I used to think the whole purpose of lifewas pursuing happiness. Everyone said the path to happiness was success, so Isearched for that ideal job, that perfect boyfriend, that beautiful apartment.
我以前認為人生的目標就是追求快樂。人人都說，成功是通往快樂的路，所以我去尋找理想的工作、完美的男友、漂亮的公寓。
But instead of ever feeling fulfilled, I felt anxious and adrift. And I wasn'talone; my friends -- they struggled with this, too.
但我沒有感到圓滿，反而覺得焦慮跟漫無目的。且不只有我這樣；我的朋友們──他們也有這種困擾。
Eventually, I decided to go to graduateschool for positive psychology to learn what truly makes people happy. But whatI discovered there changed my life. The data showed that chasing happiness canmake people unhappy.
我最後決定去研究所讀正向心理學，去找出什麼能讓人開心。但我在那兒的發現，改變了我的人生。數據顯示，追求快樂會讓人不快樂。
And what really struck me was this: the suicide rate hasbeen rising around the world, and it recently reached a 30-year high in America.
真正讓我震驚的是這點：全球的自殺率不斷攀升，最近在美國達到三十年來的新高。
Even though life is getting objectively better by nearly every conceivablestandard, more people feel hopeless, depressed and alone. There's an emptinessgnawing away at people, and you don't have to be clinically depressed to feelit.
雖然客觀來說，生活變好了，從每個能想到的標準來看皆是如此，卻有更多人感到無助、沮喪、及孤獨。有一種空虛感在侵蝕人們，並不需被臨床診斷出沮喪也能感覺到這個現象。
Sooner or later, I think we all wonder: Is this all there is? And accordingto the research, what predicts this despair is not a lack of happiness. It's alack of something else, a lack of having meaning in life.
我想，遲早我們都會想要知道：難道就只有這樣而已嗎？根據研究，絕望的原因並不是缺乏快樂，而是缺乏某樣東西，是缺乏人生意義。
But that raised some questions for me. Isthere more to life than being happy? And what's the difference between beinghappy and having meaning in life?
但這就讓我產生了一些問題。難道人生不只是要快樂嗎？活得快樂和活得有意義之間有什麼差別？
Many psychologists define happiness as astate of comfort and ease, feeling good in the moment. Meaning, though, isdeeper.
許多心理學家把快樂定義為一種舒服自在的狀態，在當下感覺很好。而意義則更深。
The renowned psychologist Martin Seligman says meaning comes frombelonging to and serving something beyond yourself and from developing the bestwithin you. Our culture is obsessed with happiness,
知名心理學家馬丁賽裡格曼說，意義來自歸屬感、致力於超越自我之外的事物，以及從內在發展出最好的自己。我們的文化對「快樂」相當痴迷，
but I came to see thatseeking meaning is the more fulfilling path. And the studies show that peoplewho have meaning in life, they're more resilient, they do better in school andat work, and they even live longer.
但我發現，尋找意義才是更讓人滿足的道路。且研究指出，有人生意義的人適應力也會比較強，他們在學校及職場的表現較佳，他們甚至活得比較久。
So this all made me wonder: How can we eachlive more meaningfully? To find out, I spent five years interviewing hundredsof people and reading through thousands of pages of psychology, neuroscienceand philosophy.
所以這一切讓我開始想，我們每個人要如何活得有意義？為了找出答案，我花了五年時間，訪談了數百人，閱讀了數千頁的心理學、神經科學、及哲學。
Bringing it all together, I found that there are what I callfour pillars of a meaningful life. And we can each create lives of meaning bybuilding some or all of these pillars in our lives.
把這些匯整起來，我發現了一件事，我稱之為「人生意義的四大支柱」。我們可以彼此相互建立起這些支柱，在彼此的人生中找到人生的意義。
The first pillar is belonging. Belongingcomes from being in relationships where you're valued for who you areintrinsically and where you value others as well. But some groups andrelationships deliver a cheap form of belonging;
第一根支柱是歸屬感。歸屬感來自於一種關係，一種你與他人在本質上彼此是否處在相互珍惜的關係中。但有些群體或關係，提供的是廉價形式的歸屬感；
you're valued for what youbelieve, for who you hate, not for who you are. True belonging springs fromlove. It lives in moments among individuals, and it's a choice -- you canchoose to cultivate belonging with others.
