They were unable to erase the deep fear of scarcity both had acquired in childhood. They needed to learn the lesson of abundance. Then the stock market crashed in 1987，and Alan and Linda lost a considerableconsiderable adj.相当大(或多)的，值得考虑的，相当可观的 amount of money. A bizarre but costly lawsuit depleted another huge portion of their savings. One thing led to another，and they found themselves in a financial disaster. Assets needed to be sold，and eventually they lost the country club membership，the cars，and the house. It took several years and much hard work for Alan and Linda to land on their feet，and though they now live a life far from extravagantextravagant adj.奢侈的，浪费的，过分的，放纵的，they have taken stock of their lives and feel quite blessed. Only now，as they assess what they have left-a solid，loving marriage，their health，a dependable income，and good friends-do they realize that true abundance comes not from amassing，but rather from appreciating.
Scarcity consciousness arises as a result of the “holeinthesoul syndrome.” This is when we attempt to fill the gaps in our inner lives with things from the outside world. But like puzzle pieces，you cant fit something in where it does not naturally belong. No amount of external objects，affection，love，or attention can ever fill an inner void. We already have enough，so we should revel in our own interiorinterior adj.内部的，内的 n.内部 abundance.
知足才常乐
许多人都相信，一旦他们达到了自己所设定的某个特定目标，他们就会开心、快乐。然而事实往往是，当你到达彼岸时，你还是不知足、不满意，而且又有了新的彼岸——新的幻想和憧憬。由于你总是疲于追逐一个又一个的彼岸，你从未真正欣赏、珍惜你已经拥有的一切。不安于现状的欲望人皆有之，由来已久，但重要的是要对它保持清醒的头脑。一方面，你的生活因为梦想和渴望而更加精彩。另一方面，这些欲望又使你越来越不懂得珍惜和享受现在拥有的生活。假如你能懂得感恩，学会知足，你就接近实现生活在现实中提出的要求。
感恩之心 感恩是指你感激、珍惜自己当前所拥有的一切以及所处的人生境遇。心存感恩，你的心灵就充满愉悦，你就能真正领会人生路上的种种体验。如果你努力把眼光锁定在此时此刻，你就能感受它的美妙之处。
感恩之心需要经常加强。许多方法可以培育感恩之心，你不妨试试以下几种：
1．设想如果你失去了你现在所拥有的一切，你的生活将会怎么样。它肯定会使你回想起原来你是多么喜欢和珍视这一切。
2．每天都列出那些值得你感激的事物，那样你就能时时刻刻意识到自己的幸运。每天都要这么做，尤其是当你觉得好像没有什么可感激的时候。另外你也可以每天临睡前花几分钟感恩自己所拥有的一切。
3．花点时间帮助那些没有你那么幸运的人，这样你也许会对生活有正确的认识。
其实，你选择何种方法去学会感恩，这无关紧要，真正重要的是你应该有意识地努力去欣赏和珍视你现在所拥有的一切，这样你就可以更快乐地享受你目前的生活。
知足常乐 贫穷是人类最普遍的恐惧之一。许多人担心自己的所需所求不够，所以他们总是孜孜以求有朝一日能心满意足，别无他求。
艾伦和琳达都来自贫苦的工人家庭，都一直梦想着过上“好日子”。他们早早地成了家，然后就开始为他们共同的致富目标奋斗。他们拼命工作了好几年，终于积攒了一笔钱，从两居室搬到了一套坐落在最高档街区的富丽堂皇的七居室大房子。此后，他们费尽心思去积聚那些他们认为是代表富足的东西：当地唯一的一家乡村俱乐部的会员资格、豪华汽车、名牌服装，以及上流社会的朋友。但是，不论他们积聚了多少，似乎永远难以满足。他们俩谁都无法消除小时候对贫穷的刻骨铭心的恐惧。其实，他们就需要学会知足常乐这一课。1987年，股市遭受重创，艾伦和琳达损失惨重。祸不单行，一场莫名其妙的昂贵的官司又耗尽了他们的一大笔积蓄，这一切使他们陷入了经济困境。他们不得不变卖家产，最后他们丢掉了乡村俱乐部的会员资格，失去了汽车和房子。艾伦和琳达努力奋斗了好几年才从困境中走出来。现在他们的生活毫不奢华，但是他们是自己生活的主宰，幸福而又知足。只有在这时，他们才掂量着那些尚未失去的东西，如稳固相爱的婚姻、健康的身体、可靠的收入、真正的朋友等等，他们终于认识到，真正的富足不是来自财富的积聚，而是来自对所拥有的一切的珍视。
贫穷感可以归因于“精神空虚综合症”，即我们试图用身外之物来填补内心的空缺。但是，就像拼图游戏一样，你不能把本来不属于那个地方的东西硬塞进去。任何身外之物、情感、关爱和关注都无法填补内心的空虚。我们拥有的已经足够，因此我们应该满足于内心世界的丰富与充实。
Develop Your Own Helping Rituals
If you want your life to stand for peace and kindness，its helpful to do kind，
peaceful things. One of my favorite ways to do this is by developing my own helping rituals. These little acts of kindness are opportunities to be of service and reminders of how good it feels to be kind and helpful.
