Be Happy!
[英]勞埃德·莫裏斯/Lloyd Morris
“快樂的日子,使我們聰明。”
——約翰·梅斯菲爾德
第一次讀到英國桂冠詩人梅斯菲爾德這行詩的時候,我非常驚訝,它真正的寓意是什麽呢?不仔細考慮的話,我一直認為這句詩倒過來才對。不過他的冷靜與自信卻俘獲了我,所以我一直無法忘記這句詩。終於,我好像領會了他的意思,意識到其中蘊涵著深刻的觀察思考。快樂帶來的智慧存在於清晰的心靈感覺中,不因憂慮、擔心而困惑,不因絕望、厭煩而遲鈍,不因惶恐而出現盲點。
跳動的快樂——不僅是滿足或愜意——會突然到來,就像四月的春雨或是花蕾的綻放,然後你發覺智慧已隨快樂而來。草兒更綠,鳥兒的歌聲更加美妙,朋友的缺點也變得更加可以理解、原諒。快樂就像一副眼鏡,可以修正你精神的視力。
快樂的視野並不受你周圍事物的局限。隻不過當你不快樂的時候,思想便轉向你感情上的苦惱,眼界也就被心靈之牆隔斷了。而當你快樂的時候,這道牆便崩塌了。
你的眼界更寬了。腳下的大地,身旁的世界——人們、思想、情感、壓力——現在都溶進了一個更加宏偉的情境中,每件事都恰如其分。這就是智慧的開端。
"The days that make us happy make us wise."
—John Masefield
When I first read this line by England's Poet Laureate, it startled me. What did Masefield mean? Without thinking about it much, I had always assumed that the opposite was true. But his sober assurance was arresting. I could not forget it.
Finally, I seemed to grasp his meaning and realized that here was a profound observation. The wisdom that happiness makes possible lies in clear perception, not fogged by anxiety nor dimmed by despair and boredom, and without the blind spots caused by fear.