小學英語雙語閱讀系列幸福生活：幸福生活不等于有意義素材

華蜜生活不等于有意義很多人都認為人生意義在于追求華蜜的過程，而最新探討表明，華蜜的人生與有意義的人生(meaningfullife)不能畫上等號，而一味追求華蜜更是會徒增苦惱。Whatkindoflifedoyouwant?Ispursuinghappinessthegoalofyourlife?Orwouldyouratherleadameaningfullife?Wait,yousay,butaren’thappinessandmeaninglinkedwitheachother?Surelysomeonewholeadsameaningfullifeishappy?Andwefindmeaninginthepursuitofhappiness?你想要哪種生活？你生活的目標是追求華蜜？抑或是想活得更充溢？等一下，你是說，華蜜與充溢之間并無關聯(lián)嗎？充溢的人生不都該是華蜜的么？我們不都是在追求華蜜的過程中才找到人生意義的么？Accordingtoanewstudy,ahappylifeandameaningfullifearenotthesamething.Infact,thesingle-mindedpursuitofhappinesscanleavepeoplelesshappy.一項最新探討顯示，華蜜的人生和有意義的人生完全不是一回事。事實上，一味追求華蜜只會讓人們的華蜜感降低。ThestudywillbepublishedthisyearintheJournalofPositivePsychology.ArecentarticleinTheAtlanticprovidedasummaryoftheresults.這項探討成果年內(nèi)將刊登在《主動心理學學刊》。近期發(fā)表在《大西洋月刊》上的一篇文章也概述了該探討成果。Scientistsaskednearly400UScitizensaged18to78whethertheythoughttheirlivesweremeaningfulandhappy.Thesepeoplewereaskedabouttheirattitudestowardmeaning,happinessandmanyotheraspectsinlife,likestresslevels,spendingpatterns,andfamilylife.Theresearchersfoundthatameaningfullifeandahappylifeoverlapincertainways,butareessentiallydifferent.科學家就是否覺得生活華蜜而充溢這一問題采訪了約400位，年齡介于18-78歲間的美國人。受訪者就華蜜、充溢、以及壓力水平、消費模式和家庭生活等生活方方面面的給出了自己的看法。探討人員發(fā)覺，盡管充溢生活與華蜜生活在某些方面重合，但本質(zhì)不同。Leadingahappylife,theresearchersfound,isassociatedwithbeinga“taker”,whileleadingameaningfullifecorrespondswithbeinga“giver”.探討人員發(fā)覺，生活華蜜的人往往是“索取者”，而生活充溢的人則屬于“贈予者”。Happiness,theresearchersfound,isaboutfeelinggoodandgettingwhatwewant.Peoplewhoarehappytendtothinkthatlifeiseasy.Theyareingoodphysicalhealthandabletobuythethingsthattheyneedandwant.探討人員發(fā)覺，華蜜就是感覺良好并得償所愿。華蜜的人往往認為生活簡潔安逸。他們身體健康，而且買得起自己須要和想要的東西。Happinessisaboutsatisfyingourneedsanddesires.Thepursuitofhappinessisoftenassociatedwithselfishbehavior.Animalshaveneedsanddesiresandtheycanfeelhappytoo.Whatsetshumanbeingsapartfromanimalsisnotthepursuitofhappiness,theresearcherssaid,butthepursuitofmeaning,whichisuniquetohumans.華蜜便是滿意私欲。追求華蜜往往伴隨著一些自私行徑。動物存在欲望，亦能感到華蜜。探討人員表示，真正將人類與動物區(qū)分開來的，并非對于華蜜的追求，而是對于人生意義的追求，這是人類的專屬。Wecanoftenfindmeaninginhelpingothersormakingasacrificefora“greatergood”.Meaningoftencomesattheexpenseofhappiness.That’sbecausepeoplewhohaveinvestedthemselvesinsomethingbiggerthanthemselvesworrymoreandhavehigherlevelsofstressandanxietyintheirlivesthanhappypeople.Volunteeringinruralschools,forexample,ismeaningfulbutalsoentailshardship.我往往在幫助他人，或者“犧牲小我完成大我”的過程中找到人生意義。獲得人生意義總是要以華蜜為代價。這是因為當人們投身比自身更重要的事業(yè)中時，總是要比華蜜的人承受更多的壓力和焦慮。比如去山區(qū)支教是件有意義的事，但同時也得歷經(jīng)苦難。Thestudyalsofoundthatmeaningisnotonlyabouttranscendingtheself,butalsoabouttranscendingthepresentmoment.這項探討還發(fā)覺，人生的意義不僅僅是超越自我，更是超越現(xiàn)在。Happiness,likeanyemotion,isfeltinthehereandnow-itultimatelyfadesaway.Meaning,ontheotherhand,isenduring.Itconnectsthepasttothepresenttothefuture.“Thinkingbeyondthepresentmoment,intothepastorfuture,wasasignoftherelativelymeaningfulbutunhappylife,”accordingtotheresearchers.“Happinessisnotgenerallyfoundincontemplatingthepastorfuture.”正如其他情感一樣，華蜜是一種即時的感受，也終將消散。而人生意義卻是恒久的。它連接過去、現(xiàn)在和將來?！澳欠N超脫于當下，放眼過去或將來的思維方式，標記著你的生活比較有意義卻并不華蜜?！碧接懭藛T說，“凝視著歷史或將來，一般是看不到華蜜的?！盓xperiencingnegativeevents,thestudyfound,decreasesyourhappinessbutincreasesthefeelingsofmeaningfulnessinyourlife.NooneknowsthisbetterthanViktorFrankl,writerofthebest-sellingbookMan’sSearchforMeaning.“Ifthereismeaninginlifeatall,”hewrote,“thentheremustbemeaninginsuffering.”探討發(fā)覺，一些負面的經(jīng)驗會降低你的華蜜感，但同時會提升生活的充溢感。想必沒人能比暢銷書《活誕生命的意義》的作者維克多?弗蘭克爾更理解這一點了。他在書中寫道：“若人生確有意義，那它必隱于苦難磨礪之中?！盕ranklwrotethebookafterhavinglivedthroughthehorrorsofaNazic