2018最新美文赏析
美文赏析:一位改变了我生活的女孩
My childhood and adolescence were a joyous outpouring of energy, a ceaseless quest for expression, skill, and experience. School was only a background to the supreme delight of lessons in music, dance, and dramatics, and the thrill of sojourns in the country, theaters, concerts.
我在童年和少年时代激情四溢,无时无刻不追求展现自我、磨砺才艺和体味生活。学校里的音乐、舞蹈和戏剧课让我欢欣不已,而剧院和音乐会更让我身心为之震颤,乡间流连的时光也同样美妙。
And books, big Braille books that came with me on streetcars, to the table, and to bed. Then one night at a high school dance, a remark, not intended for my ears, stabbed my youthful bliss: “That girl, what a pity she is blind.” Blind! That ugly word that implied everything dark, blank, rigid, and helpless. Quickly I turned and called out, Please don’t feel sorry for me, I’m having lots of fun. But the fun was not to last.
还有我的书,那些厚重的盲文书籍无论在我乘车、用餐还是睡觉时都与我形影不离。然而,一天晚上,在高中的一次舞会上,一句我无意中听到的话霎那间将我年少的幸福击碎——“那女孩是个瞎子,真可惜!”瞎子——这个刺耳的字眼隐含着一个阴暗、漆黑、僵硬和无助的世界。我立刻转过身,大声喊道:“请不要为我叹惜,我很快乐!”——但我的快乐自此不复存在。
With the advent of college, I was brought to grips with the problem of earning a living. Part-time teaching of piano and harmony and, upon graduation, occasional concerts and lectures, proved only partial sources of livelihood. In terms of time and effort involved, the financial remuneration was disheartening. This induced within me searing self-doubt and dark moods of despondency. Adding to my dismal sense of inadequacy was the repeated experience of seeing my sisters and friends go off to exciting dates. How grateful I was for my piano, where—through Chopin, Brahms, and Beethoven—I could mingle my longing and seething energy with theirs. And where I could dissolve my frustration in the beauty and grandeur of their conceptions.
升入大学之后,我开始为生计而奔波。课余时间我教授钢琴及和声,临近毕业时还偶尔参加几次演奏会,做了几次讲座,可要维持生计光靠这些还是不够,与投入的时间和精力相比,它们在经济上的回报让人沮丧。这让我失去了自信和勇气,内心郁闷苦恼。眼看我的姐妹和伙伴们一次次兴高采烈地与人约会,我更觉消沉空虚。 所幸的是,还有钢琴陪我。我沸腾的渴望和激情在肖邦、贝多芬、勃拉姆斯那里得到了共鸣。我的挫败感在他们美妙壮丽的音乐构想中消散。
Then one day, I met a girl, a wonderful girl, an army nurse, whose faith and stability were to change my whole life. As our acquaintance ripened into friendship, she discerned, behind a shell of gaiety, my recurring plateaus of depression. She said, “Stop knocking on closed doors. Keep up your beautiful music. I know your opportunity will come. You’re trying too hard. Why don’t you relax, and have you ever tried praying?”
直到有一天,我遇见一位女孩,一位出色的女孩,这名随军护士的信念和执著将改变我的一生。我们日益熟稔,成为好友,她也慢慢察觉出我的快乐的外表之下内心却时常愁云密布。她对我说,“门已紧锁,敲有何用?坚持你的音乐梦想,我相信机会终将来临。你太辛苦了,何不放松一下——试试祷告如何?”
The idea was strange to me. It sounded too simple. Somehow, I had always operated on the premise that, if you wanted something in this world, you had to go out and get it for yourself. Yet, sincerity and hard work had yielded only meager returns, and I was willing to try anything. Experimentally, self-consciously, I cultivated the daily practice of prayer. I said: God, show me the purpose for which You sent me to this world. Help me to be of use to myself and to humanity.
祷告?我从未想到过,听起来太天真了。一直以来,我的行事准则都是,无论想得到什么都必须靠自己去努力争取。不过既然从前的热诚和辛劳回报甚微,我什么都愿意尝试一番。虽然有些不自在,我尝试着每天都祷告——“上帝啊,你将我送到世上,请告诉我你赐予我的使命。帮帮我,让我于人于己都有用处。”
In the years to follow, the answers began to arrive, clear and satisfying beyond my most optimistic anticipation. One of the answers was Enchanted Hills, where my nurse friend and I have the privilege of seeing blind children come alive in God’s out-of-doors. Others are the never-ending sources of pleasure and comfort I have found in friendship, in great music, and, most important of all, in my growing belief that as I attune my life to divine revelation, I draw closer to God and, through Him, to immortality.
