英语美文：把握当下

Have you ever thought life would be better anywhere other than where you are right now? Maybe some of your thoughts go something like this:

你曾否有过这样的想法——无论如何别处的生活都比此处的更好？或许你是这样想的：

Life will be better once I'm out of debt.

I can't wait until I'm retired¹ because then I can do what I want when I want.

If only I lived somewhere warm I could exercise all year round and I would be so fit.

If I could just lose 10 pounds I know I would feel better.

还清债务生活会更好。

我急不可耐的想要退休，那样就可以随时做想做的事情了。

真希望生活在一个温暖的地区，我可以一年四季坚持锻炼，我将会更健康。

如果我可以减掉10磅的体重，我会感觉更好。

Truth is some of your problems may go away once you have met all of your "if only's" and "better when's" but it won't make the perfect life that fairy tales are made of. New problems will arise and you'll likely find yourself wishing for this "perfect" life to be different still. We can only imagine that the grass will be greener on the other side because it's only when we live it do we actually see it for what it really is.

问题点在于许多问题会在你实现所有“真希望”和“会更好”之后得到解决，但是那绝对不是童话故事中制造的完美生活。新的问题会出现，你仍会发现自己希望对“完美”生活加以改变。我们想象别处的草地比此处的更绿，因为，只有当我们生活在此处时，我们才会知道它真正的样子。

Whatever ideal² you have in mind about an alternate³ lifestyle, location, financial situation etc ... rest assured⁴ that each one will be met with it's own unique set of problems.

只有当意识中不同的生活方式、居住地、财务状况等等你都体验过后，才会确信每种生活都会遇到所属的问题。

So what can you do about this? Choose to be content with what you already have.

那你该怎么应对呢？试着满意你已得的生活。

Look around you and be truly grateful for all that you see. Realize that there are people less fortunate than you and right now, rightly or wrongly, they are wishing for your exact lifestyle. Think back to 2 years ago, what were you wishing for then? Where did you want to be? Odds⁵ are you were largely⁶ wishing to be right where you are now. Life happens so gradually that you tend to lose all perspective⁷ of achievements, growth and progress.

环视周围，真诚地感激你看到的一切。要认识到周围还有不如你幸运的，他们正在或对或错的追逐你当下的生活方式。回想两年前，那时你的愿望是什么？你想去哪？很可能那时你期盼的就是现在的自己。生活常常会使你渐渐遗失所有对目标的憧憬、成长和进步。

It's great to dream big. But those dreams should not cloud the greatness you have in front of you right now. Consider the truth in the grass being the greenest right under your feet.

有梦想固然好。但是这些梦想不应该遮蔽自己现在的成就。要知道现在你脚下的草才是最绿的。

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 ideal   

adj.理想的，完美的；空想的，观念的；n.理想

参考例句：

• The weather at the seaside was ideal—bright and breezy.海边的天气最宜人，风和日丽的。
• They promised to be faithful to their ideal for ever. 他们保证永远忠于自己的理想。

3 alternate   

adj.交替的，间隔的；v.（使）轮流　　

参考例句：

• He and I clean our room on alternate days.我和他隔日轮流打扫我们的房间。
• That was a week of alternate rain and sunshine.那是晴雨天交替的一周。

4 assured   

a.确实的，深信的

参考例句：

• He spoke in a calm, assured voice. 他冷静自信地说。
• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。

5 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

6 largely   

adv.大部分，主要地

参考例句：

• It is largely dependent on the weather.这多半取决于天气情况。
• Their conclusions were largely founded on guesswork.他们的结论大部份基于猜测。

7 perspective   

n.视角，观点，想法

参考例句：

• You can get a perspective of the whole city from here.从这里你可以看到城市的全景。
• We may get a clear perspective of the people's happy lives.我们知道人民对幸福生活的展望。