英语专业晨读美文-人生篇 5 The Paradox of Happiness

[00:02.89]The Paradox¹ of Happiness
[00:05.37]Do you recall a time—let's say
[00:09.33]when you were about 5 years old—
[00:10.81]what defined happiness back then?
[00:13.29]Was it getting a puppy for Christmas? Or maybe,
[00:17.29]you were a child of divorce,
[00:19.53]and all you wanted was for Mom and Dad
[00:21.09]to get back together again?
[00:22.44]Then as you got older, you were hoping
[00:24.38]that someone would ask you to the prom
[00:26.27]that would've made your day,
[00:28.17]maybe your life for the moment. During college,
[00:31.56]good grades made you happy, but it was short-lived.
[00:34.07]Because in the real world, you had to look for a job,
[00:36.77]and competition was stark².
[00:39.01]It's an employer's world you thought.
[00:41.80]But then, you got the perfect job—
[00:44.24]now you could be happy—or could you?
[00:47.43]Life requires more than just what we want.
[00:50.22]Inevitably, one must understand to truly find “happiness”,
[00:54.58]he must make his own happiness “happen”.
[00:57.32]Sounds a bit redundant³, but truthfully,
[01:00.08]there is no set guidelines that will bring one happiness.
[01:03.02]There is no “magic wand” we can wave
[01:05.41]to bring joy into our lives.
[01:07.30]Human nature thrives on the thrill of the chase.
[01:10.33]We dream and we hope for the next big area—
[01:13.86]it is the grand adventure of living.
[01:16.13]We are hopeless creatures of comfort.
[01:18.53]We like having and accumulating things.
[01:21.68]Whether one admits to it or not, to a certain degree,
[01:24.90]we all try to “keep up with the Jones”.
[01:27.33]We work so we can pay our rents, mortgages,
[01:30.42]credit card debts, school loans, car payments...
[01:33.44]the list goes on and on. And at some point,
[01:37.30]we realize, that aside from having most of what we want,
[01:40.10]we still aren't happy. Now since we've learned to
[01:43.73]adapt to new standards which we've created for ourselves,
[01:46.46]we find that we have less time, less patience,
[01:49.93]less sleep, which equates⁵ to more stress,
[01:52.50]more worry and more aggravation⁶.
[01:54.71]So, is happiness honestly just comprised of “things”?
[01:58.85]Sometimes, we virtually read our lives for
[02:01.76]not only basic necessities, but for excessive items
[02:05.46]and services as well. We become so obsessed⁷
[02:08.15]with finding happiness, that we lose sight of the fact
[02:11.95]that happiness is within—always.
[02:13.44]Certainly you've heard of individuals
[02:16.85]trying to “find themselves”,
[02:18.24]or “rediscover themselves”.
[02:20.12]The reason they are attempting these innovative⁸ approaches
[02:22.91]is because they are seeking inner happiness.
[02:25.24]But the point has been missed:
[02:27.42]happiness is already there.
[02:29.35]Disappointments and tragedies in life will come and go,
[02:32.49]but happiness never leaves you.
[02:34.75]The human's capacity to be resilient to
[02:37.99]difficulties is unfathomable.
[02:39.75]We can lose our jobs, but be grateful for our spouses⁹.
[02:43.97]We can lose our homes to nature,
[02:46.33]but be thankful to be alive.
[02:48.41]Happiness is a perception of each individual.
[02:51.53]We are instincively compelled to find fault in our lives.
[02:55.78]By human nature, we begin our “fault-finding” mission
[02:59.24]the moment we're capable of free-thinking.
[03:01.30]It is then, that we lose sense of self-worth
[03:03.91]and the bigger picture of vitality¹⁰ altogether.
[03:06.71]Stuck in the patterns of the happiness paradox,
[03:10.01]we simply cannot find where our happiness has gone.
[03:13.13]It's not a matter of bargaining,
[03:15.42]it's not an issue of money or fame—
[03:17.72]instead,happiness is what you resolve to accept.
[03:21.11]If we live through optimistic hope;
[03:23.62]if we dare to dream; if we empower ourselves to fully⁴ live;
[03:28.14]then we have regained¹¹ our sense of happiness.
[03:30.86]There is no in-between. There is no other replacement¹².
[03:34.71]We only have one physical life to live.
[03:37.70]We have no choice but to make the most of it.
 

1 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

2 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

3 redundant   

adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的

参考例句：

• There are too many redundant words in this book.这本书里多余的词太多。
• Nearly all the redundant worker have been absorbed into other departments.几乎所有冗员，都已调往其他部门任职。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 equates   

v.认为某事物（与另一事物）相等或相仿( equate的第三人称单数 )；相当于；等于；把（一事物） 和（另一事物）等同看待

参考例句：

• He equates success with material wealth. 他认为成功等同于物质财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This equates to increased and vigor, better sleep and sharper mental acuity. 也就是说可以起到增强活力，改善睡眠，提高心智的作用。 来自互联网

6 aggravation   

n.烦恼，恼火

参考例句：

• She stirred in aggravation as she said this. 她说这句话，激动得过分。
• Can't stand the aggravation, all day I get aggravation. You know how it is." 我整天都碰到令人发火的事，你可想而知这是什么滋味。” 来自教父部分

7 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

8 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

9 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

10 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

11 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

12 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。