在接下来的几年里,我得到了明确而满意的回答,超出了我最乐观的期望值。其中一个回答就是魔山盲人休闲营区。在那里,我和我的护士朋友每年都有幸看到失明 的孩子们在大自然的怀抱中是多么生气勃勃。除此之外,朋友们真挚的友谊以及美妙的音乐都给我带来无穷无尽的欢乐和慰藉。最重要的是,我越来越意识到,在我日复一日的祷告中,当我聆听上帝的启示之时,我正日益与他靠近,并通过他接近永恒。
附注:
作者:罗丝·雷斯尼克,于1934年毕业于亨特学院,之后又获得了加州大学的硕士学位,现为三藩市盲人康乐协会的执行主任。
美文欣赏:你可以选择自己想过的生活
Occasionally, life can be undeniably, impossibly difficult. We are faced with challenges and events that can seem overwhelming, life-destroying to the point where it may be hard to decide whether to keep going. But you always have a choice. Jessica Heslop shares her powerful, inspiring journey from the worst times in her life to the new life she has created for herself:
生活有时候困难得难以置信,但又不容置疑。我们面临的挑战与困境似乎无法抵御,试图毁灭我们生活,甚至使你犹疑是否继续走下去。但是你总有选择的余地。从人生低谷走向新生活的杰西卡·赫斯乐普,在这里与我们分享她启迪心灵、充满震撼力的生活之旅。
In 2012 I had the worst year of my life.
2012年是我生活中最艰难的一年。
I worked in a finance job that I hated and I lived in a concrete jungle city with little greenery. I occupied my time with meaningless relationships and spent copious quantities of money on superficialities. I was searching for happiness and had no idea where to find it.
我做着讨厌的财务工作,住在难寻绿色的高楼林立的城市。我忙于无意义的交往,在一些肤浅表面的东西上大笔开销。我寻找快乐,却又不知道它在哪里。
Then I fell ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and became virtually bed bound. I had to quit my job and subsequently was left with no income. I lived with my boyfriend of then only 3 months who financially supported me and our relationship was put under great pressure. I eventually regained my physical health, but not long after that I got a call from my family at home to say that my father’s cancer had fiercely progressed and that he had been admitted to a hospice.
然后我患上了慢性疲劳综合症,几乎到了卧床不起的地步。我不得不辞掉工作,同时也就断了财源。我和那时仅相处了3个月的男友住在一起,经济上完全依赖于他,我们的关系承受着巨大压力。终于我恢复健康,但不久,我接到家里的电话,父亲的癌症急剧恶化,已经住进了临终关怀中心。
I left the city and I went home to be with him.
我离开了城市,回家陪父亲。
He died 6 months later.
6个月之后,他去世了。
My father was a complete inspiration to me. He was always so strong that, for a minute after he drew his last breath, I honestly thought he would come back to life. I couldn’t believe I would never again cuddle into his big warm chest and feel safe no matter what.
父亲的事让我彻底清醒。他一直很强壮,在他咽气之后一分钟里,我真的认为,他会活过来。我不能相信,我再也不能依偎在他温暖的怀抱里,享受他宽大的胸怀带给我的安全感。
The grief that followed was intense for all of us 5 children and our mother, but we had each other.
母亲和我们5个兄弟姐妹极为难过,但至少我们还拥有彼此。
But my oldest sister at that time complained of a bad back. It got so bad after 2 months that she too was admitted to hospital.
但是,那时我大姐开始抱怨着背痛,2个月后,因疼痛加剧也住进了医院。
They discovered that she had highly advanced cancer in her bones and that there was nothing that they could do.
医生们检查发现,她已是骨癌晚期,对此他们已无能为力。
She died 1 month later.
1个月之后,她也走了。
I could never put into words the loss of my sister in my life.
大姐的逝去让我陷入难以形容的痛苦之中。
She was a walking, talking angel and my favourite person in the whole world. If someone could have asked me the worst thing that could ever happen, it would have been losing her.
在这个世界上,她是一个能走路、会说话的天使,我最喜欢的人。如果有人问我,世界上发生的最坏的事情是什么,那就是失去她。
She was my soul-mate and I never thought I would journey this lifetime without her.
她是我的灵魂伴侣,我从来没有想过,我会走过没有她陪伴的生命旅程。
The Moment Of Deliberate Choice
抉择时刻
The shock and extreme heart break brought me to my knees. The pain was so great and my world just looked desolate. I had no real home, no money, no job, and no friends that cared. Not one person had even sent me a sympathy card for my loss.
我被打击和极度的心痛击挎了。强烈的痛苦使世界在我眼中变得如此凄凉。我没有真正意义上的家,没有钱,没有工作,也没有关心我的朋友。没有一个人因我失去亲人而寄给我慰问卡。
I made an attempt of my own life and I ended up in hospital.
我尝试着活下去,结果住进了医院。
I remember lying in the hospital bed, looking up at the ceiling and seeing my sister’s beautiful face. She stayed with me all night long.
我记得,躺在病床上,看着天花板,看到姐姐美丽的面庞。她整夜守候着我。
I realised during that night that I had a choice. I could choose to end my life or I could choose to live it.
