引言:
回首那個糟糕的夏天,我很快就明白了,所有后來出現的好事只不過與壞事相互抵消。比一般情況糟糕的境遇不會延宕過久;而太平時光是我應得的,我要盡情享受,它們為我注入活力以應對下一個險情,并確保我可以興旺發達。
The 50-Percent Theory of Life
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 apendulumswing.It takes time and experience to understand what normal is, and that gives me the perspective to deal with the surprises of the future.
我信奉對半理論。生活時而無比順暢,時而倒霉透頂。我覺得生活就像來回擺的鐘擺。讀懂生活的常態需要時間和閱歷,而讀懂它也練就了我面對未來的生活態度。
Let’s benchmark theparameters: 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.
讓我們確定一下好壞的標準:是的,我注定會死去。我已經經歷了雙親,一位好友,一位敬愛的老板和心愛寵物的死亡。有些突如其來,近在眼前,有些卻緩慢痛苦。這些都是糟糕的事情,它們屬于最壞的部分。
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,paddlingaround 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.
生活中也不乏高潮:墜入愛河締結良緣;身為人父養育幼子,諸如訓練指導兒子的棒球隊,當他和狗在小河中嬉戲時搖槳劃船,感受他如此強烈的同情心-即使對蝸牛也善待有加,發現他如此豐富的想象力-即使用零散的樂高玩具積木也能堆出太空飛船。
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.
但在生活最好與最壞部分之間有一片巨大的中間地帶,其間各種好事壞事像耍雜技一樣上下翻滾,輪番出現。這就是讓我信服對半理論的原因。