《人生七年》悟出的5條人生法則

英國導演邁克爾·艾普特拍了一部很牛的BBC紀錄片《人生七年》(《56UP》)，導演選擇了14個不同階層的孩子進行跟蹤拍攝，每七年記錄一次、從7歲一直到56歲。很多文章解讀說這就像之前天涯很火的那篇《寒門難再出貴子》，暴露了人生的殘酷。

然而，一千個人眼中有一千個哈姆雷特。在這裏換個角度另類解讀這部每7年就火一次的紀錄片——《人生七年》告訴我們的5條人生法則。

　　1. Count your blessings.

要記得時常感恩。

The most troubled—and compelling—participants in the series are the ones that are also among the most grateful for what they have.

紀錄片中遇到麻煩最多、同時也最引人注目的角色，往往也是那些對自己所擁有的一切最懂得感恩的人。

Neil, for example, suffers severe mental illness and has been homeless and suicidal for long stretches of time. But Neil also provides the audience with many moments of grace, as when he recounts how grateful he is for long walks and conversations with friends.

比如說，影片中的尼爾患有嚴重的精神疾病，很長時間都流浪在外、猶豫在自殺的邊緣。但尼爾帶給觀衆的，還有很多優雅的鏡頭：回想起和朋友們的長途漫步、促膝而談，他感到很滿足。

This sense of gratitude contributes powerfully to the resilience self-cure of Neil. People who live a life of pervasive thankfulness really do experience life differently than people who cheat themselves out of life by not feeling grateful.

正是這種感恩的意識，促進了尼爾的恢復和自愈。對生活毫無感恩的人其實是欺騙了自己的生活，而對生活充滿感恩的人、他們的生活體驗真的與衆不同。

　　2. Life goes on.

無論發生什麼，生活都會繼續。

Through the years, we've seen the participants experience deaths, divorce, and dramatic career setbacks. We've also seen them prevail against adversity.

在紀錄片中，我們可以看到參與拍攝的人們經歷死亡、離婚、突發的職場挫折等等，也見證了他們走出逆境。

Over and over, we've seen the participants believe negative events meant their lives were finished. But people will gradually return to their personal “baseline” of happiness after a triumph or a tragedy.

多少次，這些人認爲他們人生中的挫折似乎意味着自己的生活完蛋了，然而並沒有。人們在戰勝困難或經受磨難後，會逐漸迴歸到最基本平常的幸福。

The key to happiness is to raise that baseline by cultivating an approach to life that emphasizes appreciation for the good things, as well as qualities like forgiveness and compassion.

幸福的祕訣就是培養這樣的人生態度：欣賞生命中美好的事情、培養寬容和富有同情心的素質。

　　3. Relationships matter—a lot.

人際關係很重要。

"At 56, for people who put energy into families, there was a big payback," said Michael Apted.

導演邁克爾·艾普特說，“56歲的時候，那些爲家庭盡心盡力的人，都得到了很大的回報。”

Again and again, the "Up" series reveals how critical friends, family, and social connections are to an individual’s success and happiness in life. For both men and women, caring for others invested their lives with a meaning that they weren't able to find in any other activity.

《人生七年》曾多次證實了友情、親情、社會關係對於一個人成功和擁有幸福生活的重要影響。無論是男人還是女人，愛給他們人生帶來的意義、是其他任何活動都無法得到的。

　　4. Money also matters—but only up to a point.

錢很重要，但只是在某種層面上重要。

The series originally set out to examine the long-term impact of social class on happiness and life chances. And it does, in fact, show that money matters. But the research also shows that once we secure food, shelter, and a minimum level of comfort, happiness springs from life meaning and relationships much more than money.

紀錄片的初衷是想驗證英國社會階級對人生幸福和機遇的影響。事實上，它的確驗證了金錢的重要性。但它也表明，一旦我們能夠滿足食物、住所、基本的舒適感，幸福的源泉更多來自於人生意義、人際關係，而非金錢。

　　5. Don't compare yourself to others.

不要老拿自己和別人做對比。

Yes, research does find that inequality makes us unhappy—but it turns out that this has little to do with absolute amounts of money. It's the comparisons that hurt.

紀錄片中我們可以發現，不平衡感會使我們感到不幸福，然而結果表明不幸福感並不是因爲錢的多少，而是對比本身給我們帶來的傷害。

We hurt ourselves with comparisons to others, but we can't seem to stop. Remember that each life must be judged on its own terms.

在與別人的對比中，我們傷害了自己。但我們卻彷彿停不下來。要記住，你的人生過得怎樣與別人無關。