The Bible shows the way to easy, happy living in many of its pages. It advises, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Those who expect the most are apt to receive the least. I had expected much and was filled with fury because nothing in the outside world relieved my emptiness4 and despair. Nothing did, either, until I could face the anger and fury, the emptiness and despair, and slowly start to know such new feelings as compassion, conviction, control, calm. I learned, too, of reason—that judicious combination of thought and feeling that enables me to take more responsibility for myself and others, that allows me to slay the ghosts of the past.
For me there is much hard work ahead to achieve greater happiness. Yet, the very struggle I have put into achieving a measure of it makes happiness that much more dear.
我相信, 愛與被愛是每個人的渴望。一個人是否幸福,關鍵在於他是否擁有愛並能夠接受愛。
在有些人看來,愛就是一種充滿活力、渴望且極富戲劇性的情感,是占有一切的**與欲望。而我認為,這種愛是極不成熟的愛:它是向他人的索求,而不是奉獻。隻有成熟的愛才能帶來幸福,它是內心真摯情感的流露,能夠接受並理解他人,給予對方溫柔與體貼。它不索求服務,而是處處提供服務。
6年前,由於身患急性鼻竇炎,我幾乎難以呼吸。胃部也常感不適,易惡心嘔吐。失眠問題也一直困擾著我,即使我感到疲憊不堪卻依然輾轉難眠。可是,醫生對我的病症所做的治療毫不奏效,我的痛苦絲毫未減。絕望中,我嚐試了心理療法。很幸運的是,我找到了一位博學、熱情的醫生,他讓我懂得了,能夠相信自己與他人的意義所在。
我身體的疾病得以治愈,而更多的是我最終開始學會一門生活的哲學。我一直是一個循規蹈矩的人,雖然我並不相信那些教條與格言,但多年來,由於不敢質疑,我一直不假思索地將其視為生活的準則。然而我難以正常而平靜地生活,總是坐立不安。最終,我受到了懲罰,病魔纏身,同時也得到了啟示:必須對現狀做出改變,否則將萬事不順。