英語美文：《人生七年》告訴我們的五條人生法則

　　摘要：一千個(gè)人眼中有一千個(gè)哈姆雷特。在這里給你換個(gè)角度另類解讀這部每7年就火一次的紀(jì)錄片——《人生七年》告訴我們的5條人生法則。

　　1.Life goes on.

　　無論發(fā)生什么，生活都會(huì)繼續(xù)。

　　Through the years, we’ve seen the participants experience deaths, divorce, and dramatic career setbacks. We’ve also seen them prevail against adversity.

　　在紀(jì)錄片的56年中，我們可以看到參與拍攝的人們經(jīng)歷死亡、離婚、突發(fā)的職場(chǎng)挫折等等，也見證了他們走出逆境。

五條人生法則

　　Over and over, we’ve seen the participants believe negative events meant their lives were finished. But people will gradually return to their personal “baseline” of happiness after atriumph or a tragedy.

　　有多少次，這些人認(rèn)為他們?nèi)松械拇煺鬯坪跻馕吨约旱纳钔甑傲?，然而并沒有。人們?cè)趹?zhàn)勝困難或經(jīng)受磨難后，會(huì)逐漸回歸到最基本平常的幸福。

　　The key to happiness is to raise that baseline by cultivating an approach to life that emphasizes appreciation for the good things, as well as qualities like forgiveness and compassion.

　　幸福的秘訣就是培養(yǎng)這樣的人生態(tài)度：欣賞生命中美好的事情、培養(yǎng)寬容和富有同情心的素質(zhì)。

　　2.Count your blessings.

　　要記得時(shí)常感恩。

　　The most troubled and compelling participants in the series are the ones that are also among the most grateful for what they have.

　　紀(jì)錄片中遇到麻煩最多、同時(shí)也最引人注目的角色，往往也是那些對(duì)自己所擁有的一切最懂得感恩的人。

　　Neil, for example, suffers severe mental illness and has been homeless and suicidal for long stretches of time. But Neil also provides the audience with many moments of grace, as when he recounts how grateful he is for long walks and conversations with friends.

　　比如說，影片中的尼爾患有嚴(yán)重的精神疾病，很長時(shí)間都流浪在外、猶豫在自殺的邊緣。但尼爾帶給觀眾的，還有很多優(yōu)雅的鏡頭：回想起和朋友們的長途漫步、促膝而談，他感到很滿足。

　　This sense of gratitude contributes powerfully to the resilience self-cure of Neil. People who live a life of pervasive thankfulness really do experience life differently than people who cheat themselves out of life by not feeling grateful.

　　正是這種感恩的意識(shí)，促進(jìn)了尼爾的恢復(fù)和自愈。對(duì)生活毫無感恩的人其實(shí)是欺騙了自己的生活，而對(duì)生活充滿感恩的人、他們的生活體驗(yàn)真的與眾不同。

　　3.Relationships matter—a lot.

　　人際關(guān)系很重要。

　　“At 56, for people who put energy into families, there was a big payback,” said Michael Apted.

　　導(dǎo)演邁克爾·艾普特說，“56歲的時(shí)候，那些為家庭盡心盡力的人，都得到了很大的回報(bào)。”

　　Again and again, the “Up” series reveals how critical friends, family, and social connections are to an individual’s success and happiness in life. For both men and women, caring for others invested their lives with a meaning that they weren’t able to find in any other activity.

　　《人生七年》曾多次證實(shí)了友情、親情、社會(huì)關(guān)系對(duì)于一個(gè)人成功和擁有幸福生活的重要影響。無論是男人還是女人，愛給他們?nèi)松鷰淼囊饬x、是其他任何活動(dòng)都無法得到的。

　　4.Money also matters—but only up to a point.

　　錢很重要，但只是在某種層面上重要。

　　The series originally set out to examine the long-term impact of social class on happiness and life chances. And it does, in fact, show that money matters. But the research also shows that once we secure food, shelter, and a minimum level of comfort, happiness springs from life meaning and relationships much more than money.

　　紀(jì)錄片的初衷是想驗(yàn)證英國社會(huì)階級(jí)對(duì)人生幸福和機(jī)遇的影響。事實(shí)上，它的確驗(yàn)證了金錢的重要性。但它也表明，一旦我們能夠滿足食物、住所、基本的舒適感，幸福的源泉更多來自于人生意義、人際關(guān)系，而非金錢。

　　5.Don’t compare yourself to others.

　　不要老拿自己和別人做對(duì)比。

　　Yes, research does find that inequality makes us unhappy—but it turns out that this has little to do with absolute amounts of money. It's the comparisons that hurt.

　　紀(jì)錄片中我們可以發(fā)現(xiàn)，不平衡感會(huì)使我們感到不幸福，然而結(jié)果表明不幸福感并不是因?yàn)殄X的多少，而是對(duì)比本身給我們帶來的傷害。

　　We hurt ourselves with comparisons to others, but we can't seem to stop. Remember that each life must be judged on its own terms.

　　在與別人的對(duì)比中，我們傷害了自己。但我們卻仿佛停不下來。要記住，你的人生過得怎樣與別人無關(guān)。