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英語美文：時間是你的朋友還是你的敵人？（雙語）
2013-07-05 09:27
來源：滬江
作者：
Western society promotes being busy at all times and at all costs. As a result, it seems that we are always rushing. We live by the calendar and we are run by the clock. We learn early on in life that you had better be on time for things or bad stuff will happen. Be late to turn in your papers and your grade gets lowered. Be late to pay your bills and you get stuck with a penalty. Be late to finish your work and you may be out of a job.
西方社會讓人們不惜一切代價、每時每刻都忙碌不停。結果我們似乎總是在趕時間。我們生活在日程表之下，按照時鐘運轉。生活中我們很早就明白，你最好按時完成事情，否則壞事就要發生。沒按時交論文你的分數就會降低；沒按時付帳單你就要被罰款；沒按時完成工作你就可能被炒魷魚。
As a result many people conclude that time is their enemy. It must be battled and beaten. But there is no permanence in any victory over time — the clock gets reset tomorrow and the calendar at the first of the month, or at the very latest at the first of the year.
因此許多人斷定，時間是他們的敵人。他們要和時間作戰並且戰勝它。然而，面對時間，並沒有永遠的勝利。明天時鐘又會歸零，每個月又會有新的開始，一年也會終結，來到新的一年。
Consider the popular phrase, 「Life is too short to __________.」 Here are some beauties you hear all the time:
想想這個流行的說法，「人生如此短暫，所以……」下面這幾句動人的話你總是會聽到：
Life is too short to hold on to regret.
人生如此短暫，所以不能後悔。
Life is too short to work at a job you hate.
人生如此短暫，所以不要做你討厭的工作。
Life is too short to play small.
人生如此短暫，所以要盡情玩樂。
Life is too short to {insert your favorite here}.
人生如此短暫，所以[加上你最喜歡的吧]
Aphorisms like these certainly imply that time is your enemy. However, time is not the reason why you ought to give up regret, revamp your career, or up your game. Even the shortness of life is not the reason. There is an assumption going on here that entirely misses where the real problem lies.
像這樣的警句毫無疑問在暗示時間是你的敵人。然而，時間並不是你應該放棄悔恨、改換事業、盡情享樂的理由。甚至人生的短暫也不是理由。這些都是假設，而掩蓋了真正的問題所在。
A short life and limited time would be a blessing in these circumstances. After all, the less time one spends in some undesired state, the better. A short amount of regret? Sounds great. A short time at a crummy job? Excellent. A short time of cowering in the corner? What could be better?
在這些情況裡，短暫的人生和有限的時間其實是好事情。畢竟一個人在一些不喜歡的狀態中花的時間越少越好。少一些悔恨？聽起來不錯。少做一些寒酸的工作？好極了。少花些時間縮在角落？還有什麼能比這更好呢！
So let me give you a different way to look at things:
那麼讓我們換一種方式來看問題：
「Life is too long to __________.」
「人生如此漫長，所以……」
When you approach your problems and challenges from this standpoint, time is not only not your enemy, it is your best friend. It is because of the abundance of time and life that you are motivated to seek change and transformation. After all, since you are going to be here for some time, don’t you want to make the best of it?
當你站在這個立場去處理你的問題和挑戰，時間不僅不是你的敵人，而且成為了你最好的朋友。正因為有了豐富的時間和人生，你就有了動力去尋求挑戰和轉變。畢竟你要活很長時間，你難道不想做到最好嗎？
When you have a habit or circumstance that needs fixing, imagine what your life would be like if you delayed taking action to fix it. See yourself a year from now with this problem still hanging around. What impact has it had on you? How has it hurt your relationships? What is it doing to you at work? What cost have you paid to your health?
當你有某種習慣或現狀需要修復，想像一下如果你推遲行動，你的生活會怎樣。想像一下一年之後這個問題依然存在。它會對你構成什麼影響？它會怎樣傷害你的人際關係？它會對你的工作產生什麼影響？你會為你的健康付出什麼代價？
Now take it out to five years. What have you lost? What have you suffered? What have the people close to you been forced to pay?
然後再想像一下五年之後的情景。你失去了什麼？你經受了哪些折磨？你親近的人被迫付出了什麼代價？
Time keeps marching on. It is now ten years with your unresolved problem. What has happened to your faith and hope? How insurmountable does this problem now look? How much weaker are you now than when this problem first arose?
時間還在繼續前進。現在你已經帶著這個未解決的問題生活了十年。你的信念和希望遭遇了什麼？這個問題現在看起來有多麼難以克服？和這個問題剛出現時相比，你現在脆弱了多少？
We are far from the end of the calendar. Twenty years go by. Can you even remember life without your problem? Can you muster the energy to even care anymore? Are you locked in to a state of resignation?
我們還遠沒有到達人生的盡頭。二十年過去了，你還能記得沒有這個問題時的生活嗎？你還有精力去想這個問題嗎？你是否被困在一種無可奈何的狀態中？
When you consider the impact that leaving something unresolved for a long period of time can heap upon you, you start to realize the value of taking action in this moment. Time isn’t out to hurt you here. It is giving you an opportunity. Some resolutions will require hours or days, some weeks or months. But time is there for you. Take what you need.
當你思考拖著某個問題長期不解決的影響時，會對你帶來震撼。你開始意識到此時此刻開始行動的價值。時間並不是來傷害你的，它在給你機會。解決有的問題需要幾小時或幾天，有的需要幾周或幾個月。但你有時間，好好利用它們。
Time has no agenda. It will allow you whatever you need. This is not to say that some problems don’t have deadlines. But it is not time that imposes such restrictions. Time will either offer you volume or impetus. It is on your side.
時間沒有日程表。不論你需要多少，它都會給你。這並不是說有的問題沒有期限，但這些限制並不是時間強加給你的。時間會給你空間，也會給你動力。這由你決定。
Waiting for the perfect moment is a fool’s errand. You don’t have to be very experienced in life to know the truth of that. Partner with time to get the most out of life. Time is waiting for you.
只有傻瓜才等待最佳的時機。你不需要在生活中經歷了許多才明白這個真諦。和時間做朋友，實現人生的最大價值。時間正在等你。
(編輯：何瑩瑩）
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