We live in a rural area of the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of what we see is beauty and nature. One of the exceptions to the beauty is the litter that some people throw out of their windows as they are driving on the rural roads. One of the few drawbacksdrawback n.缺点，障碍，退还的关税，退税(指进口货物再出口时退还其进口时的关税 to living out the boondocks is that public services，such as litter collection，are less available than they are closer to the city.
A helping ritual that I practice regularly with my two children is picking up litter in our surrounding area. Weve become so accustomed to doing this that my daughters will often say to me in animatedanimated adj.活生生的，活泼的，动的，愉快的 voices，“Theres some litter，Daddy，stop the car！” And if we have time，we will often pull over and pick it up.
It may seem strange，but we actually enjoy it. We pick up litter in parks，on sidewalks，practically anywhere. Once I even saw a complete stranger picking up litter close to where we live. He smiled at me and said，“I saw you doing it，and it seemed like a good idea.”
Picking up litter is only one of an endless supply of possible helping ritualsritual n.典礼，(宗教)仪式，礼节 adj.典礼的，(宗教)仪式的.
You might like holding a door open for people，visiting lonely elderly people in nursing homes，or shoveling snow off someone elses driveway. Think of something that seems effortless yet helpful. Its fun，personally rewarding，and sets a good example. Everyone wins.
伸出你的友爱之手
如果你想让自己的生活安宁祥和，最好做一些友善平和的事情。我最喜欢的一种方式是培养自己乐于助人的习惯。这些小小的善行让你有机会去帮助别人，让你意识到待人友善、乐于助人的感觉有多好。
我们住在旧金山圣弗朗西斯科湾地区的郊外。我们目所能及的几乎都是美丽的自然风光。与这美景不太和谐的是有人驱车行驶在乡间小路上时随手从车窗往外扔垃圾。而居住在这种偏远的地方的一个缺点就是缺少必要的公共服务，例如，垃圾的收集就不如靠近市区那样方便。
我跟我的两个孩子经常做的一件事就是捡拾我们周围地区的垃圾。对此我们已经习以为常，我的女儿们经常会兴奋地对我说，“爸爸，这儿有垃圾，请停一下车！”只要时间来得及，我们总是将车开到路边并将垃圾捡起来。这似乎有点不可思议，但我们真的喜欢这样做。我们在公园里，人行道上，几乎任何地方捡拾垃圾。曾经有一次，我在我们家附近看到一位陌生人在捡垃圾。他笑着对我说，“我看到你这么做了，看来是个好主意。”
捡垃圾只不过是无数善意行为中的一种形式而已。你可以为别人开门，或者去敬老院看望那些孤独的老人，或者清除别人行车道上的积雪。总会想出一些似乎毫不费力但又非常有益的事情。这真的很有趣，自己会感觉很好，也为别人树立了榜样。每个人都会从中受益。
Principles Are Lighthouses
It was a dark and stormy night. The officer on the bridge came to the captain and said，“Captain，Captain，there is a light in our sea lane and they won’t move.”
“What do you mean they wont move？ Tell them to move. Tell them starboardstarboard n.右舷 right now.”
The signal was sent out，“Starboard，starboard，”The signal comes back，“ Starboard yourself. ”
“I cant believe this. Whats going on here？ Let them know who I am.” The signal sent out，“this is the mighty Missouri，starboard.” The signal comes back，“This is the lighthouse.”
My friends，correct principles are lighthouses，they do not move. They are nature laws. We cant break them. We can only break ourselves against them. We might as well learn them，accommodateaccommodate vt.供应，供给，使适应，调节，和解，向……提供，容纳，调和 vi.适应 them，utilize them and be grateful for them. Then it enlarges us and emancipatesemancipate vt.释放，解放，［律］使(孩子.妻子)摆脱家长的管教而获得合法权利 us and empowers us.
T. S.Eliot once said something I think is appropriate as we come to the conclusion of our visit together. He said，“we are never cease from strivingstrive v.努力，奋斗，力争，斗争，and the end of all of our striving will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.”
正确的原则犹如灯塔
那是个漆黑的、狂风暴雨的夜晚，大副从驾驶室出来走向船长说：“船长，船长，我们的海道上有灯光，而且他们不愿移开。”
“他们不愿移开是什么意思？叫他们移开。告诉他们立即右偏。”
信号发了出去：“右偏，右偏。”发回来的信号说：“你自己右偏。”
“我就不信。这是怎么了？让他们知道我是谁。”信号发出去：“这里是密苏里巨轮，请右偏。”信号发了回来：“这里是灯塔。”
朋友们，正确的原则犹如灯塔，他们不会移动。它们是自然法则。我们打破不了。我们要么让自己与它们相悖，要么去学习它们、调整它们、利用它们，并感激它们。然后我们自己得以发展，得以解放，得到使用这些原则的能力。
T.S.爱略特曾说过一句话，我认为很适合用来做此行的结束语。他说：“我们将永不放弃奋斗，经过全力以赴的奋斗后，我们将到达出发之地，并重新认识这个地方。”