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幸福是其他事物的副产品。它最显而易见的源泉就是那些给我们的生活以目标的追求——任何事情，从研究昆虫到打棒球都行。我们拥有的激情越多，我们就越有可能经历更多的幸福。

A SIMPLE TRUTH ABOUT HAPPINESS

After I gave a talk on the subject of happiness, a woman in the audience stood up and said, "I wish my husband had come." As much as she loved him, she explained, it wasn't easy being married to someone so unhappy.

This woman enabled me to put into words what I had been searching for _ the 1）altruistic, as well as the personal, reasons for taking happiness seriously. I told her that each of us owes it to our family and friends to be as happy as we can be. And if you don't believe me, ask a child what it's like to grow up with an unhappy parent, or ask parents what pain they suffer if they have an unhappy child.

I was not a particularly happy child, and like most teenagers, I 2）reveled in my 3）angst. One day, however, it occurred to me that I was taking the easy way out. Anyone could be unhappy; it took no courage or effort. True achievements lay in struggling to be happy.

The 4）notion that we have to 5）work at happiness comes as news to many people. We assume it's a feeling that comes as a result of good things that just happen to us, things over which we have little or no control.

But the opposite is true: happiness is largely under our control. It is a battle to be 6）waged and not a feeling to be 7）awaited.

To achieve a happier life, it's necessary to overcome some 8）stumbling 9）blocks, three of which are:10）Comparison with Others.

Most of us compare ourselves with anyone we think is happier _ a relative, an acquaintance or, often, someone we 11)barely know. I once met a young man who 12)struck me as particularly successful and happy. He spoke of his love for his beautiful wife and their daughters, and of his joy at being a radio 13)talk show host in a city he loved. I remember thinking that he was one of those lucky few for whom everything goes 14)effortlessly right.

Then we started talking about the Internet. He blessed its existence, he told me, because he could look up information on 15)multiple sclerosis－ the terrible disease 16）afflicting his wife. I felt like a fool for assuming nothing unhappy existed in his life.

Images of Perfection.

Almost all of us have images of how life should be. The problem, of course, is that only rarely do people's jobs, 17）spouses and children 18）live up to these imagined ideals.

Here's a personal example. No one in my family had ever divorced. I assumed that marriage was 19）for life. So when my wife and I divorced after five years of marriage and three years after the birth of our son, my world 20）caved in. I was a failure in my own eyes.

I later remarried but 21）confided to my wife, Fran, that I couldn't shake the feeling that my family life had failed. She asked me what was wrong with our family now (which included her daughter from a previous marriage and my son.) I had to admit that, 22）aside from the pain of being with my son only half the time (my ex-wife and I shared 23)custody), our family life was wonderful.

"Then why don't you celebrate it?" she asked.

That's what I decided to do. But first I had to get rid of the image of a "perfect" family.

"Missing Tile" Syndrome.

One effective way of 24）sabotaging happiness is to look at something and 25）fixate on even the smallest flaw. It's like looking up at a 26）tiled ceiling and concentrating on the space where one tile is missing. As a bald man told me, "Whenever I enter a room, all I see is hair."
　
Once you've determined what your missing tile is, explore whether acquiring it will really make you happy. Then do one of three things: get it, replace it with a different tile, or forget about it and focus on the tiles in your life that are there.

I've spent years studying happiness, and one of the most significant conclusions I've drawn is that there is little 27）correlation between the circumstances of people's lives and how happy they are. A moment's 28）reflection should make this obvious. We all know people who have had a 29）relatively easy life yet are 30）essentially unhappy. And we know people who have suffered a great deal but generally remain happy.

The first secret is 31）gratitude. All happy people are grateful. Ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that being unhappy leads people to complain, but it's true to say that complaining leads to people becoming unhappy.

The second secret is realizing that happiness is a 32）by-product of something else. The most obvious sources are those 33)pursuits that give our lives purpose _ anything from studying 34）insects to playing baseball. The more passions we have, the more happiness we're likely to experience.

Finally, the belief that something 35）permanent 36）transcends us and that our existence has some larger meaning can help us be happier. We need a spiritual or religious faith, or a 37）philosophy of life.

Whatever your philosophy, it should 38）encompass this 39）truism: if you choose to find the positive in virtually every situation, you will be blessed, and if you choose to find the awful, you will be 40）cursed. As with happiness itself, this is largely your decision.

词汇解释

Note：

1. altruistic adj.利他的, 无私心的
2. revel in v.得意于, 着迷, 酷爱, 纵情于
3. angst n.焦虑, 担心
4. notion n.概念, 观念, 想法
5. work at 从事, 致力于, 钻研
6. wage v.发动
7. await vt.等候
8. stumble v.绊倒, 使困惑, 蹒跚
9. block n.木块, 石块，阻滞
10. comparison n.比较, 对照
11. barely adv.仅仅, 刚刚, 几乎不能
12. strike vt.冲击,打动
13. talk show n.谈话节目,现场访谈
14. effortless adj.容易的, 不费力气的
15. multiple sclerosis n. 〈医〉多发性硬化
16. afflict vt.使痛苦, 折磨
17. spouse n.配偶(指夫或妻)
18. live up to v.实践, 做到
19. for life adv.终身
20. cave in v.下陷
21. confide to v.信赖,透露
22. aside from adv.除...以外
23. custody n.监管监管的行为或权利
24. sabotage vt.妨害, 破坏
25. fixate vi.视线移向, 注视
26. tiled adj.平铺的, 用瓦管排水的
27. correlation n.相互关系, 相关(性)
28. reflection n.反省, 沉思
29. relatively 相对地
30. essentially adv.本质上, 本来
31. gratitude n.感谢的心情
32. by-product n.副产品
33. pursuit n.追逐
34. insect n.昆虫
35. permanent adj.永久的, 持久的
36. transcend vt.超越, 胜过
37. philosophy n.哲学, 哲学体系
38. encompass v. 包含或包括某事物
39. truism n.真实性
40. cursed adj.被诅咒的, 邪恶的

