如何簡化你的生活：英語精讀講義

It's well understood by good parents, 片語搭配

優秀的父母都明白，

that life should only ever get so exciting for a baby. 文法

對嬰兒來說，生活中的刺激應該適可而止。

After friends have come round and brought presents and made animated faces, 片語動詞

當朋友們來訪，帶來禮物並做著誇張的表情逗弄之後，

after there's been some cake and some cuddles, 表達脈絡

在吃過蛋糕、有過很多擁抱之後，

after there's been a lot of bright lights and perhaps some songs too,

在經歷了許多閃爍的燈光，也許還有一些歌曲之後，

enough is enough. 慣用語

就已經足夠了。

The baby will start to look stern and then burst into tears 慣用語

嬰兒會開始表情嚴肅，然後放聲大哭。

and the wise parent knows that nothing is particularly wrong,

明智的父母知道並沒有什麼大問題，

though the baby may by now be wailing. 講解

儘管嬰兒此時可能正在嚎啕大哭。

It's just time for a nap.

這只是到了該小睡的時間。

The brain needs to process,

大腦需要處理、

digest and divide up the welter of experiences that have been ingested. 講解

消化並分類那些剛攝入的雜亂體驗。

And so the curtains are drawn, 文法

於是拉上窗簾，

baby is laid down next to the soft toys and soon it's asleep and calm descends. 慣用語

把寶寶放在毛絨玩具旁躺下，很快他就會睡著，平靜降臨。

Everyone knows that life is going to be a lot more manageable again in an hour.

大家都知道，一小時後生活就會再次變得更加井然有序。

Sadly, we exercise no such caution with ourselves. 片語搭配

遺憾的是，我們對自己卻沒有這種謹慎。

We schedule a week in which we're going to see friends every night,

我們會把一週的日程排滿，每天晚上都要去見朋友，

in which we're going to do 12 meetings,

在這一週裡我們要參加12個會議，

three of them requiring a lot of preparation,

其中3個還需要大量的準備工作，

where we'll make a quick overnight dash to another country on the Wednesday, 片語搭配

週三還要連夜匆匆飛往另一個國家，

where we'll watch three films, read 14 newspapers,

我們要看3部電影，讀14份報紙，

change six pairs of sheets,

換6套床單，

have five heavy meals after 8:00 p.m. and drink 30 cups of coffee.

晚上8點後吃5頓大餐，喝30杯咖啡。

And then we lament that our lives are not as calm as they might be 文法

然後我們卻抱怨自己的生活不夠平靜，

and that we're close to mental collapse.

抱怨自己瀕臨精神崩潰。

We refuse to take seriously how much of our babyhood is left inside our adult selves 片語搭配

我們拒絕認真審視在我們成人的外表下，還殘留著多少嬰兒的特性，

and therefore how much care we have to take to keep things simple and very, very calm.

因而忽略了我們需要花多少心思來保持生活的簡單和極其平靜。

What registers as anxiety is typically no freakish phenomenon. 講解

那些被視為焦慮的情緒，通常並非什麼反常現象。

It is the mind's logical,

它是我們的大腦在進行合乎邏輯、

enraged plea not to be continuously and exhaustingly overstimulated.

憤怒的懇求，請求不要再經受持續不斷且令人筋疲力盡的過度刺激了。

These are some of the things we may need to do to simplify our lives.

以下是我們可能需要採取的一些簡化生活的措施。

It is theoretically a privilege to have a lot of people to see and things to do.

從理論上講，有很多人要見、有很多事要做是一種特權。

It is also, psychologically speaking, 表達脈絡

但從心理學角度來說，這也會

exhausting and ultimately therefore rather dangerous.

令人精疲力竭，最終因此變得相當危險。

The manner of expression is a little dated and brutal

儘管表達方式有些過時和殘酷，

and one might want to quibble over the exact timings, 片語動詞

人們可能也會對具體的時間劃分有所挑剔，

but this point from Friedrich Nietzsche remains acute. 用詞

但弗里德里希·尼采的這個觀點依然犀利。

Today, as always,

如今，和過去一樣，

men fall into two groups,

人被分為兩類：

slaves and free men.

奴隸和自由人。

Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself is a slave, 文法

任何不能將一天中三分之二的時間留給自己的人，就是奴隸，

whatever else he may be, 文法

不管他還有什麼其他身份，

a statesman, a businessman, an official or a scholar.

無論他是政治家、商人、官員還是學者。

We need to recognize that what is physically possible for us to achieve in a day

我們需要認識到，我們在一天內能夠突破體能去實現的事情，

is not for that matter psychologically wise or plausible. 表達脈絡

在心理上卻未必是明智或合理的。

It may well be feasible to nip over to a foreign capital or two in a day and run a company alongside managing a household, 講解

一天之內飛往一兩個外國首都、在經營公司的同時兼顧家庭，或許確實可行，

but nor should we be surprised if such routines ultimately contribute to a breakdown. 文法

但如果這樣的日常安排最終導致了精神崩潰，我們也不應感到驚訝。

Plenty of it, of course,

當然，我們需要很多，

at least seven hours

至少七個小時，

or if we can't manage it,

如果我們做不到，

we need at a minimum fully to recognize how much we are deprived, 片語搭配

我們至少需要充分認識到自己被剝奪了多少休息時間，

so that we won't aggravate our sorrows by searching for abstruse explanations for them. 講解

這樣我們就不會因為尋找深奧的理由來解釋自己的悲傷，而加重了痛苦。

We don't necessarily have to get divorced, 文法

我們不一定非要離婚、

retrain in a completely different profession or move country.

