Life is simply as it is. Perhaps Benjamin Franklin said it best： “Our limited perspective， our hopes and fears become our measure of life， and when circumstances don’t fit our ideas， they become our difficulties.” We spend our lives wanting things，people， and events to be just as we want them to be—and when they’re not， we fight and we suffer.

The first step in recovering from over seriousness is to admit that you have a problem. You have to want to change， to become more easygoing. You have to see that your own uptightness is largely of your own creation—it’s composed of the way you have set up your life and the way you react to it.

The next step is to understand the link between your expectations and your frustration level. Whenever you expect something to be a certain way and it isn’t， you’re upset and you suffer. On the other hand， when you let go of your expectations， when you accept life as it is， you’re free. To hold on is to be serious and uptight. To let go is to lighten up.

A good exercise is to try to approach a single day without expectations. Don’t expect people to be friendly. Don’t expect your day to be problem free. Instead， as problems come up， say to yourself， “Ah， another hurdle to overcome.” As you approach your day in this manner you’ll notice how graceful life can be. Rather than fighting against life， you’ll be dancing with it. Pretty soon， with practice， you’ll lighten up your entire life. And when you lighten up， life is a lot more fun.

最近這段時間，我們所有人看起來似乎都有些過于嚴肅。我的大女兒時不時地對我說：“爸，瞧你又板著臉了。”即使是我們當中那些刻意樂觀的人，恐怕也是太過嚴肅了。任何一件小事都可以讓我們沮喪、惱火——自己遲到了5分鐘，別人晚到了5分鐘，交通堵塞，別人誤解了我們或者說錯了什么，支付賬單，排隊，燒煳了一頓飯，犯了一個實實在在的錯誤——不計其數。生活真的就是這樣的小事都能讓我們方寸大亂。

或許本杰明？富蘭克林最好地解釋了這個問題：“我們局限的視角，還有我們的希望和恐懼成為我們評價生活的標尺，只要出現的情形違背了我們的想法，它們就會變成我們的困擾。”我們一生都在期望事事如愿——而當事事不盡如人意時，我們便會反抗，便會為此折磨自己。

改掉過于嚴肅的心態(tài)的第一步是承認你有問題。你不得不有所改變，變得輕松一點兒。你一定要意識到煩躁的心情在很大程度上是你自己造成的——不管是你自己設定的生活方式， 還是你對事物的反應方式。

第二步是了解你的期望值和失望感之間的聯系。一旦你所期望的事情沒有實現，你就會沮喪、痛苦。同樣的，當你拋開過多的期望，當你接受生活本來的樣子，你便獲得了自由。太過執(zhí)著的期望必然導致嚴肅和緊繃，敢于放手才能怡然自得。

早晨醒來便下決心在一天里對任何人或事都不抱任何期望，這是一種很好的練習。不要期望人們都是友好的，不要期望這一天能夠一帆風順。這樣，當遇到問題時，對自己說：“啊，又有一個需要跨越的障礙。”如果你用這種心態(tài)來迎接每一天，你就會發(fā)現生活原本是多么美好。與其反抗現實，還不如與它“共舞”。隨著不斷地練習，過不了多久，你就會讓自己的整個生活更加輕松愉快。當你感到愉悅時，生活會變得更加豐富多彩。

記憶填空

1. People are frustrated and uptight about virtually _______—being five minutes late， having someone else show up five minutes _______， being stuck in_______， witnessing someone look at us wrong or say the wrong thing， paying bills， waiting in _______ ， overcooking a meal， making an honest mistake—you name it， we all lose perspective over it.

2. You have to want to_______ ， to become more easygoing. You have to see that your own uptightness is largely of your creation—it’s composed of the way you have set up your life and the _______ you react to it.

3. Rather than fighting_______life， you’ll be dancing with it. Pretty soon， with practice， you’ll lighten _______ your entire life.

佳句翻譯

1. 改掉過于嚴肅的心態(tài)的第一步是承認你有問題。

2. 太過執(zhí)著的期望必然導致嚴肅緊繃，敢于放手才能怡然自得。

3. 早晨醒來便下決心在一天里對任何人或事都不抱任何期望。

短語應用

1. People are frustrated and uptight about virtually everything—being five minutes late， having someone else show up five minutes late...

show up：出席；露面；揭露；露出

2. On the other hand， when you let go of your expectations， when you accept life as it is， you’re free.

on the other hand：另一方面

快樂自己做主

Are We Having Fun Yet

佚名 / Anonymous

We’ve all been brainwashed！ We were all taught the work ethic！

“Work (and suffer) till you die， or if you’re lucky retire. We don’t have time to waste on frivolities. We have responsibilities to fulfill. We have to be serious， work hard， rise in our career， make lots of money， and make earning money and advancing in our career a priority.”

I wish to change that programming in my life. I know that when I do the things I enjoy doing， things work out better for me. I know that when I do something against my will， against my heart， it doesn’t work out well. I know that stressing myself out to try to get a job done usually takes twice as long as taking time out and doing that same task at some other time in a relaxed manner.

We can change the criteria by which we decide what to do in our lives. Instead of “Will it bring in lots of money or advance my career”， we need to ask ourselves， “Will I enjoy doing this？ Will this be fun？ Am I looking forward to getting started on this？”

If you can’t answer “yes” to these questions， then quite possibly this is not the task for you！

If it is something that must be done， i.e. taxes， dishes， etc.， the solution is to find someone else to do them for you. There are some people who will enjoy and love to do what you prefer not to do. Really！ For example， I am not the world’s best housekeeper. I do not really enjoy cleaning， washing floors， windows， etc. Yet there are some people who enjoy the meditative aspect of this work and who really get satisfaction from a job well done. It is to my benefit to pay someone to do this work so I can take that time earning money doing things that I enjoy.

We are all very different and different things appeal to each one of us. Just because someone else enjoys a particular thing does not mean that you must. We can trust what I call the “fun index” to assist us in knowing if a particular action is the one for us. We can break away from the rule of thumb that judges things by whether they bring money or career advancement. We can change that to making our decisions based on whether an action will bring us pleasure and personal satisfaction. Does the work you do leave you feeling proud and pleased with yourself？ Are you following the voice of “should” or the one of “want to”？