第1章　活在“完全獨(dú)立的今天”

1871年春天，有一個(gè)年輕人看到一本書(shū)，讀到了對(duì)他的前途產(chǎn)生莫大影響的21個(gè)單詞。作為蒙特利爾綜合醫(yī)院的一名醫(yī)科學(xué)生，他正擔(dān)心怎樣通過(guò)期末考試，將來(lái)怎么辦，畢業(yè)以后去哪里，怎樣才能開(kāi)業(yè)，如何謀生。

這位年輕的醫(yī)科學(xué)生在1871年看到的那21個(gè)單詞，使他成為他那一代最為著名的醫(yī)學(xué)家。他創(chuàng)建了世界著名的約翰·霍普金斯醫(yī)學(xué)院，并且成為牛津大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院的欽定教授——這是大英帝國(guó)醫(yī)學(xué)人員所獲得的最高榮譽(yù)。他還被英國(guó)國(guó)王封為爵士。當(dāng)他去世時(shí)，需要厚達(dá)1466頁(yè)的兩冊(cè)書(shū)記述他的一生。

他的名字叫威廉·奧斯勒。下面就是他在1871年春天所看到的那21個(gè)單詞。它們出自托馬斯·卡萊爾，它們使他免除了憂慮的困擾：“對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)最重要的不是去看遠(yuǎn)方模糊的事，而是做手邊清楚的事。”

42年之后，在郁金香開(kāi)滿校園的一個(gè)溫和的春夜，威廉·奧斯勒爵士給耶魯大學(xué)的學(xué)生作了一次演講。他對(duì)那些耶魯大學(xué)的學(xué)生們說(shuō)，像他這樣一位曾在四所大學(xué)當(dāng)過(guò)教授，并且寫(xiě)過(guò)一本很受歡迎的書(shū)的人，似乎應(yīng)該有一顆“特殊的大腦”，但其實(shí)并不是這樣。他說(shuō)他的一些好朋友都知道，他的大腦“最普通不過(guò)了”。

那么，他成功的秘訣又是什么呢？他認(rèn)為這完全是因?yàn)樗钤谝粋€(gè)“完全

What, then, was the secret of his success? He stated that it was owing to what he called living in “day-tight compartments”. What did he mean by that? A few months before he spoke at Yale, Sir William Osler had crossed the Atlantic on a great ocean liner where the captain standing on the bridge, could press a button and—presto!—there was a clanging of machinery and various parts of the ship were immediately shut off from one another—shut off into watertight compartments.“Now each one of you,” Dr.Osler said to those Yale students, “is a much more marvellous organization than the great liner, and bound on a longer voyage. What I urge is that you so learn to control the machinery as to live with‘day-tight compartments'as the most certain way to ensure safety on the voyage.Get on the bridge, and see that at least the great bulkheads are in working order. Touch a button and hear, at every level of your life, the iron doors shutting out the Past—the dead yesterdays. Touch another and shut off, with a metal curtain, the Future—the unborn tomorrows. Then you are safe—safe for today!...Shut off the past! Let the dead past bury its dead... Shut out the yesterdays which have lighted fools the way to dusty death... The load of tomorrow, added to that of yesterday, carried today, makes the strongest falter.Shut off the future as tightly as the past... The future is today... There is no tomorrow. The day of man's salvation is now. Waste of energy, mental distress, nervous worries dog the steps of a man who is anxious about the future... Shut close, then the great fore and aft bulkheads, and prepare to cultivate the habit of life of‘day-tight compartments'.”

Did Dr.Osler mean to say that we should not make any effort to prepare for tomorrow? No. Not at all. But he did go on in that address to say that the best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today's work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future.

獨(dú)立的今天”。這究竟是什么意思呢？就在他去耶魯大學(xué)演講的幾個(gè)月之前，奧斯勒爵士搭乘一艘大型海輪橫渡大西洋，有一次看見(jiàn)船長(zhǎng)站在船舵室中，按下一個(gè)按鈕，立即聽(tīng)到一陣機(jī)械運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)的聲音，輪船的各個(gè)部分立刻彼此隔絕開(kāi)來(lái)，成了幾個(gè)完全防水的隔離艙。“你們每一個(gè)人，”奧斯勒博士對(duì)那些耶魯大學(xué)的學(xué)生說(shuō)，“身體組織都要比那艘大海輪精密得多，所要走的航程也更遠(yuǎn)。我要求的是，你們也必須學(xué)習(xí)控制一切，活在一個(gè)‘完全獨(dú)立的今天’，這才是在航程中確保安全的最好方法。到船舵室去，你將會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)那些大的隔離艙至少都可以使用。按下按鈕，用鐵門(mén)隔斷過(guò)去——已經(jīng)過(guò)去的昨天。再按下另一個(gè)按鈕，用鐵門(mén)隔斷未來(lái)——尚未到來(lái)的明天。然后你就保險(xiǎn)了——今天安全了！……切斷過(guò)去，埋葬已逝的過(guò)去……切斷那些會(huì)把傻瓜引到死亡之路的昨天……明天的重?fù)?dān)加上昨天的重?fù)?dān)，就會(huì)成為今天最大的障礙。要把未來(lái)像過(guò)去一樣緊緊地關(guān)在門(mén)外……未來(lái)就在于今天……沒(méi)有明天。人類(lèi)得到救贖的日子就是現(xiàn)在。精力的浪費(fèi)、精神的郁悶、神經(jīng)的憂慮，都會(huì)緊緊跟隨著一個(gè)擔(dān)憂未來(lái)的人……那么，把船前船后的隔離艙都關(guān)掉吧，準(zhǔn)備養(yǎng)成活在‘完全獨(dú)立的今天’的習(xí)慣。”

