Why Success is Happiness

 Why Success is Happiness

The pursuit of success is a natural human drive. We all desire success in one form or another. Perhaps you want to get a promotion¹, or run a successful business, or be respected for your art. But if we are going to put a good deal of our energy into achieving a goal, it’s worth taking the time to ask ourselves whether the goal is worth attaining². If we ask our selves why we wish to achieve anything, the inevitable³ answer is that we believe it will make us happy. Now we must ask ourselves if this is true, and whether there might be a quicker route to happiness, and most importantly, whether the pursuit of this future happiness is jeopardizing⁴ our happiness today. The Greek philosopher Aristotle proposed an experiment about happiness. He said that if you ask anyone why they are doing what they are doing their ultimate answer will be because it makes them happy. A person starting up her own business might initially⁵ say she wants to make money and have more freedom. Ask her why and she’ll say because it will let her spend more quality time with her family, ask her again and she say that this quality time will bring her happiness.

We all pursue happiness most of the time every day. But we rarely stop and ask ourselves – are we pursuing it in the most efficient way? We’ll examine how efficient our business plan is, or our work schedule, or our golf drive, but we don’t stop to look at whether we are efficiently⁶ moving towards happiness. In order to achieve the goal of happiness you should consider asking yourself whether your life map is leading you towards happiness by the fastest route.

The title of this article is powerful. Understanding the idea could make your life easier. We all want success, and we all want happiness. So what happens when we unify⁷ these two powerful ideas? Two words, with one meaning. Success and happiness are the same.

For me realizing this has been a very liberating⁸ process. The old me who was stressed, addicted⁹ to work, constantly traveling and never arriving, has been allowed to relax. I no longer pursue my goals with the same fanaticism¹¹ or fervor¹². Is this a good thing? A lot of people are attached to fervor, believing that with great motivation comes great rewards. I disagree, because I recognize that the more I want something, the more I push it away. In fact, through letting go of our attachment¹³ to outcomes, we become more likely to achieve our goals, and moreover, we become more likely to be happy.

Don’t burn out your life living like a fanatic¹⁰. Take a good look at your map, and ask yourself, if it leads you to happiness. It shouldn’t take long to reach happiness because happiness is never far away. A few minutes of mediation¹⁴, spending an afternoon with your family, playing some sport with old friends – these are the things that will bring you happiness today. It’s easy to be happy, as long as you are willing to let go of your intense desires, and let things be. Find your patience, find your inner peace, and realize that happiness is right here, right now, waiting patiently for you。

1 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

2 attaining   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• Jim is halfway to attaining his pilot's licence. 吉姆就快要拿到飞行员执照了。
• By that time she was attaining to fifty. 那时她已快到五十岁了。

3 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

4 jeopardizing   

危及，损害( jeopardize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Plans may also become inefficient in the attainment of objectives by jeopardizing group satisfactions. 用危及群体利益方法去达到目标的计划，也是无效率的。
• That boosted government revenues in the short term, but is now jeopardizing them. Morales将天然气工业，电信业和部分采矿业收归国有的举措吓跑了投资者们。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

7 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

8 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

9 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

10 fanatic   

n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。
• I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

11 fanaticism   

n.狂热，盲信

参考例句：

• Your fanaticism followed the girl is wrong. 你对那个女孩的狂热是错误的。
• All of Goebbels's speeches sounded the note of stereotyped fanaticism. 戈培尔的演讲，千篇一律，无非狂热二字。

12 fervor   

n.热诚；热心；炽热

参考例句：

• They were concerned only with their own religious fervor.他们只关心自己的宗教热诚。
• The speech aroused nationalist fervor.这个演讲喚起了民族主义热情。

13 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

14 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。