你被重視的原因是因為你所相信的事物、你對人的好惡、而不是你的本質。真正的歸屬感源自於愛。它存在於個體間共處的時光當中，且它是一種選擇──你可以選擇與他人培養歸屬感。
Here's an example. Each morning, my friendJonathan buys a newspaper from the same street vendor in New York. They don'tjust conduct a transaction, though. They take a moment to slow down, talk, andtreat each other like humans.
舉例來說，每天早晨，我在紐約的朋友強納森都會向同一個街頭小販買一份報紙。不過，他們並不是只有交易的關係。他們會停下來，花點時間說說話，把彼此當朋友對待。
But one time, Jonathan didn't have the rightchange, and the vendor said, "Don't worry about it." But Jonathaninsisted on paying, so he went to the store and bought something he didn't needto make change.
但有一次，強納森的零錢不夠，小販說：「沒關係不用了啦。」但強納森堅持要付錢，所以他去一家店，買了他不需要的東西，把鈔票找開。
But when he gave the money to the vendor, the vendor drew back.He was hurt. He was trying to do something kind, but Jonathan had rejected him.
但當他把錢給小販時，小販退縮了。他感到受傷。他試著想表現友好，但強納森拒絕了他。
I think we all reject people in small wayslike this without realizing it. I do. I'll walk by someone I know and barelyacknowledge them. I'll check my phone when someone's talking to me.
我想，我們都曾像這樣在小地方拒絕別人卻沒有意識到。我就有過。我會從認識的人旁邊走過，卻沒跟他們打招呼。當有人在跟我說話時，我會看手機。
These actsdevalue others. They make them feel invisible and unworthy. But when you leadwith love, you create a bond that lifts each of you up.
這類行為是在貶低別人的價值，讓他們覺得自己是隱形的、不值得的。但若用愛來引導，你就會創造出一種聯結，讓你們彼此都振奮起來。
For many people, belonging is the mostessential source of meaning, those bonds to family and friends. For others, thekey to meaning is the second pillar: purpose. Now, finding your purpose is not the same thing as finding that job that makes you happy.
對很多人來說，歸屬感是人生意義的重要來源，就是與家人及朋友之間的聯結。對其他人來說，第二根人生意義的支柱是目的。找到你的目的並不是指找到讓你快樂的工作。
Purpose is less about what you want than about what you give. A hospital custodian told me herpurpose is healing sick people. Many parents tell me, "My purpose israising my children." The key to purpose is using your strengths to serveothers.
目的的重點是你能給予什麼，而不是你想要什麼。一位醫院管理員告訴我，她的目的是治癒生病的人。很多家長告訴我：「我的目的是扶養我的孩子。」目標的關鍵在於用你的力量去服務他人。
Of course, for many of us, that happens through work. That's how wecontribute and feel needed. But that also means that issues like disengagementat work, unemployment, low labor force participation -- these aren't justeconomic problems, they're existential ones, too.
當然，對很多人而言，這是透過工作來達成的。那是我們做出貢獻和感到被需要的方式。但這也意味著，像是無心工作、失業、低勞動參與率等等議題──這些不僅是經濟問題，也是存在主義問題。
Without something worth while to do, people flounder. Of course, you don't have to find purpose at work, butpurpose gives you something to live for, some "why" that drives youforward.
人們若沒有值得去做的事，就會掙扎折騰。當然，你不需要從工作中找到目的，但目的能讓你有活下去的意義，有驅使你向前行的「理由」。
The third pillar of meaning is also aboutstepping beyond yourself, but in a completely different way: transcendence.Transcendent states are those rare moments when you're lifted above the hustleand bustle of daily life, your sense of self fades away,
第三根人生意義的支柱，也和走出自我有關，但用的方式完全不同：超然。超然的狀態是很少見的時刻，在這個時刻中，你超脫了日常生活的喧囂擾攘，自我感正在漸漸消褪，
and you feel connectedto a higher reality. For one person I talked to, transcendence came from seeingart. For another person, it was at church.
你會感覺到和更高的現實產生連結。跟我談過的其中一個人說，超然來自于欣賞藝術。另一個人則認為，超然是在教堂中。
For me, I'm a writer, and it happensthrough writing. Sometimes I get so in the zone that I lose all sense of timeand place. These transcendent experiences can change you.
對我來說，我是作家，而超然是透過寫作發生的。有時候我太投入會有一種忘我的境界。這些超然的經驗能改變你。
One study hadstudents look up at 200-feet-tall eucalyptus trees for one minute. Butafterwards they felt less self-centered, and they even behaved more generously when given the chance to help someone.