奧斯勒博士是不是說(shuō)我們不必為明天做準(zhǔn)備呢？不是，絕對(duì)不是。在那次演講中，他繼續(xù)說(shuō)，為明天做準(zhǔn)備的最好方法，就是集中你所有的智慧和熱誠(chéng)，把今天的工作做得盡善盡美，這就是你能應(yīng)對(duì)未來(lái)的唯一可能的方法。

一定要為明天著想——不錯(cuò)，一定要仔細(xì)考慮、計(jì)劃和準(zhǔn)備，但不要焦慮。

By all means take thought for the tomorrow, yes, careful thought and planning and preparation. But have no anxiety.

During the Second World War, our military leaders planned for the morrow, but they could not afford to have any anxiety.“I have supplied the best men with the best equipment we have,” said Admiral Ernest J.King, who directed the United States Navy, “and have given them what seems to be the wisest mission. That is all I can do.”

“If a ship has been sunk,” Admiral King went on, “I can't bring it up. If it is going to be sunk, I can't stop it. I can use my time much better working on tomorrow's problem than by fretting about yesterday's.Besides, if I let those things get me, I wouldn't last long.”

Whether in war or peace, the chief difference between good thinking and bad thinking is this: good thinking deals with causes and effects and leads to logical, constructive planning; bad thinking frequently leads to tension and nervous breakdowns.

I had the privilege of interviewing Arthur Hays Sulzberger, publisher（1935～1961）of one of the most famous newspapers in the world, The New York Times.Mr. Sulzberger told me that when the Second World War flamed across Europe, he was so stunned, so worried about the future, that he found it almost impossible to sleep. He would frequently get out of bed in the middle of the night, take some canvas and tubes of paint, look in the mirror, and try to paint a portrait of himself. He didn't know anything about painting, but he painted anyway, to get his mind off his worries.Mr. Sulzberger told me that he was never able to banish his worries and find peace until he had adopted as his motto five words from a church hymn: One step enough for me.

Lead, kindly Light...

Keep thou my feet:

在第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，軍事領(lǐng)袖要為將來(lái)制定計(jì)劃，可是他們絕不能有任何的焦慮。“把我們最好的裝備供應(yīng)給最優(yōu)秀的人員，”美國(guó)海軍上將歐內(nèi)斯特·金說(shuō)，“再交給他們似乎是最聰明的任務(wù)。我所能做的就是這些。”

“如果一艘船沉了，”金上將繼續(xù)說(shuō)，“我不能把它打撈上來(lái)。要是船繼續(xù)下沉，我也沒(méi)有辦法。與其花時(shí)間后悔昨天的失誤，還不如去解決明天的問(wèn)題。何況我若擔(dān)心這些事情，我也不可能支持很久。”

不論是在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)時(shí)期還是在和平年代，好想法和壞想法之間的區(qū)別在于：好想法會(huì)考慮到原因和結(jié)果，從而產(chǎn)生合乎邏輯的、富有建設(shè)性的計(jì)劃；而壞想法通常只會(huì)導(dǎo)致精神緊張和崩潰。

我曾榮幸地訪問(wèn)了亞瑟·蘇茲伯格，他是世界上最著名的報(bào)紙之一《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》的發(fā)行人。蘇茲伯格先生告訴我，當(dāng)?shù)诙问澜绱髴?zhàn)的戰(zhàn)火燃燒到歐洲的時(shí)候，他非常吃驚，對(duì)未來(lái)充滿了憂慮，幾乎無(wú)法入睡。他會(huì)常常在半夜爬起床，拿著畫(huà)布和顏料，對(duì)著鏡子，想給自己畫(huà)一張自畫(huà)像。盡管對(duì)繪畫(huà)一無(wú)所知，但他還是畫(huà)著，以此來(lái)驅(qū)除憂慮。蘇茲伯格先生告訴我，他最后是因?yàn)橐皇踪澝涝?shī)里的一句話才消除了憂慮，得到了平安。這句話是“只要一步就好”。

引導(dǎo)我，仁慈的燈光……

請(qǐng)讓你常在我腳旁，

我并不想看遠(yuǎn)方的風(fēng)光；只要一步就好。

I do not ask to see The distant scene; one step enough for me.

