Each has a one-off lifetime—that sounds easy and simple but carries weight when one considers it seriously. It is able to turn me from cowardice① to courage, from arrogance to modesty, from depression to activeness, and from sorrow to joy.
A person can only live once. His life is as short as four seasons: sprouting in spring, thriving in summer, harvesting in autumn and storing in winter. When I have labored under worldly affairs I’ll remind myself of the adage② and feel deeply struck by the fleeting of time and changing scenes of nature. I’ll put aside the mundane things at hand and care less about the current strife and competition. To my mind all troubles and worries, odd scores and personal feelings, and all that seem irresolvable of unacceptable would disappear after the short span of scores of years. If that’s the case, what’s there that cannot be solved?
A person has only this life to live. You can actively make as much use of it as possible or face it with a detached③ state of mind. When you take things too hard and become unhappy, think of the adage and you’ll be relieved. When you are in low spirits, think of it to cheer up. When you are enraged④, think of it to calm down. After all you’ve got your chance to live your life, you’re lucky enough. Surely you won’t waste this precious chance to lead your life in vain.
① cowardicen. 胆小,怯懦
② adagen. 格言,箴言
③ detachedadj. 不带感情的,超然的
④ enragev. 使愤怒,激怒
人的一辈子
“人就这么一辈子”——这七个字,说来容易,听来简单,想起来却很深沉。它能使我在懦弱时变得勇敢,骄矜时变得谦虚,颓废时变得积极,痛苦时变得欢愉。
人不就这么一辈子吗?春发、夏荣、秋收、冬藏,看来像是一年四季般短暂的一辈子。每当我为俗务劳形的时刻,想到这七个字,便在哀时光之须叟、感万物之行休中,把周遭的俗事抛开,将眼前的争逐看淡。我常想,世间的劳苦愁颂,恩恩怨怨,如有不能化解,不能消受的,不也驮过这短短的几十年就烟消云散了吗?若是如此,又有什么解不开的呢?
人就这么一辈子,你可积极地把握它,也可以淡然地面对它。看不开时想想它,以求释然吧!精神颓废时想想它,以求振作吧!愤怒时想想它,以求平息吧!因为不管怎样,你总很幸运地拥有这一辈子,你总不能白来这一遭啊!