Giving Life Meaning
Have you thought about what you want people to say about you after you’re gone? Can you hear the voice saying, “He was a great man.” Or “She really will be missed.” What else do they say?
One of the strangest phenomena of life is to engage in a work that will last long after death. Isn’t that a lot like investing all your money so that future generations can bare interest on it? Perhaps, yet if you look deep in your own heart, you’ll find something drives you to make this kind of contribution---something drives every human being to find a purpose that lives on after death.
Do you hope to memorialize your name? Have a name that is whispered with reverent awe? Do you hope to have your face carved upon 50 ft of granite rock? Is the answer really that simple? Is the purpose of lifetime contribution an ego-driven desire for a mortal being to have an immortal name or is it something more?
A child alive today will die tomorrow. A baby that had the potential to be the next Einstein will die from complication is at birth. The circumstances of life are not set in stone. We are not all meant to live life through to old age. We’ve grown to perceive life3 as a full cycle with a certain number of years in between. If all of those years aren’t lived out, it’s a tragedy. A tragedy because a human’s potential was never realized. A tragedy because a spark was snuffed out before it ever became a flame.
By virtue of inhabiting a body we accept these risks. We expose our mortal flesh to the laws of the physical environment around us. The trade off isn’t so bad when you think about it. The problem comes when we construct mortal fantasies of what life should be like. When life doesn’t conform to our fantasy we grow upset, frustrated, or depressed.
We are alive; let us live. We have the ability to experience; let us experience. We have the ability to learn; let us learn. The meaning of life can be grasped in a moment. A moment so brief it often evades our perception.
What meaning stands behind the dramatic unfolding of life? What single truth can we grasp and hang onto for dear life when all other truths around us seem to fade with time?
These moments are strung together in a series we call events. These events are strung together in a series we call life. When we seize the moment and bend it according to our will, a will driven by the spirit deep inside us, then we have discovered the meaning of life, a meaning for us that shall go on long after we depart this Earth.
给生命以意义
你有没有想过，你希望人们在你死后怎样评论你？你能否听到这样的说，“他是个伟大的人”或“人们的确会怀念她”，他们还会说些什么？
人生最奇异的现象之一就是，你从事的事业在你死后仍将长久存在。这和你用所的钱进行投资以便后人能从中获益不是如出一辙吗？也许，如果你审视自己的内心深处，你就会发现促使你做出这种贡献的驱动力-一种驱使每个人寻找在自己死后仍能继续存在的事业的驱动力。
你希望自己的名字被人记住吗？你希望别人提起你的名字时心怀敬畏吗？你希望自己的面容被雕刻在50英尺高的花岗岩上吗？答案真的那么简单吗？贡献一生的目的难道终将一死之人想要获得不朽名声的自我鞭策的欲望？抑或是其他更伟大的事物？
今天活着的孩子明天就会死去。一个有可能成为下一个爱因斯坦的婴儿会死于出生并发症。生命的情形并不是固定不变的。我们并没有注定都要活到老年。我们已经认识到，生命是一个周期，其时间长度是特定的。如果这些时间没有被充分利用，那就是个悲剧，因为人的潜能还未实现，因为火花还没形成火焰就被补灭。
由于存在于肉体之中，所以我们接受这些风险。我们使易朽的肉体服从周围物理环境的法则。你仔细想一想就会发现，这种交易并不是那么糟糕。当我们幻想生命应该如何时，问题就来了。当生命和我们的幻想不一致时，我们就变得烦恼，无奈或沮丧。
我们活着，那我们就要活得精彩；我们有能力体验，那我们就要体验人生甘苦；我们有能力学习，那我们就要在学海徜徉。生命的意义可以在一瞬间抓住-一个经常被我们忽略的短暂瞬间。
当生命戏剧般地一幕幕拉开时，其中隐含的意义是什么？当我们周围所有其他都似乎随着时间而消逝时，我们能够掌握哪个真理并依靠它来生活呢？
这些瞬间串联在一起，我们称之为事件。这些事件串联系在一起， 我们称之为生活。当我们抓住那个瞬间并按照我们的意志来改变它-这意志受到我们内心深处的精神的驱使，我们就发现了生命的意义-这意义将在我们离开地球之后长久存在。
Ambition 抱负
It is not difficult to imagine a world short of would probably be a kinder world:without demands,without abrasions without disappointments. People would have time for work as they did would not he for themselves but for the collectivity. Competition would never enter in. Conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in its evity would be increased,for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous endeavor. Anxiety would be extinct. Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from
the human heart.