At about the same time, a young man in uniform—somewhere in Europe—was learning the same lesson. His name was Ted Bengermino, of Baltimore, Maryland—and he had worried himself into a first-class case of combat fatigue.

“In April，1945,” wrote Ted Bengermino, “I had worried until I had developed what doctors call a‘spasmodic transverse colon'—a condition that produced intense pain. If the war hadn't ended when it did, I am sure I would have had a complete physical breakdown.

“I was utterly exhausted. I was a Graves Registration, non-commissioned officer for the 94th Infantry Division. My work was to help set up and maintain records of all men killed in action, missing in action, and hospitalised. I also had to help disinter the bodies of both Allied and enemy soldiers who had been killed and hastily buried in shallow graves during the pitch of battle. I had to gather up the personal effects of these men and see that they were sent back to parents or closest relatives who would prize these personal effects so much. I was constantly worried for fear we might be making embarrassing and serious mistakes. I was worried about whether or not I would come through all this. I was worried about whether I would live to hold my only child in my arms—a son of sixteen months, whom I had never seen. I was so worried and exhausted that I lost thirty-four pounds. I was so frantic that I was almost out of my mind. I looked at my hands. They were hardly more than skin and bones. I was terrified at the thought of going home a physical wreck. I broke down and sobbed like a child. I was so shaken that tears welled up every time I was alone. There was one period soon after the Battle of the Bulge started that I wept so often that I almost gave up hope of ever being a normal human being again.

“I ended up in an Army dispensary. An Army doctor gave me some advice which

大概在這個(gè)時(shí)候，歐洲有個(gè)當(dāng)兵的年輕人，也學(xué)到了同一課。他的名字叫泰德·班哲明諾，他住在馬里蘭州巴爾的摩市——他曾經(jīng)憂慮得幾乎完全喪失了斗志。

“1945年4月，”泰德·班哲明諾寫(xiě)道，“我憂慮得患上了一種醫(yī)生稱(chēng)為‘結(jié)腸痙攣’的病，這種病很痛苦。如果戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)不在那時(shí)結(jié)束的話，我想我整個(gè)人都會(huì)垮掉。

“當(dāng)時(shí)我筋疲力盡。我在第94步兵師擔(dān)任士官，負(fù)責(zé)建立和保管在作戰(zhàn)中死傷和失蹤的士兵名錄，還要幫助發(fā)掘那些在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間被打死而草草掩埋的敵我雙方的士兵尸體。我必須收集那些人的私人物品，把這些東西準(zhǔn)確地送回到重視這些私人物品的父母或近親手中。我一直擔(dān)心自己會(huì)造成一些讓人難堪的或者嚴(yán)重的錯(cuò)誤，還擔(dān)心我是否撐得過(guò)去，擔(dān)心自己還能不能活著回去摟抱我的獨(dú)生子——我從來(lái)沒(méi)有見(jiàn)過(guò)的兒子已經(jīng)16個(gè)月了。我既擔(dān)心又疲勞，整整瘦了34磅（注：一磅約為454克），而且?guī)缀跻l(fā)瘋了。我眼看著自己的兩只手瘦得只剩下皮包骨。一想到自己瘦弱不堪地回家，我就害怕。我崩潰了，像個(gè)孩子一樣哭了，每當(dāng)獨(dú)自一人時(shí)我就眼淚汪汪。有一段時(shí)間，也就是在大反攻開(kāi)始不久，我常常哭泣，幾乎放棄了做一個(gè)正常人的希望。

“最后，我住進(jìn)了部隊(duì)醫(yī)院。一位軍醫(yī)給了我一些忠告，徹底改變了我的生活。在給我做完一次全面檢查之后，他告訴我說(shuō)我的問(wèn)題純粹是精神上的。‘泰德，’他說(shuō)，‘我希望你把自己的生活想象成一個(gè)沙漏。你知道，在沙漏的上半

has completely changed my life. After giving me a thorough physical examination, he informed me that my troubles were mental.‘Ted，’he said，‘I want you to think of your life as an hourglass. You know there are thousands of grains of sand in the top of the hourglass; and they all pass slowly and evenly through the narrow neck in the middle. Nothing you or I could do would make more than one grain of sand pass through this narrow neck without impairing the hourglass. You and I and everyone else are like this hourglass. When we start in the morning, there are hundreds of tasks which we feel that we must accomplish that day, but if we do not take them one at a time and let them pass through the day slowly and evenly, as do the grains of sand passing through the narrow neck of the hourglass, then we are bound to break our own physical or mental structure.’

