■通过感恩找到内心的和平
Finding Peace Through Gratitude
◎Nancy Smeltzer/南希·斯梅尔策
It’s funny how sometimes a single occurrence can have profound effects on your life. There are those life-transforming events such as the birth of a child or the death of a loved one that are permanently fixed in your mind. Sometimes, however, an epiphany from the universe finds its way to you with a small, but insistent voice. Such a case for me was a single article in a recent issue of Yoga Journal entitled “Selfless Gratitude” by Phillip Moffitt.
Moffitt’s ideas have had a profound effect on my outlook[52] on life. It began when the title “Selfless Gratitude” caught my eye while thumbing through the pages. The words immediately spoke to me of noble virtues. While I aspire to be a loving, selfless person, I figure that I can use all of the help I can get to stay on my chosen course. I began reading.
As I am often plagued with depression, his belief that through joyful appreciation one can connect with the universe resonated[53] well with me. I have found that I do feel a profound oneness with the universe when I can
美丽语录
有时候，一件小事就会对你的人生产生深远的影响，这是一件挺有意思的事。一个新生命的诞生，一位挚爱之亲的逝去，都会永久地停留在你的脑海之中，改变你的人生。但是，有时宇宙会持续不断地轻声告诉你一些道理，让你顿悟。我就遇到了这种情况，近期《瑜伽杂志》里菲利普·墨菲特写的一篇叫《无私的感恩》的文章，让我顿悟了许多道理。
墨菲特的想法对我的人生观产生了深远的影响。在我翻阅这本书，被“无私的感恩”这五个字吸引的时候，这种影响就开始了。这几个字让我感受到高尚的美德。我特别想做一个充满爱的、无私的人。我想，要成为这样的人，我应该利用一切可以利用的资源。于是我开始了阅读。
墨菲特相信，通过充满喜悦的感恩，人可以同宇宙建立连接；由于我经常被抑郁症困扰，这个想法让我产生了共鸣。我发现，当我记得表现出感恩的时候，的确感觉到跟宇宙深刻地连为一体。墨菲特接着又说，
remember to show gratitude. He went on further to say that there are three ways to choose to express your gratefulness.“OK,” I said, “I can believe that.” I kept on reading.
His first two ideas may be hard for me to remember when I’m down. He began by saying that it’s easy to be grateful when you’re happy. He then went on to ask, but what about when you’re emotionally torn? I instantly identified with that sentiment, as I can positively glow when I feel great. However, when I’m depressed, I wallow in my dismal depths, and have a really hard time seeing any cause for rejoicing. He said that it is when we are at a low point that it is most important to be grateful. Reading this, I had to ask, “So, how am I supposed to be thankful when I’m in despair?”
As if anticipating my question, Moffitt went on to say that a second way to foster connection is to reflect on your past feelings of gratitude. You had it before, so where did it go? “Nowhere, really,” I thought. His take was that gratitude shouldn’t be a trade off for the gifts of the world. In other words, don’t just offer up a thank you when things are going well for you.
His third suggestion, while easy to accept, I know that I don’t do enough. Give thanks to those souls, he says, both known and unknown who have helped you in the past, and do so now. In other words, the ancestors who helped shape your world deserve more than just a nod. It’s easy to think fondly of my father and grandparents. Of course I’m glad that I knew them. I’m now trying to extend these feelings towards all of those that came before me and fought battles on a wide variety of fronts.
I think that those women artists who are older than I am and who got “women’s” art to be accepted, deserve a bow of appreciation from me. I’m also trying to remember to show gratitude to those who labor to make my world a better place. For a while now, I’ve been doing the following. When I
表达感恩可以有三种方式。“好吧，”我对自己说，“这个我可以相信。”接着我又往下读了。
在我心情不好的时候，刚才的这两个想法可能很难记住。墨菲特说，你开心的时候，感恩是一件很容易的事情。然后他说，当你精神备受折磨的时候，又该怎么办呢？我立刻就对这种想法产生了共鸣，因为我心情好的时候就会容光焕发，但是抑郁的时候就会沉溺在自己阴沉的世界里，很难看到任何值得高兴的理由。菲利普说，在我们的情绪处于低潮期时，感恩才变得更加重要。看到这里，我不禁想问：“当我难过、绝望的时候，怎样才能保持一颗感恩的心？”
墨菲特似乎预料到我会这么问，他接着说，保持同宇宙联系的第二种方法就是回想之前感恩的感觉。你之前有过这种感觉，它去哪儿了？我想：“它哪儿都没去。”墨菲特认为，感恩不应该作为世界给你的礼物的交换，换句话说，不要只在顺境时才记得感恩。
他的第三个建议很容易让人接受，但我知道我做的还不够。他说，那些过去帮助过你的人，不管你是否认识他们，都应该表示感谢，而且要从现在开始。换句话说，对那些帮助你形成现在世界的人，仅仅跟他们点个头是不够的。要感谢我的父亲和祖父母很容易，认识他们我当然很高兴。我现在正在努力把这种感觉推而广之，放到那些曾经跟我相遇、与我并肩作战的人们身上。
我认为，那些比我年长、让“女性艺术”得到接受的女性艺术家，值得我表示感谢。我也试着对那些让我的世界变得更加美好的人表示感谢。很长一段时间，我都在做下面这件事情：在公共厕所看到打扫卫生的人，我都会谢谢她把厕所打扫得这么干净。她的微笑让我更加高兴，
see the cleaning person in a public bathroom, I thank her for keeping the place so nice and clean. Her smile makes me all the more glad that I said something to her, and the joy comes back to me, doubly blessed.
The article “Selfless Gratitude” was only six pages, but what a powerful change those words have made in my life. Gratitude=Connection=Joy. Got it! I’ve had a chance already to try out some of these ideas, and feel that they’ll be useful in shaping my outlook on life. I have definitely filed the original article I read in a bright yellow folder among my important papers. Now, the test will be if I can remind myself of all of the glorious[54] things for which I’m thankful when the going gets rough. Now where was it exactly that I put that folder?
表示感谢的喜悦会加倍地回到我的身上。
《无私的感恩》这篇文章只有6页，但它让我的生活发生了巨大的改变。感恩=连接=喜悦。知道了！我已经有了实施这些想法的一次机会，我也觉得它们有助于形成我自己的人生观。我把这篇文章的原文放在一个明黄色的文件夹里，跟我的重要文件放在一起。现在，我的考验就是，我能否在逆境中提醒自己对一切该感恩的事情保持感恩。咦，我把那个文件夹放在哪儿来着？