我們中國人都比較含蓄內(nèi)斂，說話都不會像老外那樣注視著對方的眼睛。可是，眼神接觸其實在人與人的交流中是十分重要的，因為一個人的眼神可能包含著一些隱藏的情緒和信息，讀懂別人的眼神才能讀懂對方的內(nèi)心世界。

Have you ever noticed or thought about how little eye contact most of us have with strangers？ Why？ Are we afraid of them？ What keeps us from opening our hearts to people we don’t know？

I don’t really know the answers to these questions， but I do know that there is virtually always a parallel between our attitude toward strangers and our overall level of happiness. In other words， it’s unusual to find a person who walks around with her head down， frowning and looking away from people， who is secretly a peaceful， joyful person.

I’m not suggesting it’s better to be outgoing than introverted， that you need to expend tons of extra energy trying to brighten others’ days， or that you should pretend to be friendly. I am suggesting， however， that if you think of strangers as being a little more like you and treat them not only with kindness and respect but with smiles and eye contact as well， you’ll probably notice some pretty nice changes in yourself.

You’ll begin to see that most people are just like you—most of them have families， people they love， troubles， concerns， likes， dislikes， fears， and so on. You’ll also notice how nice and grateful people can be when you’re the first one to reach out. When you see how similar we all are， you begin to see the innocence in all of us. In other words， even though we often mess up， most of us are doing the best that we know how with the circumstances that surround us. Along with seeing the innocence in people comes a profound feeling of inner happiness.

你可曾注意或思考過我們中的大多數(shù)人與陌生人的眼神接觸非常少？為什么？我們怕他們嗎？是什么阻礙我們對陌生人敞開心胸？

我真的不知道這些問題的答案，但我確實知道，事實上，我們對陌生人的態(tài)度和我們總的幸福水平是兩條平行線。換句話說，我們很難了解，一個低著頭走路又皺著眉四處張望的人，內(nèi)心可能是安靜快樂的。

我不是暗示外向就比內(nèi)向好，說你需要精力充沛地試著豐富別人的生活，或者假裝友好。我的意思是，你試想那個陌生人有點像你，不僅要待人友善，尊重他人，還要微笑著有眼神交流，你將可能注意到你自己微妙的美好的變化。

一開始，你可能會發(fā)現(xiàn)大多數(shù)人只是像你一樣——大多數(shù)人為家人、愛人，有麻煩、顧慮、喜惡、恐懼等等諸如此類的。你也可能注意到如果你先示好，人們會很友好地對你表示感謝。當你發(fā)現(xiàn)我們都是多么相似，你就會開始看到人性的天真無邪。換句話說，即使我們常常混在一起，我們中的大多數(shù)人正努力最好地融入周圍的環(huán)境。伴隨著人類天真無邪的發(fā)現(xiàn)，我們對內(nèi)心幸福感會有更深的感受。

Vocabulary

thought v. 想，思考；認為（think的過去式和過去分詞）

contact n. 接觸，聯(lián)系

afraid adj. 害怕的；恐怕；擔心的

virtually adv. 事實上，幾乎；實質(zhì)上

parallel n. 平行線；對比

attitude n. 態(tài)度；看法；意見；姿勢

overall adj. 全部的；全體的；一切在內(nèi)的

unusual adj. 不尋常的；與眾不同的；不平常的

frowning v. 皺眉頭（frown的現(xiàn)在分詞）

peaceful adj. 和平的，愛好和平的；平靜的

outgoing adj. 對人友好的，開朗的

introverted adj. 內(nèi)向的

expend vt. 花費；消耗；用光；耗盡

energy n. 能量；精力；活力；精神

pretend vi. 假裝，偽裝，佯裝

treat vt. 治療；對待；探討；視為

kindness n. 仁慈；好意；友好的行為

respect n. 尊敬，尊重；方面；敬意

changes n. 變化，改變（change的復(fù)數(shù)）

troubles n. 煩惱，苦惱，擔心，憂慮（trouble的復(fù)數(shù)）

concerns n. 關(guān)注；關(guān)注點；關(guān)注者（concern的復(fù)數(shù)形式）

innocence n. 清白，無罪；天真無邪

circumstance n. 環(huán)境，情況；事件；境遇

surround vt. 圍繞；包圍

profound adj. 深厚的；意義深遠的；淵博的