参考译文

幸福的简单真谛
　　
当我结束了一个关于幸福的谈话节目，观众席有一位女士站起来说："要是我丈夫也来了就好了。"虽然她很爱他，她解释说，但和一个那么不快乐的人一起过日子可真不容易。
　　
这位女士正好使我道出了我一直想说的话：也就是认真对待幸福的外在原因，而那同时也是内在的原因。我告诉她我们每个人都要尽可能的幸福，因为这是我们对家庭和朋友的责任。如果你不相信我，问问小孩和一个不快乐的家长一起长大是什么感觉，或者问问家长如果他们有一个不快乐的小孩，他们会承受什么样的痛苦。
　　
我并不是一个特别快乐的孩子，和其他十几岁的孩子们一样，我沉溺于自己的痛苦之中。然而，有一天我突然开窍了，其实我一直在懒省事。

任何人都可以不幸福，因为那不需要勇气也不需要努力，真正的成就感在于努力寻求幸福。
　　
对很多人来说，我们必须致力于幸福这个观念还很新鲜。我们通常认为，幸福是随着那些刚刚发生过的美妙事情而来的一种感觉，而对于那些事情来说，我们鲜能控制，甚至根本无法控制。
　　
但实际上恰恰相反：幸福在很大程度上在我们的控制之下。它是一场我们必须加入的战争，而不是一种需要我们去等待的感觉。
　　
要想得到更幸福的生活，就必须搬走一些绊脚石，其中三个就是：
　　
与人攀比。
　　
我们大多数人会拿自己跟任何一个我们觉得更幸福的人比较——一个亲戚，一个熟人，或者，通常是我们根本不怎么认识的某个人。我曾经遇到过一个年轻人，他给我的印象十分深刻，因为他相当成功也相当幸福。他谈起他对他漂亮的妻子和女儿们的爱，谈起他在一个中意的城市作广播脱口秀节目的快乐。我记得我曾经认为他就是那种天下少有的事事顺心的幸运儿。
　　
然后我们谈起网络。他告诉我，他非常庆幸有网络这么个东西，正是由于网络的存在，他才能够找寻更多关于多发性硬化症的信息，而这可怕的疾病正折磨着他的妻子。想起我曾以为没有任何不幸的事情存在于他的生活中，我觉得自己就像个傻子。
　　
完美设想。

几乎我们所有人都对生活有所设想。当然，问题是，只有极少数人的工作、配偶和孩子会和他之前所设想过的状况一模一样。
　　
以下是我个人的一个例子。我们家族从来没有人离过婚，我也一直认为一生只能有一次婚姻。所以当我和妻子结婚五年之后离了婚，当时我们的儿子已经三岁了，我的世界崩溃了。在自己眼里，我是一个失败者。
　
后来我再婚了，但我告诉妻子弗兰我无法动摇心中家庭生活失败的情绪。她问我，现在的家有什么不好（这个家包括她与前夫的女儿和我的儿子）。我不得不承认，除了我只有一半时间与儿子相处这一点做带来的痛楚（我和前妻共同享有监护权）之外，我们的家庭生活其实是非常幸福的。
　　
"那么为什么你不为此而高兴呢？"她问。
　　
那正是我打算作的。但首先，我得丢掉"完美"家庭的影子。

"缺瓦"综合症。
　　
如果想要破坏幸福，很有效的一个办法便是：在看东西的时候，把所有目光集中到哪怕是最小的一点瑕疵上面。这就像看瓦房顶一样，专门看缺了一片瓦的那块地方。一位秃头的先生曾经告诉我："不管什么时候，只要我进入一个房间，我所看见的全都是头发。"
　　
一旦确定了你所缺失的瓦片是哪一块，想想重新获得它是否真的会另你幸福。然后从以下三个选项中选择一个：找到丢了的那块；用另一块不同的瓦片来代替；忘了它并且关注你生命中没有缺失的那些瓦片。
　　
我花了很多年的时间研究幸福，我所作出的最有意义的结论就是：人们所生活的环境与他们的幸福程度之间几乎没有什么联系。片刻的思考就会让这个问题变得明了。我们都认识一些这样的人，他们过着相对轻松的生活，但却并不快乐，而另一些人虽然经历了许多痛苦却仍然很幸福。
　　
第一个秘密是感激。所有幸福的人都心存感激，没有感激之心的人不会幸福。我们往往认为不幸福会让人牢骚满腹，而事实是，抱怨另人感到不幸福。
　　
第二个秘密就是要意识到，幸福是其他事物的副产品。它最显而易见的源泉就是那些给我们的生活以目标的追求——任何事情，从研究昆虫到打棒球都行。我们拥有的激情越多，我们就越有可能经历更多的幸福。
　　
最后，如果你信仰有某种永恒的东西可以超越我们，而我们的存在更具有超凡的意义，也许你会更幸福。我们需要精神上或者宗教上的信仰，或者一套处世哲学。
　　
不管你的哲学观点如何，它应该包含这样一个真理：如果你真的在所有情况下选择寻找事情积极的一面，就会幸福，如果你选择寻找糟糕的一面，那你将厄运缠身。就幸福本身而言，它往往取决于你自身的决定。