“I have practised that philosophy ever since that memorable day that an Army doctor gave it to me.‘One grain of sand at a time... One task at a time.'That advice saved me physically and mentally during the war; and it has also helped me in my present position of Public Relations and Advertising Director for the Adcrafters Printing&Off-set Co. Inc. I found the same problems arising in business that had arisen during the war: a score of things had to be done at once—and there was little time to do them. We were low in stocks. We had new forms to handle, new stock arrangements, changes of address, opening and closing offices, and so on. Instead of getting taut and nervous, I remembered what the doctor had told me.‘One grain of sand at a time. One task at a time.’By repeating those words to myself over and over, I accomplished my tasks in a more efficient manner and I did my work without the confused and jumbled feeling that had almost wrecked me on the battlefield.”

One of the most appalling comments on our present way of life is that at one time half of all the beds in our hospitals were reserved for patients with nervous and mental troubles，

部分有成千上萬(wàn)粒的沙子，它們都緩慢而均勻地流過(guò)中間那條細(xì)縫。除非把沙漏弄壞，你和我都不能讓兩粒以上的沙子同時(shí)穿過(guò)那條窄縫。你和我以及每一個(gè)人，都像這個(gè)沙漏。每天早上，我們都有許許多多的工作要在這一天之內(nèi)完成。但是如果我們不是每次只做一件，讓它們緩慢而均勻地通過(guò)這一天，就像沙粒通過(guò)沙漏的窄縫一樣，那么我們就會(huì)損害自己的身體或精神了。’

“從這個(gè)值得紀(jì)念的日子開(kāi)始，這位軍醫(yī)告訴我這些之后，我就一直奉行這種哲學(xué)。‘一次只流過(guò)一粒沙子……一次只做一件事。’這個(gè)忠告在戰(zhàn)時(shí)挽救了我的身心；現(xiàn)在它對(duì)我工藝印刷公司公關(guān)廣告部主管的工作也極有幫助。我發(fā)現(xiàn)商場(chǎng)上有時(shí)也有和戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上一樣的問(wèn)題：一次要做好幾件事情，但卻沒(méi)有時(shí)間。例如我們的材料不夠用了，有新的表格等待處理，要安排新的資料，要變更地址，新開(kāi)或關(guān)閉分公司，等等。我不再緊張不安，因?yàn)槲矣涀×四莻€(gè)軍醫(yī)告訴我的：‘一次只流過(guò)一粒沙子，一次只做一件事情。’我一再重復(fù)這兩句話，工作比以前更有效率了，工作時(shí)再也不會(huì)有那種在戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上幾乎使我崩潰的迷惑而混亂的感覺(jué)。”

在目前的生活方式中，最引人關(guān)注的事情之一就是，我們醫(yī)院一半以上的床位都是給那些大腦神經(jīng)或者精神上有問(wèn)題的人留著的。他們都是被日漸累積起來(lái)的憂慮壓垮的病人。而在這些病人中，只要他們能奉行耶穌的“不要為明天憂慮”，或者信奉威廉·奧斯勒爵士的生活在一個(gè)“完全獨(dú)立的今天”，他們大多數(shù)人就可以過(guò)上快樂(lè)幸福的生活。

patients who have collapsed under the crushing burden of accumulated yesterdays and fearful tomorrows. Yet a vast majority of those people could have avoided those hospitals—could have led happy, useful lives—if they had only heeded the words of Jesus:“Have no anxiety about the morrow”; or the words of Sir William Osler:“Live in day-tight compartments.”

You and I are standing this very second at the meeting place of two eternities: the vast past that has endured forever, and the future that is plunging on to the last syllable of recorded time. We can't possibly live in either of those eternities—no, not even for one split second. But, by trying to do so, we can wreck both our bodies and our minds. So let's be content to live the only time we can possibly live: from now until bedtime.“Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall,” wrote Robert Louis Stevenson.“Anyone can do his work, however hard, for one day. Anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, till the sun goes down. And this is all that life really means.”

Yes, that is all that life requires of us; but Mrs.E.K.Shields, of Saginaw, Michigan, was driven to despair—even to the brink of suicide—before she learned to live just till bedtime.“In 1937, I lost my husband,” Mrs.Shields said as she told me her story.“I was very depressed—and almost penniless. I wrote my former employer, Mr.Leon Roach, of the Roach-Fowler Company of Kansas City, and got my old job back. I had formerly made my living selling World Book to rural and town school boards. I had sold my car two years previously when my husband became ill; but I managed to scrape together enough money to put a down payment on a used car and started out to sell books again.

“I had thought that getting back on the road would help relieve my depression; but driving alone and eating alone was almost more than I could take. Some of the territory was not very productive, and I found it hard to make those car payments, small as they were.

