1 生活的半对半理论
The 50-percent Theory of Life
佚名 / Anonymous
I believe in the 50-percent theory. Half the time things are better than normal; the other half, they are worse. I believe life is a pendulum swing. It takes time and experience to understand what normal is, and that gives me the perspective to deal with the surprises of the future.
Let's benchmark the parameters: Yes, I will die. I've dealt with the deaths of both parents, a best friend, a beloved boss and cherished pets. Some of these deaths have been violent, before my eyes, or slow and agonizing. Bad stuff, and it belongs at the bottom of the scale.
Then there are those high points: romance and marriage to the right person; having a child and doing those Dad things like coaching my son's baseball team, paddling around the creek in the boat while he's swimming with the dogs, discovering his compassion so deep it manifests even in his kindness to snails, his imagination so vivid he builds a spaceship from a scattered pile of Legos.
But there is a vast meadow of life in the middle, where the bad and the good flip-flop acrobatically. This is what convinces me to believe in the 50-percent theory.
One spring I planted corn too early in a bottomland so flood-prone that neighbors laughed. I felt chagrined at the wasted effort. Summer turned brutal — the worst heat wave and drought in my lifetime. The air-conditioner died, the well went dry, the marriage ended, the job lost, the money gone. I was living lyrics from a country tune — music I loathed . Only a surging Kansas City Royals team, bound for their first World Series, buoyed my spirits.
Looking back on that horrible summer, I soon understood that all succeeding good things merely offset the bad. Worse than normal wouldn't last long. I am owed and savor the halcyon times. They reinvigorate me for the next nasty surprise and offer assurance that I can thrive. The 50-percent theory even helps me see hope beyond my Royals' recent slump, a field of struggling rookies sown so that some year soon we can reap an October harvest.
Oh, yeah, the corn crop? For that one blistering summer, the ground moisture was just right, planting early allowed pollination before heat withered the tops, and the lack of rain spared the standing corn from floods. That winter my crib overflowed with corn; fat, healthy three-to-a-stalk ears filled with kernels from heel to tip; while my neighbors' fields yielded only brown, empty husks.
Although plantings past may have fallen below the 50-percent expectation, and they probably will again in the future, I am still sustained by the crop that flourishes during the drought.
我信奉生活半对半的理论。一半美好，另一半则会糟糕。我觉得，生活就像钟摆一样会来回晃动，我们需要时间和阅历才能懂得它的常态。也正是这样，我懂得了如何处变不惊地面对未来的一切。
让我们以这些参数为基点来思考：是的，我注定会死去。我已经历了如此多的死亡：父母、好友、受人爱戴的老板，还有心爱的宠物。这些死亡当中，有些突如其来，直击眼前；有些却是缓慢地折磨着，令人苦不堪言。而且，这些糟糕的事隐藏在心底最深处。
当然，生活中也有这样辉煌的时候：与心爱的人坠入爱河并喜结良缘；养育孩子，做些父亲该做的事，如训练儿子的棒球队；当儿子带着狗在小溪里游泳时，自己在一旁荡桨泛舟，我发现他的同情心是如此强烈——对蜗牛也表现出友爱；他的想象力是如此活跃——即使是一堆零散的积木，他也能造出太空飞船来。
然而，人生中有一片辽阔的草地，各种好事坏事都在那里戏剧般地颠倒沉浮。这使我确信了生活半对半的理论。
有一年春天，我过早种下了玉米，那里地势低洼，容易被洪水淹没。因此，我受到邻居们的嘲笑，也为自己白白浪费的努力而懊恼不已。那年夏天异常酷热——我生命中最可怕的热浪和干旱降临，生活如同我所讨厌的一首乡村歌曲所描绘的情节。空调坏了，水井干涸了，婚姻结束了，工作丢了，钱也没了。而唯一使我精神振奋的，是一支人气攀升的堪萨斯皇家棒球队，它将首次出征世界大赛。
回想那个可怕的夏天，我明白了，祸福相依，不顺心的事情总会过去。我要拥有和享受宁静的时光，它使我振作起来，要敢于面对突如其来的意外事件，并激励我再度辉煌。最近，我的皇家棒球队陷入低迷状态，半对半理论让我看到了希望：在一个领域里，只要你辛勤耕耘，几年后，就可以收获金秋十月。
哦，对了，玉米的收成？因为那个酷暑，地上的湿度恰到好处，种植较早使得授粉期避开了酷热当头，而稀少的雨水使挺立的玉米免受洪水之灾。那年冬天，玉米堆满了我的谷仓——每株玉米秆上结了三个硕大饱满的玉米棒，每一个棒子都长满了玉米粒——邻居们的地里只有褐色干瘪的玉米叶。
尽管以前种玉米总没什么收成，将来可能还会如此，但我仍要继续种下去，因为这些经历了旱季依然能丰收的玉米大大鼓舞了我。
生活中不会都是甜蜜，也不会都是苦涩！只有甜苦参半，甜蜜才会更有意义。
pendulum ['pendjulm] n. 钟摆；摆锤；摇摆不定的事态
The pendulum of life must have balance.
生命的钟摆必须平衡。
meadow ['medu] n. 草地；牧场
Suddenly she found herself standing in a beautiful meadow.
突然，她发现自己站在一个美丽的牧场上。
buoy ['bu:i] v. 使浮起；支撑；鼓励
Doesn't this sunshine buoy you up?
难道这晴空万里不能使你情绪好些吗？
reinvigorate [ri:in'vireit] v. 使再振作；使复兴
What should Hebei do to reinvigorate its economy?
河北将如何振兴它的经济？
人生中有一片辽阔的草地，各种好事坏事都在那里戏剧般地颠倒沉浮。
回想那个可怕的夏天，我明白了，祸福相依，不顺心的事情总会过去。
经历了旱季依然能丰收的玉米大大鼓舞了我。
I've dealt with the deaths of both parents, a best friend, a beloved boss and cherished pets.
deal with：涉及；处理；做生意
Bad stuff, and it belongs at the bottom of the scale.
at the bottom of：在……的底部
2 让青春永驻的秘诀
How to Stay Young
佚名 / Anonymous
1.Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him or her.
2.Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3.Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. And idle brain is the devil's workshop.
4.Enjoy the simple things.
5.Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6.The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7.Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever.
8.Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9.Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall , to the next country, to a foreign country, but not to where the guilt is.
10.Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.