那天晚上,我意识到我可以选择。要么结束生命,要么活下去。
I looked in my sister’s eyes and I made a decision not to go with her just yet. That I would stay and complete my journey here.
望着姐姐的眼睛,我决定不跟她走。我要留下来,走完我的生命旅程。
I also made the decision that, I wouldn’t just live any life. I would live the life that I absolutely LOVE and nothing less.
同时,我还决定,不只为生活而生活,我要完全以自己想要的方式生活。
In that moment, the clarity that descended around me was like a light shining in a dark room for the first time. As if the earth’s plates had shifted under my feet and everything suddenly looked real for the first time.
在那一刻,这一想法第一次清晰得如同一盏在黑暗闪烁的明灯。好像脚下的地球版块变换了,每一样东西在我眼前都真实得前所未有。
美文赏析:打开心门拥抱生活
We often close ourselves off when traumatic events happen in our lives; instead of letting the world soften us, we let it drive us deeper into ourselves. We try to deflect the hurt and pain by pretending it doesn’t exist, but although we can try this all we want, in the end, we can’t hide from ourselves. We need to learn to open our hearts to the potentials of life and let the world soften us.
生活发生不幸时,我们常常会关上心门;世界不仅没能慰藉我们,反倒使我们更加消沉。我们假装一切仿佛都不曾发生,以此试图忘却伤痛,可就算隐藏得再好,最终也还是骗不了自己。既然如此,何不尝试打开心门,拥抱生活中的各种可能,让世界感化我们呢?
Whenever we start to let our fears and seriousness get the best of us, we should take a step back and re-evaluate our behavior. The items listed below are six ways you can open your heart more fully and completely.
当恐惧与焦虑来袭时,我们应该退后一步,重新反思自己的言行。下面六个方法有助于你更完满透彻地敞开心扉。
1. Breathe into pain
直面痛苦
Whenever a painful situation arises in your life, try to embrace it instead of running away or trying to mask the hurt. When the sadness strikes, take a deep breath and lean into it. When we run away from sadness that’s unfolding in our lives, it gets stronger and more real. We take an emotion that’s fleeting and make it a solid event, instead of something that passes through us.
当生活中出现痛苦的事情时,别再逃跑或隐藏痛苦,试着拥抱它吧;当悲伤来袭时,试着深呼吸,然后直面它。如果我们一味逃避生活中的悲伤,悲伤只会变得更强烈更真实——悲伤原本只是稍纵即逝的情绪,我们却固执地耿耿于怀。
By utilizing our breath we soften our experiences. If we dam them up, our lives will stagnate, but when we keep them flowing, we allow more newness and greater experiences to blossom.
深呼吸能减缓我们的感受。屏住呼吸,生活停滞;呼出呼吸,更多新奇与经历又将拉开序幕。
2. Embrace the uncomfortable
拥抱不安
We all know what that twinge of anxiety feels like. We know how fear feels in our bodies: the tension in our necks, the tightness in our stomachs, etc. We can practice leaning into these feelings of discomfort and let them show us where we need to go.
我们都经历过焦灼的煎熬感,也都感受过恐惧造成的生理反应:脖子僵硬、胃酸翻腾。其实,我们有能力面对这些痛苦的感受,从中领悟到出路。
The initial impulse is to run away — to try and suppress these feelings by not acknowledging them. When we do this, we close ourselves off to the parts of our lives that we need to experience most. The next time you have this feeling of being truly uncomfortable, do yourself a favor and lean into the feeling. Act in spite of the fear.
我们的第一反应总是逃避——以为否认不安情绪的存在就能万事大吉,可这也恰好妨碍了我们经历最需要的生活体验。下次感到不安时,不管有多害怕,也请试着勇敢面对吧。
3. Ask your heart what it wants
倾听内心
We’re often confused at the next step to take, making pros and cons lists until our eyes bleed and our brains are sore. Instead of always taking this approach, what if we engaged a new part of ourselves that isn’t usually involved in the decision making process?
我们常对未来犹疑不定,反复考虑利弊直到身心俱疲。与其一味顾虑重重,不如从局外人的角度看待决策之事。
I know we’ve all felt decisions or actions that we had to take simply due to our “gut” impulses: when asked, we can’t explain the reasons behind doing so — just a deep knowing that it had to get done. This instinct is the part of ourselves we’re approaching for answers.
其实很多决定或行动都是我们一念之间的结果:要是追问原因的话,恐怕我们自己也道不清说不明,只是感到直觉如此罢了。而这种直觉恰好是我们探索结果的潜在自我。
To start this process, take few deep breaths then ask, “Heart, what decision should I make here? What action feels the most right?”
开始前先做几次深呼吸,问自己:“内心认为该做什么样的决定呢?觉得采取哪个方案最恰当?”
See what comes up, then engage and evaluate the outcome.
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