你和我在目前的這一瞬間，都站在兩個(gè)永恒的交叉點(diǎn)上——永遠(yuǎn)結(jié)束了的過(guò)去和延伸到無(wú)窮無(wú)盡的未來(lái)。我們都不可能生活在這兩個(gè)永恒之中——哪怕是一秒鐘都不行。如果我們想那樣做的話，就會(huì)毀掉自己的身心。所以，我們應(yīng)該滿足于目前所生活的這一刻：從現(xiàn)在起直到上床。“不論任務(wù)有多重，每個(gè)人都能堅(jiān)持到夜晚的來(lái)臨，”羅伯特·史蒂文森寫(xiě)道，“不論工作有多么辛苦，每個(gè)人都能干好一天的工作。每個(gè)人都能很甜美、很耐心、很可愛(ài)而且很純潔地活到太陽(yáng)下山。這就是生命的真諦。”

不錯(cuò)，這也正是生命對(duì)我們所要求的。可是住在密歇根州沙支那城的謝爾德夫人，在懂得“只要生活到上床為止”這一道理之前，卻深感頹喪，甚至想自殺。“我丈夫在1937年死了，”謝爾德夫人把她的過(guò)去告訴我，“我非常頹喪，而且?guī)缀跎頍o(wú)分文。我給我以前的東家、堪薩斯市羅區(qū)-弗勒公司的老板利奧·羅區(qū)先生寫(xiě)信，回去干我以前的工作。我以前給學(xué)校推銷(xiāo)《世界百科全書(shū)》為生。兩年前我丈夫生病的時(shí)候，我賣(mài)掉了汽車(chē)；現(xiàn)在我又勉強(qiáng)湊足了錢(qián)，分期付款買(mǎi)了一輛舊車(chē)，重新開(kāi)始出去賣(mài)書(shū)。

“我原想再回去工作或許可以幫助我擺脫頹喪；可是一個(gè)人駕車(chē)并一個(gè)人吃飯，讓我?guī)缀鯚o(wú)法忍受。有些地方銷(xiāo)售情況不好，雖然分期付款買(mǎi)車(chē)的數(shù)額不大，卻很難付清。

“1938年的春天，我在密蘇里州維薩里市推銷(xiāo)。那里的學(xué)校都很窮，公路也差，我一個(gè)人又孤獨(dú)又沮喪，有一次甚至想自殺。我覺(jué)得成功很難，而活著又沒(méi)有

“In the spring of 1938, I was working out of Versailles, Missouri. The schools were poor, the roads bad; I was so lonely and discouraged that at one time I even considered suicide. It seemed that success was impossible. I had nothing to live for. I dreaded getting up each morning and facing life. I was afraid of everything: afraid I could not meet the car payments; afraid I could not pay my room rent; afraid I would not have enough to eat. I was afraid my health was failing and I had no money for a doctor. All that kept me from suicide were the thoughts that my sister would be deeply grieved, and that I did not have enough money to pay my funeral expenses.

“Then one day I read an article that lifted me out of my despondence and gave me the courage to go on living. I shall never cease to be grateful for one inspiring sentence in that article. It said:‘Every day is a new life to a wise man.'I typed that sentence out and pasted it on the windshield of my car, where I saw it every minute I was driving. I found it wasn't so hard to live only one day at a time. I learned to forget the yesterdays and to not-think of the tomorrows.Each morning I said to myself:‘Today is a new life.'

“I have succeeded in overcoming my fear of loneliness, my fear of want. I am happy and fairly successful now and have a lot of enthusiasm and love for life. I know now that I shall never again be afraid, regardless of what life hands me. I know now that I don't have to fear the future. I know now that I can live one day at a time—and that‘Every day is a new life to a wise man.'”

Who do you suppose wrote this verse:

Happy the man, and happy he alone，

He, who can call to-day his own:

He who, secure within, can say:

“To-morrow, do the worst, for I have liv'd to-day.”

什么希望。每天早上，我都很怕起床面對(duì)生活。我什么都擔(dān)心：付不起分期付款的車(chē)錢(qián)，付不出房租，沒(méi)有足夠的東西吃，擔(dān)心我的健康惡化卻沒(méi)有錢(qián)看病。但是，我沒(méi)有自殺，唯一的理由是我擔(dān)心我姐姐會(huì)因此而難過(guò)，而且我又沒(méi)有足夠的錢(qián)支付我的喪葬費(fèi)用。

“然后，有一天，我讀到一篇文章，它使我從消沉中振作起來(lái)，使我有了繼續(xù)活下去的勇氣。我對(duì)那篇文章中一句令人振奮的話永遠(yuǎn)心存感激：‘對(duì)一個(gè)聰明人來(lái)說(shuō)，每天都是一個(gè)新的生命。’我用打字機(jī)打出這句話，貼在我汽車(chē)前面的擋風(fēng)玻璃上，這樣我開(kāi)車(chē)的時(shí)候每分鐘都能看得見(jiàn)。我發(fā)現(xiàn)，每次只活一天并不難。我學(xué)會(huì)了忘記過(guò)去，不再擔(dān)心未來(lái)。每天早上我都會(huì)對(duì)自己說(shuō)：‘今天又是一個(gè)新的生命。’

