本帖最后由 ヮ成熟、羙° 于 2014-3-31 11:56 编辑
与死神擦肩
荷叶/译
十七岁时，我读过这样一句格言“如果你把每一天当成生命的最后一天来过，总有一天你会感到那一定是正确的。”这句话给我留下了深刻印象。自那以后，三十三年来，我一直揽镜自问：“如果今天是我生命的最后一天，我愿意做我今天打算做的事情吗？”每当答案连续数天是“不”时，我知道我该做些调整了。 记住我不久会死去，这是我遇到的帮我做出人生重大选择最重要的工具。因为几乎一切，包括所有外在期望，所有骄傲，所有对尴尬和失败的恐惧，在死亡面前都会烟消云散，只有真正重要的会留下来。记住你会死亡，这是我所知道的用来避免陷入患得患失这一误区的最好的方法。你已经一无所有，没有理由不依心而为。 大约一年前，我被诊断患了癌症。上午七点半我做了个扫描，在胰腺上清晰地现出了一个肿瘤。我当时并不知道胰腺是什么东西。医生们告诉我这很有可能是一种不治之症，预期我活不过三到六个月。医生建议我回家去安排后事，这是医生让我等死的婉约说法。这意味着你要在短短几个月时间里，向孩子们交代清楚原以为未来十年要说的每一句话。这意味着一定要把一切都安排好，使家人尽可能轻松自在。这意味着该说再见了。 一整天我都生活在这种诊断的阴影下。那天傍晚时分，我做了活组织切片检查，医生将一个内窥镜插入我的喉咙，通过胃肠，在我的胰腺处放了一根针，从肿瘤上提取了几个细胞。我服用了镇定剂，但当时在场的妻子告诉我，当医生们在显微镜上观察这些细胞时，他们惊叫起来，原来这是一种罕见的可以手术治疗的胰腺癌。我做了手术，现在很好。 这一次，我与死亡擦肩而过，我希望这是以后几十年来离死亡最近的一次。以前死亡只是个有用但纯概念的东西，有了这次经历后，我可以更加确定地告诉你们以下的话： 没有人想死。即使那些想去天堂的人，也不会为了去天堂而乐意死。然而死亡是我们共同的归宿。无人能够幸免。正该如此，因为死亡很有可能是生命唯一最好的发明。它是生命的转化剂。它推陈出新，此刻你是新人，但在不久的将来，你会逐渐老去，会被清理出局。这样富有戏剧性很是遗憾，但却是事实。 你的时间是有限的，因此不要浪费时间去过别人的生活。不要囿于教条，这是生活在别人思维下的结果。不要让别人的意见淹没了自己内在的声音。最重要的，要有勇气跟着自己的内在直觉走。这些直觉不知怎么地已经知道你想要成为什么样的人，其它一切都是次要的。 附：原文 When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each dayas if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked inthe mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever theanswer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need t ochange something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to helpme make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7∶30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancerthat is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everythingyou thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy a spossible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines,put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be avery rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had thesurgery and I'm fine now. This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, youwill gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
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发表于 2014-3-31 11:52:06
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