did surprise me. I thought that they would have been happy about something so amazing as that for much longer than three weeks.

Did you know that 90% of all people who win the lottery are broke[破產(chǎn)的] within one year， and that most of those wish they had never won it in the first place？

I think the reason for this is that anytime we try to change how we feel by using something outside of ourselves， like winning the lottery， or getting a new car or house， it never works. The resulting feelings of euphoria[幸福愉快感] are often only fleeting[飛逝的]. We cannot sustain[維持] them for very long. Perhaps， in some way， that is a good thing. It reminds us that happiness really does come from within and is available[可得到的] to us at any moment. True happiness has very little to do with what is happening on the outside， it is an inside job. Happiness is a choice. It is a state of BEING.

We can make the decision to BE happy for one day， when we wake up in the morning， every morning. We can find something that brings us great pleasure， like sitting outside in the garden under an old tree and listening to the birds sing， or watching the dog or cat play， and just savoring[盡情享受] the moment. Happiness is always available to us. It is our natural state and we need only allow it in. At any moment， we can stop， take a deep breath， and remember who we really are， and why we came here， and that truly is to experience joy and the aliveness[活力] of being.

“Happiness is like a butterfly which， when pursued[追求]， is always beyond our grasp[抓住]， but， if you will sit down quietly， may alight[飛落] upon you. ”

—Nathaniel Hawthorne注2

So， dear heart， today， no matter what is going on in your own life， take a few moments to breathe deeply and just decide to BE happy， whatever that means to you.

“人生有兩大追求目標(biāo)：首先，得到你想要的；繼而，享受你所得到的。只有最明智的人才能達到第二個目標(biāo)。”

——洛根·皮爾索爾·史密斯

最近我無意間聽到一件令我震驚的事。我聽說中了彩票的人只會快活大約三周。是的！僅僅三周，在那之后他們又會回到贏錢之前的狀態(tài)。這確實令我大吃一驚。我原以為他們?yōu)槿绱松衿娴氖虑槎_心的時間會遠遠超過三周。

你知道嗎？中彩票的人中百分之九十的人會在一年之內(nèi)破產(chǎn)，而且大部分人希望他們從未中獎。

我認為個中緣由是，無論什么時候我們試圖利用某些身外之物來改變自身的感覺，比如中彩票，或得到一輛新車或者一間新房子，統(tǒng)統(tǒng)不管用。由此而產(chǎn)生的愉悅感往往轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝，難以維持長久?；蛟S，從某種意義上來說，這是件好事。它提醒我們，快樂真的是發(fā)自內(nèi)心的，并且在任何時刻都可能降臨在我們身上。真正的快樂與外界所發(fā)生的事沒有太大關(guān)系，這屬于我們的內(nèi)心世界?？鞓肥且环N選擇，是一種“存在”的狀態(tài)。

每天清晨，當(dāng)我們睜開眼睛，我們可以選擇快樂一整天。我們可以尋找給我們帶來莫大愉悅的事，比如坐在花園里的老樹下聆聽鳥兒的歌唱，或者看著小貓小狗嬉戲玩耍，然后盡情享受這一刻?？鞓房傇谖覀兩磉?。這是我們的自然狀態(tài)，而我們所需要做的就是接受它。在任何時候，我們都可以停下腳步，深呼吸，想想我們到底是誰，我們?yōu)槭裁磥淼竭@個世界，這樣才能真真正正地體會到生存的快樂與活力。

“快樂就像蝴蝶，當(dāng)你追逐它，它總是從我們手中溜走，但當(dāng)你靜靜坐下，它也許會飛落在你身上?！?/p>

——納撒尼爾·霍桑

所以，親愛的人兒??！今天無論你的生活遇到了什么，花幾分鐘坐下來深呼吸，只需要決定快樂起來，無論快樂對你意味著什么。