“我成功地克服了對(duì)孤寂、對(duì)貧困的恐懼感。我現(xiàn)在過(guò)得很快樂(lè)，還算比較成功，而且對(duì)生命充滿了熱忱和愛(ài)。現(xiàn)在我也知道，不論在生活上碰到什么事情，我都不會(huì)再害怕了；我還知道，我不必害怕未來(lái)；我還知道，每次只要活一天——而‘對(duì)一個(gè)聰明人來(lái)說(shuō)，每天都是一個(gè)新的生命’。”

下面幾行詩(shī)你猜是誰(shuí)寫(xiě)的：

這個(gè)人很快樂(lè)，也只有他才能快樂(lè)，

因?yàn)樗呀裉炜闯墒亲约旱囊惶欤?/p>

他在今天會(huì)感受到安全，他會(huì)這樣說(shuō)：

“不論明天如何，我已經(jīng)過(guò)了今天。”

Those words sound modern, don't they? Yet they were written thirty years before Christ was born, by the Roman poet Horace.

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon—instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.

Why are we such fools—such tragic fools?

“How strange it is, our little procession of life!” wrote Stephen Leacock.“The child says:‘When I am a big boy.'But what is that? The big boy says:‘When I grow up.'And then, grown up, he says:‘When I get married.'But to be married, what is that after all? The thought changes to‘When I'm able to retire.'And then, when retirement comes, he looks back over the landscape traversed; a cold wind seems to sweep over it; somehow he has missed it all, and it is gone.Life, we learn too late, is in the living, in the tissue of every day and hour.”

The late Edward S. Evans of Detroit almost killed himself with worry before he learned that life “is in the living, in the tissue of every day and hour.” Brought up in poverty, Edward Evans made his first money by selling newspapers, then worked as a grocer's clerk.Later, with seven people dependent upon him for bread and butter, he got a job as an assistant librarian.Small as the pay was, he was afraid to quit.Eight years passed before he could summon up the courage to start out on his own. But once he started, he built up an original investment of fifty-five borrowed dollars into a business of his own that made him twenty thousand dollars a year. Then came a frost, a killing frost. He endorsed a big note for a friend—and the friend went bankrupt.Quickly on top of that disaster came another: the bank in which he had all his money collapsed. He not only lost every cent he had, but was plunged into debt for sixteen thousand dollars. His nerves couldn't take it.“I

這幾句話聽(tīng)起來(lái)很有現(xiàn)代色彩吧？可是卻寫(xiě)在基督誕生之前30年，它的作者是古羅馬詩(shī)人賀拉斯。

我認(rèn)為人性之中最可悲的事情之一，就是我們所有的人都拖延著不去生活，都?jí)粝胫谔爝呌幸蛔婷畹拿倒鍒@，而不能欣賞今天就盛開(kāi)在我們窗外的玫瑰花。

為什么我們會(huì)變成這種傻子，變成這種可憐的傻子呢？

“我們?nèi)松亩虝簹v程多么奇怪啊，”史蒂芬·利科克寫(xiě)道，“小孩子說(shuō)：‘等我成為大孩子的時(shí)候。’可是長(zhǎng)大之后他又說(shuō)：‘等我長(zhǎng)大成人之后。’等長(zhǎng)大成人了，他又說(shuō)：‘等我結(jié)婚以后。’可是等他結(jié)了婚，又會(huì)怎么樣呢？他的想法隨后又變成了‘等我退休之后’。然后，等退休之后，他再回顧過(guò)去時(shí)，似乎有一陣?yán)滹L(fēng)吹過(guò)來(lái)——他錯(cuò)過(guò)了一切，而一切又一去不復(fù)返。我們總是無(wú)法及早明白：生命就在生活里，就在每一天每一刻。”

底特律已故的愛(ài)德華·伊文斯在學(xué)會(huì)“生命就在生活里，就在每一天每一刻”這個(gè)道理之前，幾乎因?yàn)閼n慮而自殺。愛(ài)德華·伊文斯出生在一個(gè)貧苦的家庭，起先是賣(mài)報(bào)為生，然后在一家雜貨店工作。后來(lái)，由于家里七口人要靠他吃飯，他找到了一個(gè)助理圖書(shū)管理員的工作，雖然薪水很少，可是他卻不敢辭職。直到八年之后，他才鼓足勇氣，開(kāi)始自己的事業(yè)。他用借來(lái)的55美元干出了一番自己的事業(yè)，一年賺進(jìn)兩萬(wàn)美元。隨后，厄運(yùn)降臨了：他替一個(gè)朋友背書(shū)了一張大額支票，而那位朋友卻破產(chǎn)了。在這次災(zāi)禍之后接著又來(lái)了另一次災(zāi)禍——他存進(jìn)所有財(cái)產(chǎn)的

