英语沙龙：幸福的彷徨

The Paradox¹ of Happiness

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 stark².

It's an employer's world you thought. But then, you got the perfect job—now you could be happy—or could you? Life requires more than just what we want. Inevitably³, one must understand to truly find “happiness”, he must make his own happiness “happen”. Sounds a bit redundant⁴, 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 area—it is the grand adventure of living. 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 payments... the 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 equates⁶ to more stress, more worry and more aggravation⁷.

So, is happiness honestly just comprised of “things”? Sometimes, we virtually read our lives for not only basic necessities, but for excessive items and services as well. We become so obsessed⁸ 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 innovative⁹ approaches is because they are seeking inner happiness. But the point has been missed: happiness is already there. Disappointments and tragedies in life will come and go, but happiness never leaves you. The human's capacity to be resilient to difficulties is unfathomable.

We can lose our jobs, but be grateful for our spouses¹⁰. We can lose our homes to nature, but be thankful to be alive. Happiness is a perception of each individual. We are instincively compelled to find fault in our lives. By human nature, we begin our “fault-finding” mission the moment we're capable of free-thinking.

It is then, that we lose sense of self-worth and the bigger picture of vitality¹¹ altogether. Stuck in the patterns of the happiness paradox, we simply cannot find where our happiness has gone. 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 optimistic hope; if we dare to dream; if we empower ourselves to fully⁵ live; then we have regained¹² our sense of happiness. There is no in-between. There is no other replacement¹³. We only have one physical life to live. We have no choice but to make the most of it.

1 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

2 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

3 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

4 redundant   

adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的

参考例句：

• There are too many redundant words in this book.这本书里多余的词太多。
• Nearly all the redundant worker have been absorbed into other departments.几乎所有冗员，都已调往其他部门任职。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 equates   

v.认为某事物（与另一事物）相等或相仿( equate的第三人称单数 )；相当于；等于；把（一事物） 和（另一事物）等同看待

参考例句：

• He equates success with material wealth. 他认为成功等同于物质财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This equates to increased and vigor, better sleep and sharper mental acuity. 也就是说可以起到增强活力，改善睡眠，提高心智的作用。 来自互联网

7 aggravation   

n.烦恼，恼火

参考例句：

• She stirred in aggravation as she said this. 她说这句话，激动得过分。
• Can't stand the aggravation, all day I get aggravation. You know how it is." 我整天都碰到令人发火的事，你可想而知这是什么滋味。” 来自教父部分

8 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

9 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

10 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

11 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

12 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

13 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。