美文賞析:幸福定義之矛盾的幸福感

What is the definition of "happiness"? Is it material wealth filled with fancy cars, a dream house, extravagant furs and jewelry? Or is happiness simply having a roof over your head? Food in the fridge? Having a child? A pet? A swimming pool? A designer Gucci bag? Parents? Grandchildren? Love? Money? The perfect job? Winning the Lottery?

“幸福”是什麼？幸福是擁有豪華的汽車、夢想的居室、名貴的裘皮和珠寶等物質上的富足嘛？或者，幸福其實很簡單——有遮風避雨的住所，冰箱裏有食物，有孩子、寵物、游泳池、Gucci的包，有父母、子孫、有愛情、金錢和理想的工作，彩票中獎了呢？

According to the American Heritage Dictionary,"happiness"is derived from the Middle English word hap—meaning" Luck." But does happiness really have anything to do with" luck"? We could assume that if you avoided a fatal traffic accident but got fired by coming late to work, would you be filled with "happiness?"? Is it luck or what do you make of it? Maybe,"happiness"is exactly defined by its indirect alias: happiness—perhaps, happiness is in fact defined by the fortune that we permit to happen.

在《美國傳統字典》中，幸福是從中古英語“Hap”一詞演變而來，“Hap”意爲“好運"。幸福真的與“好運"有關聯嗎？基於此，想想看，如果你在一場必死無疑的交通事故中倖免於難，卻因此遲到，導致被老闆炒魷魚。對此，我們應該感到“幸福”嗎？這是好運嗎？還是要看個人如何看待這個問題呢？或許確切地說，幸福的定義應當直接從它的詞源來看——事實上，幸福或許就是命中註定要發生的事情。

Do you recall a time—let's say when you were about 5 years old—what defined happiness back then? Was it getting a puppy for Christmas? Or maybe, you were a child of divorce; and all you wanted was for Mom and Dad to get back together again? Then as you got older, you were hoping that someone would ask you to the prom that would've made your day, maybe your life for the moment. During college, good grades made you happy, but it was short"lived. Because in the real world, you had to look for a job, and competition was stark. It's an employer's world you thought. But then, you got the perfect job now you could be happy or could you?

你能回憶起你5歲時對幸福的理解嗎？那時，幸福是從聖誕樹上摘下的一隻小狗嗎？或者爸爸媽媽離婚了，你唯一的願望就是他們能和好如初，重新生活在一起？當你漸漸長大，你希望有人會邀請你參加舞會，希望所有的日子都凝固在那一天，那一刻。上大學期間，考試得了高分讓你無比開心，但這種幸福感畢竟是短暫的。因爲在現實中，你得找一份工作，而社會競爭也相當激烈。於是，你就會想，這是一個僱主的世界。隨後，你找到了一份理想的工作——現在的你很開心，是嗎？

Life requires more than just what we want. Inevitably, one must understand that to truly find" happiness", he must make his own happiness "happen". Sounds a bit redundant, but truthfully, there is no set guidelines that will bring one happiness. There is no "magic wand" we can wave to bring joy into our lives. Human nature thrives on the thrill of the chase. We dream and we hope for the next big Brea—it is the grand adventure of living.

生活向我們索要的遠比我們想要的多。一個人必須明白，要想真正找到幸福，他就必須讓自己幸福。可能聽起來有些多餘，但確是如此——生活中，沒有能代來幸福的現成的指南，也沒有揮一揮就能帶來歡樂的魔棒。人性在追求幸福的刺激中不斷升級、完善。我們夢想着，期望着下一個大的轉變—這就是生活中的大冒險了。

We are hopeless creatures of comfort. We like having and accumulating things. Whether one admits to it or not, to a certain degree, we all try to keep up with" the Jones". We work so we can pay our rents, mortgages, credit card debts, school loans, car list goes on and on. And at some point, we realize, that aside from having most of what we want, we still aren't happy. Now since we've learned to adapt to new standards which we've created for ourselves, we find that we have less time, less patience, less sleep, which equates to more stress, more worry and more aggravation. So, is happiness honestly just comprised of" things"?

我們是無助的享樂者，喜歡擁有和積攢東西。不論人們承認與否，一定程度上，我們都在相互攀比。我們之所以工作，是因爲要付房租，償還抵押貸款，還清信用卡透支費用，償付助學貸款，買車，等等。此類費用接連而至，讓我們應接不暇。於是，我們會突然意識到，儘管擁有了想要的一切，我們仍然不幸福。自從適應了自己定下的新生活標準，我們的時間短了，耐性沒了，睡眠少了，但壓力大了，焦慮多了，脾氣也暴躁了。鑑於此，幸福真的是由“物質”組成的嗎？

Sometimes, we virtually pay our lives for not only basic necessities, but for excessive items and services as well. We become so obsessed with finding happiness, that we lose sight of the fact that happiness is within—always. Certainly you've heard of individuals trying to "find themselves", or "rediscover themselves". The reason they are attempting these innovative approaches is because they are seeking inner happiness. But the point has been missed: Happiness is already there.

事實上，有時，我們不僅用生命交換生活必需品，還用生命交換多餘的物質享受和服務。我們這般沉迷於追求幸福，卻忽略了一個事實——幸福一直就在我們心中。當然，你一定聽過這樣的事，即有些人一直都在苦苦“找尋自我”或“重新發現自我”。他們創新嘗試的理由只不過是想找尋心靈深處的幸福。但他們忽略了一點，即幸福從頭至尾到在心中。

Disappointments and tragedies in life will come and go, but happiness never leaves you. The human's capacity to be resilient to redials is unfathomable. We can lose our jobs, but be grateful for our spouses. We can lose our homes to nature, but be thankful to alive.

失望和悲傷在生命中交替輪迴，但幸福從不會舍你而去。人類對困難的適應能力無可限量。我們可以失去工作，但會爲擁有愛人而感恩不已；我們可以流離失所，但會爲活着而心存感激。

Happiness is a perception of each individual. We are instinctively compelled to find fault in our lives. By human nature, we begin our "fault"find"ing" mission the moment we're capable of free"thinking. It is then, that we lose sense of self"worth and the bigger picture of vitality altogether. Stuck in the patterns of the happiness paradox, we simply cannot find where our happiness has gone.

幸福是個人的一種感知。我們本能地受限於外界，找尋着生活的瑕疵，出於人的天性，我們從有能力自由思考的那刻起，就開始對生活吹毛求疵。也就在那時，我們失去了對自我價值的認知，也失去了生命的活力，陷於幸福的矛盾中，找不到幸福的方向。

It's not a matter of bargaining, it's not an issue of money or fame—instead, happiness is what you resolve to accept. If we live through optimis"tic hope; if we dare to dream; if we empower ourselves to fully live; then we have regained our sense of happiness, There is no in between. There is no other replacement. We only have one physical life to live—we have no choice but to make the most of it.

幸福是你決定去接受的東西，沒有任何商量的餘地，它於金錢或名譽毫無瓜葛。只要我們活在樂觀希望之中，敢於大膽夢想，活得簡單純粹，那麼，我們就會重新擁有幸福的感覺。那種感覺並非懸於幸於不幸之間的真空地帶，也無任何替代品。我們只能活一次——除了好好活着，我們別無選擇。