拉塞尔·贝克在康乃迪克学院的演讲:三种方法让你生活更美好
5.Three Ways to Have a Better Life
5.三种方法让你生活更美好
Bend down once in a while and smell a flower.
偶尔弯下腰闯一闻花香。
Listen once in a while. It’s amazing what you can hear. On a hot summer day in the country you can hear the corn growing, the crack of a tin roof buckling under the power of the sun. In a real old-fashioned parlor silence so deep you can hear the dust settling on the velveteen settee, you might hear the footsteps of something sinister gaining on you, or a heart-stoppingly beautiful phrase from Mozart you haven’t heard since childhood, or the voice of somebody—now gone-whom you loved. Or sometime when you’re talking up a storm so brilliant, so charming that you can hardly believe how wonderful you are, pause just a moment and listen to yourself. It’s good for the soul to hear yourself as others hear you, and next time maybe, just maybe, you will not talk so much, so loudly, so brilliantly, so charmingly, so utterly shamelessly foolishly.
有时注意倾听一下，你会惊讶于自己听到的声音。在乡下酷热的夏日，你会听到玉米生长的声音，锡铁屋顶在阳光的暴晒下发出的破裂声。在老式的客厅里，万籁俱寂之中，你会听到灰尘落在棉绒沙发上的声音，也可能会听到某种邪恶的脚步声在向你逼近，或者一节只是在小时候听过的关得令人窒息的莫扎特的乐曲，或者某个已经逝去、但你却深爱着的人的声音。有时，当你口若悬河、滔滔不绝、自我感觉超好的时候，停下来片刻，听听你自己的声音。听听自己的声音，就像他人听你说话时那样，这对于心灵的修养是有好处的。这样，你以后也许——只是也许——就不会这样口若悬河、滔滔不绝、卖弄聪明、自以为美，就不会如此厚颜无耻、蠢不可及了。
Turn off the TV once or twice a month and pick up a book. It will ease your blood pressure. It might even wake up your mind, but if it puts you to sleep you’re still a winner. Better to sleep than have to watch that endless parade of body bags the local news channel marches through your parlor.
一个月里关上电视一次或两次，用这些时间看点书，这会舒缓你的血压，甚至可能唤醒你的头脑，但这如果让你昏昏欲睡，你还是个赢家。睡觉也比看当地新闻频道永无止境、毫无意义的电视节目要好。