With Mounting Stress, Where Is Happiness?
“压力山大”，幸福在哪里？
Yuan Hao
袁浩
A hot topic among netizens these days is: With mounting stress, where is happiness?
“‘压力山大’，幸福在哪里？”是当下网友们热议的话题。
A survey of 16,000 workers in 80 countries and regions has found that seventy-five percent of mainland Chinese workers experience more stress than in the previous year –which is the highest percentage among the regions polled. Many have even become inextricably entangled with stress, leading to a perception that while stress wears you out, you'd feel dreadful without it. It occurs to many of us that if measured on a happiness scale, today's life is far less satisfying than a single agrarian lifestyle, and the culprit is no other than the failure at stress management.
一项调查显示，在全球80个国家和地区的1.6万名职场人士中，认为压力高于去年者，中国内地人士占75%，列第一位。许多人甚至形成了与压力“相依”的习惯，认为“有压力时觉得累，没压力时觉得可怕”。很多人觉得生活的幸福指数远不及过着田园生活的农民，而导致这一切的原因就在于没有管理好“压力”二字。
Where does stress come from? It could be work-related, money-induced, compounded by the thirst to own or the burden of owning a home and a car, driven by the mission to get married and have offspring, and exacerbated by soaring consumer prices. Moreover, it could stem from an uneasiness that belies our stubborn refusal to settle for less when our goal proves unrealistic, or from the exasperation at our kids' failure to live up to expectations, or from our relentless pursuit of perfection that is taking us nowhere. As a result, we find ourselves consumed by hectic schedules day in and day out, navigating gingerly the labyrinth of office politics, executing one balancing act after another in search of elusive solutions satisfactory to all. At no time are we free from stress. Locked in a vicious circle of competition, we are in constant fear of being outpaced, out-earned, or outwitted, a fear that gives rise to chronicle fatigue, both physically and mentally, taking a toll on our health.
压力源于何处？压力源于工作，源于金钱，源于房子、车子，源于结婚生子的使命，源于物价的飞涨，更源于高不成低不就的尴尬，源于恨铁不成钢的愤怒，源于凡事追求完美的奢求。于是，我们每天都在高强度地工作，都要应付职场上复杂的人际关系，都要参悟为人之道、处事之理。内心时时充满压力的我们，就这样你追我赶、不甘落后，担心受穷、担心受伤，导致身心疲惫不堪，健康透支疾病上身。
In addition to workplace pressures and worries in life, another source of stress is social injustice, which over 40 percent of those polled in a survey regard as a primary contributor to stress. As we all know, stress arises not only from soured relationships, poor living conditions, peer pressure, the obligation to care for aging parents, or lack of interpersonally harmony, but also from myriad dilemmas that inflict unspeakable misery on us. Injustices such as inequality in education and employment, unfair competition, unequal business opportunities, and disparities in social welfare weigh heavily on our minds. Unable to escape from its clutch, much less alter its driving forces, we endure in silence this kind of stress, which has become a gnawing pain at heart and a malady of our time.
除了工作和生活上的压力，还有来自社会不公的压力。有调查显示，超过40%的人认为，社会不公是给他们生活带来压力的最主要原因。人们感到生活压力不仅来自糟糕的感情问题、吃住条件差、同伴之间的攀比、赡养父母、人际关系不好，还来自各种各样无法言喻的苦衷。比如，享受教育、劳动就业、参与竞争、发财致富、社会福利等等方面的不公，让我们感到沉重的压力，这种压力我们既无法排遣，更无力改变，只能忍气吞声，在隐忍中成为内心之痛、时代之殇。
Some say happiness is but a feeling, and nothing could be truer. In a bygone agricultural society, favorable weather and bumper harvests would bring happiness to a whole community, and a feeling of being doubly blessed would prevail if there was also a baby boom accompanied by thriving livestock populations. For a clan that valued farming and letters, all its members would be feeling on top of the world if one of them was successful in an imperial exam. However, in today's materialistic world where everyone seems to be in a hot pursuit of fame and wealth, people would be at a loss if asked "Are you happy?" Indeed, too much stress has eroded our sense of happiness. No wonder when some migrant workers were asked if they were happy in a CCTV happiness survey, their answer was "I don't know", just like that of Mo Yan, a famed writer. After all, migrant works and folks like Mo Yan are all experiencing stress, albeit in different ways.
有人说，幸福就是一种感觉。这话没错。在农耕社会，风调雨顺、庄稼丰收是幸福的，再加上人丁兴盛、六畜兴旺则更是幸福的；耕读传家之家族，有人金榜题名，整个家族的人是幸福的，荣耀地幸福着。而在如今这物质主义泛滥的年代，每个人都在追逐着名和利，倘若突然一问：你幸福吗？相信很多人都会回不过神来。因为，过多的压力已经销蚀了我们的幸福感。无怪乎央视在《你幸福吗》栏目调查中，会有如务工人员一样“我姓曾”的回答，更有如莫言一样“我不知道”的回答——不管是务工人员，还是莫言，都有各自所面临的压力。
To prevent stress from eroding our sense of happiness, the government for its part has to make constant efforts to build a fair and just social framework and a viable safety net for all, so as to enhance the ability of individuals to withstand risks and shocks, and take effective measures to narrow the gap between rich and poor, so as to prevent the emergence of collective anxiety among the general public. On the other hand, we as individuals should try to look at things from a different perspective, with less attitude and more gratitude. It pays to free ourselves from the grips of grievances, and harness the power of positive thinking, always aiming for a right balance between expectations and reality, a departure from blind materialistic pursuit towards a more fulfilling self-reinvention, and a return to reason. Only by embracing more equanimity, can we be blessed with happiness, and truly feel blissful.
不让压力销蚀我们的幸福感，一方面需要我们的政府努力营造公平正义的环境，不断健全保障体系，提高个人抵御各类风险的能力，切实解决社会贫富差距过大的问题，防止出现公众集体焦虑心态。另一方面，也需要我们每个人都能努力改变看问题的角度，多从积极的方面认识问题，以积极的心态来考虑问题，及时舒缓不良情绪，建立健康的生活心态，平衡好“期望值”与“现实值”的关系，淡泊明志，回归理性，以更加平和的心态对待生活，如此，我们才能静心感悟幸福，才能真正拥有幸福。