Forthispartyouareallowed30minutestowriteanessayonhappinessbyreferringtothesaying“Happinessisnottheabsenceofproblems,buttheabilitytodealwiththem.”Youcanciteexamplestoillustrateyourpointandthenexplainhowyoucandevelopyourabilitytodealwithproblemsandbehappy.Youshouldwriteatleast150wordsbutnomorethan200words.
Asanoldsayinggoes,“Happinessisnottheabsenceofproblems,buttheabilitytodealwiththem.”Whyisdifficulttodefine,orratherdiscoverandachievehappiness?Imaintainthemajordeterminantliesinaperson’sattitudes.
正如谚语所说:“幸福并非没有问题,而在于解决问题的能力”。为何很难定义、发现和获得幸福?我认为最重要的因素在于人们的态度。
Thereislittlecorrelation?betweenthecircumstanceofpeople’slivesandhowhappytheyare.Instead,happinessliesinthestruggletobehappy.Todemonstrate,peoplesometimesgotoextremes?,andfranticallypursuemoney,power,highsocialstatus,andsoon,whichareallsymbolsofsuccess—butneverofhappiness.Perhapsiftheyshiftedtheirlife’sgoalfromultimatesuccesstounswervingeffortsandtoaconfidencethattheywillbesuccessfulonedaytheywouldbeagreatdealhappier.
人们的生活环境和他们多么幸福之间没什么关系。相反,幸福在于获取幸福的奋斗之中。例如,人们有时候会走极端,疯狂追求金钱、权利、很高的社会地位等等。这些都是成功的象征,但并非幸福的象征。也许如果他们把人生目标从终极成功转向未来他们必将成功的自信,他们将会更加幸福。
Besidesdefiningit,howdoIachievehappiness?Thereislittledoubtthat?variouspeoplehavediversewaysofgoingaboutthistask.Asforme,themostsignificantsecretisrealizingthathappinessisaby-productofsomethingelse.Themostobvioussourcesarethosepursuitsthatgiveourlivesapurpose.Thesecanbeanythingfromplayingtennistostudyinginsects.Themorepassionswehave,themorehappinesswearelikelytoexperience.
除了定义幸福之外,我如何来获取幸福?毫无疑问不同的人对于实现这一目标有着迥然不同的方式。对我而言,最大的秘密就是认识到幸福只是其他事情的一种副产品。最明显的来源就是给予我们目标的那些追求。这些追求可以使从打网球到研究昆虫的任何事情。我们越有激情,我们越有可能感受到幸福。