It has been estimated that the average human being has around 50,000 thoughts per day. That’s a lot of thoughts. Some of these thoughts are going to be positive and productive. Unfortunately, however, many of them are also going to be negative – angry, fearful, pessimistic, worrisome. Indeed, the important question in terms of becoming more peaceful isn’t whether or not you’re going to have negative thoughts – you are it’s what you choose to do with the ones that you have.
据估计人们平均每天拥有将近50000个想法。那是许多想法。这些想法中的一些将是积极的和有动力的。不幸的是，然而，它们中的许多也将是消极的——气愤，害怕，悲观，多虑。确实，就变得更加和平来说最重要的问题是你是否将会有消极的思想——你的问题是你会选择做什么在你拥有的东西中。
In a practical sense, you really have only two options when it comes to dealing with negative thoughts. You can analyze your thoughts – ponder, think through, study, think some more – or you can learn to ignore them- dismiss, pay less attention to, not take so seriously. This later option, learning to take your negative thoughts less seriously, is infinitely more effective in terms of learning to be more peaceful.
就实际感觉，你真的只有两种选择当谈论到处理消极思想时。你可以分析你的想法——仔细考虑，认真想清楚，考察研究，思考更多——或者你能够学着无视它们，排除它们，给予更少的关注，不要把它们看的如此严重。这后一种选择，学着把你的消极思想看的没那么严重就学着变得更加和平来说是无限地更加有效的。
When you have a thought – any thought – that’s all it is, a thought! It can’t hurt you without your consent. For example, if you have a thought from your past, “I’m upset because my parents didn’t do a very good job,” you can get into it, as many do which will create inner turmoil for you. You can give the thought significance in your mind, and you’ll convince yourself that you should indeed be unhappy. Or, you can recognize that your mind is about to create a mental snowball, and you can choose to dismiss the thought. This doesn’t mean your childhood wasn’t difficult – it may very well have been – but in this present moment, you have a choice of which thoughts to pay attention to.
当你有一个想法——任何想法——那就是它的全部，一个想法！没有你的允许它不能伤害你。例如，如果你拥有一个来自你过去的想法，“我悲伤因为我的父母并没有做一个非常好的工作”你能走进它，就像许多能激发内在的动力给你的东西。你可以在你的思想里给予这个想法重要性，并且你将使你自己信服你应该确实不开心。不然，你能意识到你的思想将要创造出一个精神雪球，你能够选择丢弃这个想法。这并不意味着你的童年不艰难——它可能已经很好了——但在这个现在时刻，你可以选择去关注哪个思想。
The same mental dynamic applies to thoughts of this morning, even five minutes ago. An argument that happened while you were walking out the door on your way to work is no longer an actual argument, it’s a thought in your mind. This dynamic also applies to future-oriented thoughts of this evening, next week, or ten years down the road. You’ll find, in all cases, that if you ignore or dismiss a negative thought that fills your mind, a more peaceful feeling is only a moment away. And, in a more peaceful state of mind, your wisdom and common sense will tell you what to do. This strategy takes practice but is well worth the effort.
同样的精神动力运用于今天早上的想法，甚至几分钟之前的。一个发生在当你走出家门去上班路上的争吵已经不再是一个真正的争吵，它只是一个在你思想里的想法。这种动力也将运用于这个晚上，下周，或者是10年以后在路上的这种以未来为基础的想法中。你将会发现，在所有情况下，如果你忽视或丢弃一种充满你思想的消极想法，一种更加和平的感觉是仅仅暂时的离开。并且，在思想中一个更加和平的状态下，你的智慧和常识会告诉你做什么。这个策略需要练习但它值得这样的努力。