一个缺乏抱负的世界将会怎样，这不难想象。或许，这将是一个更为友善的世界:没有渴求，没有摩擦，没有失望。人们将有时间进行反思。他们所从事的工作将不是为了他们自身，而是为了整个集体。竞争永远不会介入；冲突将被消除。人们的紧张关系将成为过往云烟。创造的重压将得以终结。艺术将不再惹人费神，其功能将纯粹为了庆典。人的寿命将会更长，因为由激烈拼争引起的心脏病和中风所导致的死亡将越来越少。焦虑将会消失。时光流逝，抱负却早已远离人心。
We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death. But within all this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live: courageously or in cowardice，honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift. We decide what is important and what is trivial in life. We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how indifferent the universe to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition about.
我们无法选择出生，无法选择父母，无法选择出生的历史时期与国家，或是成长的环境。我们大多数人都无法选择死亡，无法选择死亡的时间或条件。但是在这些无法选择之中，我们的确可以选择自己的生活方式:是勇敢无畏还是胆小怯懦，是光明磊落还是厚颜无耻，是目标坚定还是随波逐流。我们决定生活中哪些至关重要，哪些微不足道。我们决定，用以显示我们自身重要性的，不是我们做了什么，就是我们拒绝做些什么。但是不论世界对我们所做的选择和决定有多么漠不关心，这些选择和决定终究是我们自己做出的。我们决定，我们选择。而当我们决定和选择时，我们的生活便得以形成。最终构筑我们命运的就是抱负之所在。
You must control and direct your emotions not abolish them. Besides, abolition would be antimissile task. Emotions are like a river. Their power can be dammed up and released under control and direction, but is cannot be held forever in check. Sooner or later the dam will burst, unleashing catastrophic destruction.
你必须控制并导引你的情绪而非摧毁它，况且摧毁情绪是一件不可能的事情。情绪就像河流一样，你可以筑一道堤 防把它挡起来，并在控制和导引之下排放它，但却不能永远抑制它，否则那道堤防迟早会崩溃，并造成大灾难。
As food is to the body, so is learning to the mind. Our bodies grow and muscles develop with the intake of adequate nutritious food. Likewise, we should keep learning day by day to maintain our keen mental power and expand our intellectual capacity. Constant learning supplies us with inex-haustible fuel for driving us to sharpen our power of reasoning, analysis, and judgment. Learning incessantly is the surest way to keep pace with the times in the information age, and reliable warrant of success in times of uncertainty.
学习之于心灵，就像食物之于身体一样。摄取了适量的营养食物，我们的身体得以生长而肌肉得以发达。 同样地，我们应该日复一日不断地学习以保持我们心智的敏锐，并扩充我们的智力容量。不断的学习提供我们用之不尽的燃料，来驱使我们磨砺我们的推理、分析和判断的能力。持续的学习是在信息时代中跟时代井驾齐驱的最稳当的方法，也是在变动的时代中成功的可靠保证。
Once learning stops, vegetation sets in. It is a common fallacy to regard school as the only workshop for the acquisition of knowledge. On the contrary, learning should be a neyer-ending process, from the cradle to the grave. With the world changing so fast, to cease learning for just a few days will make a person lag behind. Whats worse, the animal instinct dormant deep in our sub-conscious will come to life. Weakening our will to pursue our noble ideas, undermining our determination to sweep away obstacles to our success and strangling our desire for the refinement of our character. Lack of learning will inevitably lead to the stagnation of the mind, or even worse, its fossilization. Therefore, to stay mentally young, we have to take learning as a lifelong career.