couldn't sleep or eat,” he told me.“I became strangely ill.Worry and nothing but worry,” he said, “brought on this illness. One day as I was walking down the street, I fainted and fell on the sidewalk. I was no longer able to walk. I was put to bed and my body broke out in boils. These boils turned inward until just lying in bed was agony. I grew weaker every day.Finally my doctor told me that I had only two more weeks to live. I was shocked. I drew up my will, and then lay back in bed to await my end. No use now to struggle or worry. I gave up, relaxed, and went to sleep. I hadn't slept two hours in succession for weeks; but now with my earthly problems drawing to an end, I slept like a baby. My exhausting weariness began to disappear. My appetite returned. I gained weight.

“A few weeks later, I was able to walk with crutches. Six weeks later, I was able to go back to work. I had been making twenty thousand dollars a year; but I was glad now to get a job for thirty dollars a week. I got a job selling blocks to put behind the wheels of automobiles when they are shipped by freight. I had learned my lesson now. No more worry for me—no more regret about what had happened in the past—no more dread of the future. I concentrated all my time, energy, and enthusiasm into selling those blocks.”

Edward S. Evans shot up fast now. In a few years, he was president of the company—the Evans Product Company. It has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange for years. When Edward S. Evans died in 1945, he was one of the most progressive businessmen in the United States. If you ever fly over Greenland, you may land on Evans Field—a flying-field named in his honour.

Here is the point of the story: Edward S. Evans would never have had the thrill of achieving these victories in business and in living if he hadn't seen the folly of worrying—

那家銀行垮了。他不但損失了所有的錢(qián)財(cái)，還負(fù)債16000美元。他精神上承受不住了。“我吃不下，睡不著，”他告訴我，“我得了奇怪的病。沒(méi)有別的原因，只是因?yàn)閼n慮。有一天，我正走在街上，突然昏倒在路邊，以后就再也不能走路了。我躺在床上，全身都爛了。傷口逐漸往里面爛，連躺在床上都受不了。我日漸虛弱。最后醫(yī)生告訴我，我只能活兩個(gè)禮拜。我大吃一驚，寫(xiě)好遺囑，就躺在床上等死。掙扎或憂慮都沒(méi)有用了，我只好放棄，開(kāi)始放松下來(lái)，閉目休息。連續(xù)好幾個(gè)星期，我都睡不到兩個(gè)小時(shí)；可是現(xiàn)在一切困難快要結(jié)束了，我反而睡得像個(gè)嬰兒。那些令人疲倦的憂慮漸漸消失了，胃口變好了，體重也開(kāi)始增加。

“幾個(gè)星期之后，我就能撐著拐杖走路了。六個(gè)星期之后，我又能回去工作了。以前我一年曾賺過(guò)兩萬(wàn)美元，可是現(xiàn)在我很高興找到一周30美元的工作。我的工作是推銷(xiāo)運(yùn)送汽車(chē)的輪船上用在輪子后面的擋板。這時(shí)我已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)不再憂慮，不再為過(guò)去發(fā)生的事情后悔，也不再害怕將來(lái)。我把所有的時(shí)間、精力和熱誠(chéng)都放在推銷(xiāo)擋板上。”

愛(ài)德華·伊文斯進(jìn)步非常快。沒(méi)有幾年，他就成了伊文斯工業(yè)公司的董事長(zhǎng)。多年以來(lái)，這家公司一直是紐約股票交易所的一家公司。當(dāng)他1945年去世時(shí)，已成為美國(guó)最進(jìn)步的企業(yè)家。如果你乘飛機(jī)去格陵蘭，很可能降落在伊文斯機(jī)場(chǎng)——這個(gè)機(jī)場(chǎng)是為了紀(jì)念他而命名的。

這個(gè)故事的啟示在于：如果愛(ài)德華·伊文斯沒(méi)有學(xué)會(huì)生活在“完全獨(dú)立的今天”的話，他絕不可能獲得這樣驚人的成就。

公元前500年，古希臘哲學(xué)家赫拉克利特告訴他的學(xué)生：“除了變化的法則，

if he hadn't learned to live in day-tight compartments.

Five hundred years before Christ was born, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus told his students that “everything changes except the law of change”. He said, “You cannot step in the same river twice.”

The river changes every second; and so does the man who stepped in it.Life is a ceaseless change.

The only certainty is today. Why mar the beauty of living today by trying to solve the problems of a future that is shrouded in ceaseless change and uncertainty—a future that no one can possibly foretell?

