英文原文1

This Is No Time For Complaints

David Hirsch hasn't forgotten the unhappy phone calls he used to get from clients back in 1998 and 1999. A director at Credit Suisse Private Banking USA in Chicago, he was carefully investing clients' money in blue-chip stocks, earning them 15% to 20% in annual returns.

But that was a time when some investors were earning 50% or even 100% returns in tech portfolios. Some of Mr. Hirsch's clients pulled their money, grousing that he wasn't serving them well.

Today, though his clients' portfolios are down 35% or more, 'I'm not getting complaints,' Mr. Hirsch says. 'People aren't asking, 'What did you do to my portfolio?' They're asking, 'What do we do from here?''

There may be a positive byproduct of our troubled times: a decrease in the urge to complain. People who still have jobs are finding reasons to be appreciative. (It feels unseemly to complain about not getting a raise when your neighbor is unemployed.) Homeowners are unhappy that home values have fallen, but it's a relief to avoid foreclosure. And yes, our portfolios have plummeted, but most of us can say that at least we didn't invest with Bernie Madoff.

Even if grumbling is only on hiatus, it's clear that in many quarters, we're seeing a return to Depression-era stoicism and an appreciation of simpler things.

Job satisfaction is actually up, according to a December 2008 survey by Yahoo! HotJobs. Almost 38% of respondents said they were 'very satisfied' with their jobs, compared with 28% in 2007, a likely sign that people are grateful they're still employed. And every week now, we hear reports of workers accepting pay cuts or furloughs without complaint -- some of them acts of solidarity to protect jobs elsewhere in their companies.

There is also a growing 'noncomplaining' movement that touts the belief that whining doesn't work as a strategy, and that happiness can be found through rituals such as writing in 'gratitude journals.'

英文原文2

Will Bowen, a minister in Kansas City, Mo., is on a mission. His nonprofit organization, A Complaint Free World Inc., has distributed almost six million purple bracelets emblazoned with the group's name. When wearers find themselves complaining, they're asked to switch bracelets to their other wrists. The goal is to go 21 days without having to switch.

Granted, it's not easy for many of us to fully shake the all-American inclination to complain. Stereotypes are rooted in truth. A lot of young people grumble due to a sense of entitlement. A lot of older people are crotchety because they've been complaining all their lives. (Down in Florida, my mother describes condo-association bickering as 'nitpicking in paradise.')

But Rev. Bowen believes the bad economy may be the antidote we need to re-evaluate our lives. 'In good times, people often take for granted what they have, and whine about what they don't have,' he says. 'Bad times make people more grateful.'

Rev. Bowen is sponsoring a complaint-free cruise in April, and is also taking 30 congregants to Tanzania this summer to help rebuild a birthing center. 'We'll be meeting people who are so happy with so little,' he says. 'It can't help but reframe our perspective.'

Jon Gordon, a leadership trainer and author of 'The No Complaining Rule,' has collected research showing that gratitude reduces stress and improves health. Every morning, he takes a gratitude walk and thinks positive thoughts. He offers seminars to help people 'change a complaining voice to an appreciative heart.'

Some people today may be smartly cutting back on complaining because they recognize it can be detrimental to their careers, says Sherene McHenry, a professor of counseling at Central Michigan University. 'It isn't safe or wise to complain at work these days. When determining who to let go, nonunionized companies first get rid of complainers and those who are difficult to be around.'

Ultimately, you can't control the economy or whether you're laid off. And it's easy for the experts to rhapsodize about gratitude. But there are merits to tempering your complaints.

Dr. McHenry encourages us to write down three things we're grateful for every day -- no matter how simple they might seem. 'Some days,' she says, 'the list might be as basic as oxygen, food and shelter.'