一旦学习停止，单调贫乏的生活就开始了。视学校为汲取知识的惟一场所是种常见的谬误。相反地，从生到死，学习应该是一种无终止的历程。 由于世界变化得如此迅速，只要学习停顿数日就能使人落后。更糟的是，蛰伏在我们潜意识深处的本能就会复活，削弱我们追求高尚理想的意志，弱化我们扫除成功障碍的决心，而且扼杀我们净化我们人格的欲望。缺少学习将不可避免地导致心灵的停滞，甚至更糟，使其僵化。因此，为了保持心态年轻，我们必须将学习当作一生的事业。
There’s no rose without a thorn. Thisthought is absolutely necessary to prepare you to experience less pain and morejoy in your journey of life.
人生固然有欢乐，但也一定不乏痛苦。有了这种认识和思想准备也是非常必要的，因为这样会使你的生活增加欢乐而减少痛苦。
With a bird’s-eye view, you may realize somethingmeaningful. During your school years, while joyfully acquiring knowledge youare also under the pressure of homework, examinations, and ranking. You facecrises and agony. Meanwhile, all sorts of intricate affairs may happen betweenyou and your classmates. In your youth, puberty may fill you with unrealizeddesires and send you into deeper perplexity.
鸟瞰人生，可略有领悟。上学时，有获得知识的乐趣，便有做功课、考试、排名次的危机与痛苦。同样，也有同学间相处的融合与纠结。青年时，春心萌动，幻想联翩，难以实现，亦难免陷入困扰。
Entering marriage, you are actually in thecenter of all the contradictions—the matching of different personalities,enduring of family members, children’s schooling, financial management and soon, you may also fall into marriage crisis. As you age, your health maydeteriorate and various troubles in your career and family may graduallyemerge. Mid-life and old-age crisis will follow, leading you to your eternity.
结婚之后，实际进入了更多的矛盾之中；思想的落差、相处的困难、子女的教育、财务的争执等等，也会陷入婚姻危机。随后，年龄愈大，健康愈差，事业、家庭中的许多潜在矛盾会日益突出，因而又会有中年危机和老年危机，直至步入死亡。
We may therefore conclude that much of ourlife may not be spent in contentment. However, the things that discontent are,in fact, not useless since you may learn more from them than from the thingsthat cheered you up.
所以说，人生在世，如意的事不足一二，不如意的则十之有八。但这不是负担，而是有用的，因为人在痛苦中所学到的，要比在欢乐中所学到的多得多。
Many people think that they have to accept whatever life throws at them. Theyll say, "This is my fate, my destiny. I cannot change it."
Of course not!
You dont have to suffer needlessly. Your destiny depends on you, not on any other external factors.
I know someone who says she just accepts what life gives her because she has done everything she can to improve it.
Guess what her lifestyle is?
She wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes back home, relaxes, chats with people, watches TV, then goes to sleep. Next day, the same routinary cycle ensues.
Huh?！？ Is this what she calls "doing her best?"
She believes she has tried her best and just accepts it in her heart that this is the life that God has intended for her to live; that her luck can only change if God wills it.
Of course God wants us to be happy and live our life to the fullest, but we have to do our share of exerting the effort to live the life of our dreams.
You reap what you sow.
You just dont sit around and wait for a million dollars to fall from the sky. You have to get off the couch, get your eyes off the TV screen, get your hands off the phone (unless it contributes to your success)， and get your mind and body to work!
If your life is not meant the way you want it to be, dont just say: "Our time will come." or "Things will get better some day."