有一項研究是讓學生去看200英呎高的尤加利樹，看一分鐘，之後他們會比較不自我中心，若給他們機會去幫助別人，他們連行為都會變得更慷慨。
Belonging, purpose, transcendence. Now, thefourth pillar of meaning, I've found, tends to surprise people. The fourthpillar is storytelling, the story you tell yourself about yourself.
歸屬感、目的、超然。接著談談我發現的第四根支柱，它常會令人感到驚訝。第四根支柱就是說故事，你告訴你自己關於你自己的故事。
Creating anarrative from the events of your life brings clarity. It helps you understandhow you became you. But we don't always realize that we're the authors of ourstories and can change the way we're telling them.
用你人生中的事件來創造一個故事，能讓你看得更清楚。它能協助你了解你是怎麼變成你的。但我們通常沒發現，我們故事的作者就是自己，且我們可以改變說故事的方式。
Your life isn't just a listof events. You can edit, interpret and retell your story, even as you'reconstrained by the facts.
你的生命並不只一連串的事件。即便你被事實給限制住，你仍可以編輯、詮釋、再重新述說你的故事。
I met a young man named Emeka, who'd beenparalyzed playing football. After his injury, Emeka told himself, "My lifewas great playing football, but now look at me." People who tell storieslike this --
我遇到一位叫做埃梅卡的年輕人，他因為打美式足球而癱瘓。埃梅卡在受傷後，內心的對話是這樣的：「我打美式足球的人生是非常棒的，但看看現在的我。」像這樣說故事的人──
"My life was good. Now it's bad." -- tend to be more anxiousand depressed. And that was Emeka for a while. But with time, he started toweave a different story.
「我的人生曾經很棒，現在卻很糟。」──說這種故事的人比較容易焦慮和沮喪。埃梅卡有好一陣子就是這樣。但隨時間過去，他開始編造一個不同的故事。
His new story was, "Before my injury, my life waspurposeless. I partied a lot and was a pretty selfish guy. But my injury mademe realize I could be a better man." That edit to his story changed Emeka's life.
他的新故事是：「在我受傷前，我的人生沒有目的。我常去派對，且我是個很自私的人。但受傷讓我明白，我可以成為更好的人。」埃梅卡把他的故事進行改造，從而改變了他的一生。
After telling the new story to himself, Emeka started mentoringkids, and he discovered what his purpose was: serving others. The psychologist Dan McAdams calls this a "redemptive story,"
在對自己說完這個新故事之後，埃梅卡開始開導孩童，他找到了他的目的：服務他人。心理學家丹麥亞當斯稱這現象為「救贖的故事」，
where the bad isredeemed by the good. People leading meaningful lives, he's found, tend to tellstories about their lives defined by redemption, growth and love.
用好的來救贖不好的。他發現，過著有意義人生的人，他們說的故事內容通常都是他們的人生由救贖、成長、愛來定義。
But what makes people change their stories?Some people get help from a therapist, but you can do it on your own, too, justby reflecting on your life thoughtfully, how your defining experiences shapedyou, what you lost, what you gained.
但，是什麼讓人們改變了他們的故事？有些人向治療師尋求協助，但你也可以靠自己做到，只要完整地反思你的人生、你的關鍵經驗如何造就了你、你失去了什麼、獲得了什麼。
That's what Emeka did. You won't changeyour story overnight; it could take years and be painful. After all, we've allsuffered, and we all struggle.
那就是埃梅卡所做的。你不可能一夜就改變你的故事；過程可能要花好幾年，且很痛苦。畢竟，我們都曾受過苦，也都在掙扎。
But embracing those painful memories can lead tonew insights and wisdom, to finding that good that sustains you.
但擁抱那些痛苦的記憶，能帶來新的洞見與智慧，讓你能找到那支撐著你的「善」。
Belonging, purpose, transcendence,storytelling: those are the four pillars of meaning. When I was younger, I waslucky enough to be surrounded by all of the pillars.
歸屬感、目的、超然、說故事；這些就是意義的四大支柱。在我小時候，我很幸運能夠被這四根支柱給圍繞著。
My parents ran a Sufimeeting house from our home in Montreal. Sufism is a spiritual practiceassociated with the whirling dervishes and the poet Rumi. Twice a week, Sufiswould come to our home to meditate, drink Persian tea, and share stories.
