Giving Life Meaning　賦予生命意義

Giving Life Meaning　賦予生命意義

◎ Kathleen Squires

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?

你有沒有想過，你期望人們在你死后怎么評價你？你會聽見“他是個很好的人”或“我們會想念她”之類的話嗎？他們還會怎么說呢？

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.

生命中最奇怪的現象之一就是，致力于死后的事宜。這和投資錢財，讓你的后代從中獲益不是很像嗎？也許是很像，但是如果你深入研究，你會發(fā)現是某個東西驅使你這樣做，它驅使每個人找到一個意圖，哪怕是死后。

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?

你是否希望你的名字永垂青史？是否希望你的名字流傳時伴隨著敬意？是否希望你的面孔刻在50英尺高的巨巖上？答案真的如此簡單嗎？人生的目的是讓自己平凡的生命變?yōu)橐粋€不朽的名字嗎？還是遠不止這些？

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 life 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.

今天還活生生的孩童，可能明天就不幸去世。一個有潛力成為下個愛因斯坦的嬰兒，也有可能在出生時就因并發(fā)癥身亡。生活中的境況并不是固定的。不是所有人都是活到老而死的。我們要把生命看成一個完整的周期，其中有未定的年歲。如果沒有活到那些年數，那只能是悲劇。因為他的生命潛能還沒有發(fā)揮，因為火花在變?yōu)榛鹧嬷熬拖缌恕?

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.

當決定讓靈魂進駐我們的身體時，我們就選擇接受相應的風險。我們把凡人之軀暴露在物理環(huán)境之中，仔細想想，這個權衡并不算太壞。問題在于，一旦我們幻想生活的本來面目，麻煩就來了。因為如果生活不符合我們的想象，我們就會不高興，感覺受挫，或沮喪。

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.

我們還活著，就讓我們生活。我們有能力去歷練，就讓我們去經歷。我們有能力去學習，就讓我們吸取。生命的意義也許一瞬間就能抓住，在我們毫無知覺的情況下。

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?

生命綻放的背后到底蘊藏了什么含義？當其余的真理隨著時間的推移逐漸退卻時，我們還應堅持的那個最簡單的真諦是什么？

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.

我們把這些接連而來的一連串瞬間叫事故。這些事件接踵而來，就成為生活。當我們抓住那些瞬間，然后使之朝我們內心深處的意愿發(fā)展時，我們就會發(fā)現生活的意義，即使我們離開了這個世界，也同樣適用。

超多雙語閱讀，盡在聽力課堂