The old Romans had a word for it. In fact, they had two words for it. Carpe diem.“Enjoy the day.” Or, “Seize the day.” Yes, seize the day, and make the most of it.

That is the philosophy of Lowell Thomas. I recently spent a weekend at his farm; and I noticed that he had these words from Psalm CXViii framed and hanging on the walls of his broadcasting studio where he would see them often:

This is the day which the Lord hath made

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

The writer John Ruskin had on his desk a simple piece of stone on which was carved one word: TODAY. And while I haven't a piece of stone on my desk, I do have a poem pasted on my mirror where I can see it when I shave every morning—a poem that Sir William Osler always kept on his desk—a poem written by the famous Indian dramatist, Kalidasa:

SALUTATION TO THE DAWN

Look to this day!

每件事物隨時(shí)都在變化。”他說(shuō)，“你不能兩次踏進(jìn)同一條河流。”

河每秒都在變化，所以走進(jìn)河水的人也同樣在變化。生命就是一個(gè)永不停息的變化過(guò)程。

唯一確定的是今天。為什么非要去解決那永遠(yuǎn)處于變化而尚不能確定的明天的問(wèn)題，使得今天的美好生活弄得焦頭爛額呢？

古羅馬人有一句話——其實(shí)是兩句話。它們是“享受今天”或“抓住今天”。是的，抓住今天，充分過(guò)好今天。

這也是羅維爾·托馬斯的觀點(diǎn)。我最近在他的農(nóng)場(chǎng)過(guò)了一次周末。我注意到他引用了《圣經(jīng)》第118篇的句子，裝在鏡框中，掛在他廣播電臺(tái)的墻上，好讓他常常看見(jiàn)。

這是耶和華所定的日子，

我們?cè)谄渲校吲d歡喜。

作家約翰·羅斯金在他的桌上放了一塊石頭，石頭上只刻有兩個(gè)字——今天。我的書(shū)桌上雖然沒(méi)有放石頭，不過(guò)我的鏡子上倒貼了一首詩(shī)，每天早上刮胡子的時(shí)候我都能看見(jiàn)——這也是威廉·奧斯勒爵士一直放在他桌上的那首詩(shī)——這首詩(shī)的作者是印度知名戲劇家卡里達(dá)沙：

向黎明敬禮

看著今天！

因?yàn)樗褪巧巧械纳?/p>

For it is life, the very life of life.

In its brief course

Lie all the verities and realities of your existence:

The bliss of growth

The glory of action

The splendour of beauty

For yesterday is but a dream

And tomorrow is only a vision，

But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness

And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day!

Such is the salutation to the dawn.

So, the first thing you should know about worry is this: if you want to keep it out of your life, do what Sir William Osler did—

Shut the iron doors on the past and the future.Live in Day-tight Compartments.

Why not ask yourself these questions, and write down the answers?

1. Do I tend to put off living in the present in order to worry about the future, or to yearn for some “magical rose garden over the horizon”?

2. Do I sometimes embitter the present by regretting things that happened in the past—that are over and done with?

3. Do I get up in the morning determined to “Seize the day”—to get the utmost out of these twenty-four hours?

4. Can I get more out of life by “l(fā)iving in day-tight compartments”?

5. When shall I start to do this? Next week?...Tomorrow?...Today?

在它短暫的時(shí)間里，有你存在的所有變化與現(xiàn)實(shí)：

成長(zhǎng)的福佑，行動(dòng)的榮耀，還有成功的輝煌。

昨天不過(guò)是一場(chǎng)夢(mèng)，明天只是一個(gè)幻影，

但生活在美好的今天，

卻能使每一個(gè)昨天成為一個(gè)快樂(lè)的夢(mèng)，

使每一個(gè)明天都充滿希望的幻景。

所以，好好看著今天吧，

這就是對(duì)黎明的敬禮。

所以，對(duì)于憂慮，你應(yīng)該知道的第一件事就是：如果你不希望它干擾你的生活，就要學(xué)習(xí)威廉·奧斯勒爵士——“用鐵門(mén)把過(guò)去和未來(lái)隔斷，生活在完全獨(dú)立的今天。”

為什么不問(wèn)自己下面幾個(gè)問(wèn)題，然后寫(xiě)下答案？

1.我是否沒(méi)有生活在現(xiàn)在，而只擔(dān)心未來(lái)？或者只追求所謂的“遙遠(yuǎn)奇妙的玫瑰園”？

2.我是否有時(shí)為過(guò)去已經(jīng)發(fā)生的事情而后悔，結(jié)果使現(xiàn)在更難受？

3.我早上起來(lái)的時(shí)候，是否決定“抓住這一天”，盡量利用這24小時(shí)？

4.如果活在“完全獨(dú)立的今天”，我是否能從生命中得到更多的東西？

5.我應(yīng)該什么時(shí)候開(kāi)始這么做？是下個(gè)星期，明天，還是今天？