我父母在蒙特婁的家附近開一間蘇菲派的聚會所。蘇菲教派是一種和旋轉苦行僧及詩人魯米有關的靈修。每周兩次，蘇菲教徒會到我們家裡，來冥想、喝波斯茶、分享故事。
Their practice also involved serving all of creation through small acts of love,which meant being kind even when people wronged you. But it gave them apurpose: to rein in the ego.
他們的修行也涉及了要透過愛的小舉動，來為萬物服務，也就是說，即使別人冤枉你，也要仁慈以對。但那給了他們一個目的：去駕馭自我。
Eventually, I left home for college andwithout the daily grounding of Sufism in my life, I felt unmoored. And Istarted searching for those things that make life worth living.
最後，我離開家去讀大學，我的人生中少了蘇菲教徒每天的基礎練習，感覺像是船的纜繩被解開。我開始尋找有什麼能讓我的人生值得活。
That's what setme on this journey. Looking back, I now realize that the Sufi house had a realculture of meaning. The pillars were part of the architecture, and the presenceof the pillars helped us all live more deeply.
就是這個原因讓我踩上這段旅程。現在回頭看，我發現那間蘇菲房舍有著一種有意義的真實文化。那些支柱是建築的一部份，而支柱的出現，讓我們都能過更有深度的生活。
Of course, the same principle applies inother strong communities as well -- good ones and bad ones. Gangs, cults: theseare cultures of meaning that use the pillars and give people something to liveand die for.
當然，同樣的原則也適用於其他強大的社群──好的和壞的都包含在內。幫派、邪教：這些也是有意義的文化，它們利用這些支柱，給予人們活著和犧牲的意義。
But that's exactly why we as a society must offer betteralternatives. We need to build these pillars within our families and ourinstitutions to help people become their best selves.
但那就是為什麼，我們身為一個社會，必須要提供更好的替代方案。我們需要在我們的家庭及習俗制度當中建立這些支柱，來協助人們變成最好的自己。
But living a meaning fullife takes work. It's an ongoing process. As each day goes by, we're constantlycreating our lives, adding to our story. And sometimes we can get off track.
但一定要花心力，才能讓人生過得有意義。它是一個持續的過程。隨著每一天過去，我們不斷地創造我們的人生，擴增我們的故事。有時，我們可能會誤入歧途。
Whenever that happens to me, I remember apowerful experience I had with my father. Several months after I graduated fromcollege, my dad had a massive heart attack that should have killed him.
每當我遇到這狀況時，我會想起我與父親的一段經歷，很有影響力的經歷。我從大學畢業後幾個月，我父親罹患了嚴重的心臟病，本來他應該性命難保。
He survived, and when I asked him what was going through his mind as he faceddeath, he said all he could think about was needing to live so he could bethere for my brother and me, and this gave him the will to fight for life.
他活下來了，我問他，當他在面對死亡時，腦中想著的是什麼，他說，他唯一能想的，就是必須活下來，這樣他才能陪伴我弟弟和我，這點讓他有意志力能拼命活下來。
When he went under anesthesia for emergency surgery, instead of counting backwardsfrom 10, he repeated our names like a mantra. He wanted our names to be thelast words he spoke on earth if he died.
當他被麻醉準備接受緊急手術時，他做的不是從10開始倒數，他把我們的名字像祈禱文般地覆頌。如果他會死，他希望他在世上說的最後幾個字是我們的名字。
My dad is a carpenter and a Sufi. It's ahumble life, but a good life. Lying there facing death, he had a reason tolive: love.
我的父親是個木匠也是個蘇菲教徒。他的人生是謙恭的人生，但很美好的人生。躺在那裡，面對死亡，他有一個活下去的理由：愛。
His sense of belonging within his family, his purpose as a dad, histranscendent meditation, repeating our names -- these, he says, are the reasonswhy he survived. That's the story he tells himself.
他在他的家庭中的歸屬感、他身為一名父親的目的、他超然的冥想，不斷覆頌我們的名字──他說，這些是他活下來的原因。那是他告訴他自己的故事。
That's the power of meaning. Happinesscomes and goes. But when life is really good and when things are really bad,having meaning gives you something to hold on to.
那就是意義的力量。快樂來來去去。但當人生真的很美好時，當事情真的很糟糕時，若人生有意義，你就會有可以緊緊抓住的東西。