Dont expect your luck to change, unless you do something about it. If something goes wrong, dont just regard it as a temporary setback; but use it as feedback. Learn your lesson, make the most of the situation, and do something to resolve the problem.
Its not enough to think positive; you also have to act positive.
If someones life is in trouble, do you just hope and pray that things will turn out fine? Of course not! You got to do anything you can to save the person.
So it is with your own life. It is not enough to hope for the best, but you have to DO your best.
In other words, dont just stand (or sit) there, do something to improve your life!
许多人认为人应该认命接受生活跑给自己的一切。他们会说：“这就是我的命运，是命中注定的。要改变它我无能为力。”
当然不是这样！
你不必委曲求全。你的命运取决于你自己，而不是其他外在的因素。
我认识的一个人说她只不过是接受生活所给予的一切，因为她已经尽全力去改善生活了。
大家猜猜她过的是一种怎样的生活？
她早上醒来，去上班，回家，休息，和别人聊天，看电视，然后上床休息。第二天，这种生活重复循环着。
哈，这就是她所谓的“竭尽全力”？
她认为她已经尽了力，在心里接受了这种想法，即这就是上帝为她安排的生活，只有上帝愿意，她的运气才会改变。
当然，上帝希望我们幸福快乐，生活圆满，但我们也要尽力为过上我们梦想的生活而努力。
一份耕耘，一份收获。
你不能坐着不动，巴望着天上会掉下百万美元来。你必须从沙发起身，把眼睛从电视屏幕移开，放下手中的电话--除非它有助于你获得成功，然后全身心投入工作中！
如果你的生活并不称心如意，不要只说：“我们的时机会来的。”或“总有一天情况会好转的。”
别指望运气会改变，除非你对其有所行动。如果出现问题，不要紧紧将其视为暂时的挫败，而是把它当成是一种反应。吸取教训，充分利用当时的情况，并采取行动来解决问题。
积极地思考是不够的，你还需要积极地行动。
如果某个人的生活陷入麻烦，你只是希望和祈祷事情好转起来吗？当然不是。你应该尽你所能去解救这个人。
对于自己的生活也是这样。仅仅抱有乐观的态度是不够的，而是要尽力做到最好。换句话说，不要只是站(坐)在那儿，要行动起来改善你的生活！
At the start of your workday, before you even check your emails, make a plan. Jot down the three most important tasks you want to accomplish that day. Put a big star next to the most important. Now, before you get into the busy work of emails and photocopying and tidying your desk, start on that important task and see it through to the end.
在你刚开始工作时，趁着还没查看邮件，赶紧定个计划吧。写下当天必须完成的三个最重要的任务，最重要的那个打上标记。然后趁着还没开始检查邮件、影印资料或整理办公桌等工作内容前，赶紧着手那个最重要的任务并保证完成它。
Surprisingly few people take the time to plan their workday, and end up spinning their wheels on a number of low-priority tasks without really accomplishing anything big.
奇怪的是，很少有人能有计划地工作，一天下来后还是周旋在几个效率甚低的任务上，最后其实什么实事都没做成。
When youre going through the workday, try to keep similar tasks together. When you switch from one thing to another, your brain takes a few minutes to catch up and settle in: constantly jumping between answering emails and writing a report and tidying up your desk just means youll lose track of where youd got to. You might feel like youre working super-efficiently (because your mind is buzzing all over the place)， but youll actually be wasting a lot of time.
工作时可以将相似的任务并在一起处理。当你从一个任务换到另一个任务时，大脑会花几分钟进行调整：同时既要回复邮件、撰写报告，又要整理办公桌，到头来你可能会手足无措。虽然这样你可能觉得自己效率超级高（因为大脑一刻没停），但其实并没有优化利用时间。
If you need to answer a number of emails, do them all at once. The same goes for phone calls, filing, photocopying and other similar tasks.
如果要回复的邮件很多，那就一起处理掉。电话、整理文案、影印等同样如此。
精彩范文吧