中文译文1

戴维•贺齐(David Hirsch)一直没忘记1998-1999年间那些损失惨重的客户打来的令人不愉快的电话，作为瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)在芝加哥的美国私人银行部的董事，他多年来一直小心翼翼地把客户的钱投在蓝筹股上，每年能取得15%到20%的收益。

John Segal但在当时，有些科技股投资者可以得到50%甚至100%的年回报率。贺齐的一些客户因此撤回了资金，他们对他提供的投资服务表示不甚满意。

现在，虽然他管理的客户资金减少了35%或者更多，“但没人再向我抱怨。”贺齐说，“他们不会追问我‘你对我的投资组合干了些什么？’他们只是问‘如今我们该干些什么？’”

这可能是动荡时代带来的一个正面效果：人们的抱怨冲动有所收敛。那些还有工作的人正在学会珍惜这份福气。（如果你的邻居已经失去工作，你就会觉得不必为自己没加上工资而抱怨。）有房子的人虽然不愿看到房价下跌，但至少房子还没被银行没收。是的，我们的投资组合大为缩水，但大多数人还可以说，至少我们没把钱交给金融巨骗马多夫(Bernie Madoff)。

虽然投资活动只是暂时收敛，但在很多地方，我们看到了大萧条时代艰苦奋斗精神的回归及对于简单事物的欣赏。

事实上，根据雅虎HotJobs网站2008年12月的一项统计，人们对工作的满意度上升了。有近38%的被访者表示，他们对自己的工作“非常满意”，而2007年这一数字仅为28%。这也许意味着人们对自己还有工作怀着一份感恩的心。现在每个星期我们都能听到很多报导，说员工毫无怨言地接受减薪或暂时休假，有些这类团结一心的做法使公司其他部门的人得以保住饭碗。

而且，日益增多的“不抱怨”运动让人们相信，怨天尤人并不是最好的出路，快乐可以通过各种途径获得，比如写“感恩日记”等等。

中文译文2

密苏里州堪萨斯城牧师威尔•伯文(Will Bowen)发起了事一项活动。他所在的非营利组织“无抱怨世界”(A Complaint Free World Inc.)分发出近600万只铭刻有组织名称的紫色腕带。如果佩戴腕带的人发现自己在抱怨，就要把它换到另一只手腕上去。他们的目标是争取在21天内不挪换腕带。

诚然，要让很多美国人完全摆脱喜欢抱怨的“国民习惯”是很不容易的。习惯的养成往往有其现实的根源。很多年轻人喜欢赌博，那是因为他们希望得到认同。很多老年人脾气暴躁，因为他们一辈子都在怨天尤人。（在佛罗里达州，我妈妈把公寓里的邻里争吵称为“在天堂里吹毛求疵”。）

然而，伯文牧师相信，糟糕的经济也许是让我们能新审视自己生活的良药。在好年景，人们往往对已经得到的东西视而不见，对得不到的牢骚满腹。”他说，“坏年景则让人们更珍惜自己拥有的一切。”

伯文牧师正在组织4月份的一次“无抱怨”活动，今年夏天还要带30名志愿者去坦桑尼亚参加一个育儿中心的改建。“我们将要遇到的这些人，他们几乎一无所有，但还是那么快乐。”他说，“这会让我们不知不觉地改变自己的价值观。”

琼•高登(Jon Gordon)是一位领导力培训师，也是《不抱怨原则》(The No Complaining Rule)一书的作者，他收集的很多研究素材表明，感恩有助于减少压力，增进健康。每天早上，他都要做一次感恩散步，想一些积极向上的东西。他开办培训班，帮助人们“把一肚子怨气转化为一颗感恩的心”。

如今有些人很明智地减少抱怨，是因为他们意识到抱怨可能会损害他们的职业生涯，美国中密歇根大学教授谢伦•麦克亨利(Sherene McHenry)说。“现在对工作提出怨言，既不安全，也不明智。在决定裁员对象时，没有工会组织的企业首先会让那些经常抱怨及跟公司对着干的人离开。”

归根结底，你无法控制经济大局，也无法控制自己的饭碗能否被保住。让专家向你激昂顿挫地讲述感恩的重要性固然容易，但要减少自己的怨气，最重要的还是自身的修炼。

麦克亨利教授鼓励大家每天写下三件自己感激的事情，无论这些事情看上去多么琐碎和简单。“总有那么一天，”她说，“你会发现这份清单和氧气、食物和房子一样不可或缺。”