完全換個行業重新接受培訓，或者移居國外。

We may just need to get some more rest.

我們可能只是需要多休息一下。

What we're taking in when we check our phones is perhaps the single greatest contributor to our mental ill health. 片語動詞

我們查看手機時吸收的信息，可能是導致我們心理健康問題的最大單一因素。

For most of history,

在歷史的長河中，絕大多數時候，

it was inconceivable that there could ever be such a thing as too much news. 片語搭配

新聞太多這種事是無法想像的。

Information from political circles or foreign countries was rare, prized and expensive.

來自政界或國外的信息罕見、珍貴且昂貴。

But since the middle of the 20th century,

但自20世紀中葉以來，

news has been commodified and in the process it's become a major, though still too little known, risk to our mental survival. 講解

新聞被商品化了，在此過程中，它已成為我們精神生存的一個重大卻鮮為人知的風險。

Every minute of every day presents us with untold options for filling our minds with the mania, exploits, disasters, furies, reversals, triumphs, 片語搭配

每一天的每一分鐘，都給我們提供了無數選擇，讓我們的頭腦被周圍這個愚昧星球上完全陌生的人的狂熱、功績、災難、憤怒、逆轉、勝利、

insanity and cataclysms of complete strangers all around our benighted planet.

瘋狂和災變所填滿。

Always news organizations speak of our need to know and the need to know right now. 表達脈絡

新聞機構總是高談闊論我們需要知道，而且需要馬上知道。

But what they've left out is our equally great and often even greater need not to know 片語動詞

但他們遺漏的是，我們同樣強烈、甚至更強烈地需要「不知道」，

because we can't change anything,

因為我們改變不了任何事，

because the stories are too violent, dispiriting and sad,

因為這些故事太暴力、令人沮喪和悲傷，

because our minds are fragile,

因為我們的內心是脆弱的，

because we have responsibilities closer to home, 慣用語

因為我們在離家更近的地方有責任要盡，

because we need to lead our own lives rather than be torn apart by stories of the lives of others 慣用語

因為我們需要過自己的生活，而不是被別人的故事撕裂，

who are ultimately as remote from and irrelevant to us as the inhabitants of the Egyptian court of King Sneferu in late 2613 BC. 文法

這些人對我們來說，最終就像公元前2613年底埃及斯尼夫魯國王宮廷裡的居民一樣遙遠且無關緊要。

Insomnia and anxiety are the mind's revenge for all the thoughts we refuse to have consciously during the day. 慣用語

失眠和焦慮是大腦對我們白天拒絕有意識地去想的那些念頭的報復。

In order to be able to find rest,

為了能夠找到內心的安寧，

we need to carve off chunks of time where we have nothing to do other than lie in bed with a pad and paper in order to think. 講解

我們需要劃出大塊的時間，在這段時間裡我們除了帶著紙筆躺在床上思考之外，什麼都不做。

We need to consider three topics in particular.

我們需要特別思考三個問題。

Firstly, what's making me anxious?

第一，是什麼讓我焦慮？

Secondly, what's causing me pain and how?

第二，是什麼讓我感到痛苦，又是如何引起的？

And thirdly, what's exciting me?

第三，是什麼讓我感到興奮？

We need to sift through the chaotic contents of our minds. 片語動詞

我們需要篩選大腦中混亂的內容。

Every hour of living requires at least 10 minutes of sifting.

活著的每一個小時，都至少需要10分鐘的篩選。

Of course, it might be pleasant to be extraordinary, famous and world-beating, 表達脈絡

當然，能成為非凡、出名和舉世無雙的人可能會很愉悅，

but maybe it will be an even greater achievement to stay sane and kind.

但也許，保持理智和善良將是一個更大的成就。

We might opt not to conquer the world in favor of living a longer and more serene life. 文法

我們可能會選擇不去征服世界，而是去過一種更長久、更寧靜的生活。

We're not backing away from a challenge, 片語動詞

我們不是在退縮以逃避挑戰，

we're simply shifting our sense of what the real challenge might be

我們只是在改變對什麼是真正挑戰的看法，

and more importantly, where the real rewards may lie. 慣用語

更重要的是，在改變對真正的回報在哪裡的看法。

A quiet life isn't necessarily one of resignation or flight. 文法

寧靜的生活並不一定意味著屈服或逃避。

It may constitute a supremely wise recognition

它可能構成了一種極其明智的認知，

that the truly satisfying things are available away from the spotlight and the big cities, 慣用語

即真正令人滿足的事物是在遠離聚光燈和大城市的地方，

on modest salaries

領著微薄的薪水，

and as far as possible from the manic, sleepless competition to win the professional status race. 慣用語

盡可能遠離為了贏得職業地位而進行的瘋狂、不眠不休的競爭。

As we're discovering, 表達脈絡

正如我們正在發現的，

excitement can be fun for a time,

興奮感在一段時間內可能很有趣，

but also it kills.

但它也會致命。

Simplicity is true wisdom.

簡單才是真正的智慧。

We may need a lot more naps.

我們可能需要更多的小睡。

Do you need a detox from your devices?

你需要戒斷你的電子設備嗎？

Our phone detox is designed to help give you a well-deserved break from your phone.

我們的手機戒斷方案旨在幫助你從手機中獲得當之無愧的休息。