Have you thought about what you want people to say about you after you’re gone? Can you hear the voice saying, “He was a great man.” Or “She really will be missed.” What else do they say?
One of the strangest phenomena of life is to engage in a work that will last long after death. Isn’t that a lot like investing all your money so that future generations can bare interest on it? Perhaps, yet if you look deep in your own heart, you’ll find something drives you to make this kind of contribution---something drives every human being to find a purpose that lives on after death.
Do you hope to memorialize your name? Have a name that is whispered with reverent awe? Do you hope to have your face carved upon 50 ft of granite rock? Is the answer really that simple? Is the purpose of lifetime contribution an ego-driven desire for a mortal being to have an immortal name or is it something more?
A child alive today will die tomorrow. A baby that had the potential to be the next Einstein will die from complication is at birth. The circumstances of life are not set in stone. We are not all meant to live life through to old age. We’ve grown to perceive life3 as a full cycle with a certain number of years in between. If all of those years aren’t lived out, it’s a tragedy. A tragedy because a human’s potential was never realized. A tragedy because a spark was snuffed out before it ever became a flame.
By virtue of inhabiting a body we accept these risks. We expose our mortal flesh to the laws of the physical environment around us. The trade off isn’t so bad when you think about it. The problem comes when we construct mortal fantasies of what life should be like. When life doesn’t conform to our fantasy we grow upset, frustrated, or depressed.
We are alive; let us live. We have the ability to experience; let us experience. We have the ability to learn; let us learn. The meaning of life can be grasped in a moment. A moment so brief it often evades our perception.
What meaning stands behind the dramatic unfolding of life? What single truth can we grasp and hang onto for dear life when all other truths around us seem to fade with time?
These moments are strung together in a series we call events. These events are strung together in a series we call life. When we seize the moment and bend it according to our will, a will driven by the spirit deep inside us, then we have discovered the meaning of life, a meaning for us that shall go on long after we depart this Earth.
譯文：
給生命以意義
你有沒有想過，你希望人們?cè)谀闼篮笤鯓釉u(píng)論你?你能否聽到這樣的說，“他是個(gè)偉大的人”或“人們的確會(huì)懷念她”，他們還會(huì)說些什么?
人生最奇異的現(xiàn)象之一就是，你從事的事業(yè)在你死后仍將長(zhǎng)久存在。這和你用所的錢進(jìn)行投資以便后人能從中獲益不是如出一轍嗎?也許，如果你審視自己的內(nèi)心深處，你就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)促使你做出這種貢獻(xiàn)的驅(qū)動(dòng)力-一種驅(qū)使每個(gè)人尋找在自己死后仍能繼續(xù)存在的事業(yè)的驅(qū)動(dòng)力。
你希望自己的名字被人記住嗎?你希望別人提起你的名字時(shí)心懷敬畏嗎?你希望自己的面容被雕刻在50英尺高的花崗巖上嗎?答案真的那么簡(jiǎn)單嗎?貢獻(xiàn)一生的目的難道終將一死之人想要獲得不朽名聲的自我鞭策的欲望?抑或是其他更偉大的事物?
今天活著的孩子明天就會(huì)死去。一個(gè)有可能成為下一個(gè)愛因斯坦的嬰兒會(huì)死于出生并發(fā)癥。生命的情形并不是固定不變的。我們并沒有注定都要活到老年。我們已經(jīng)認(rèn)識(shí)到，生命是一個(gè)周期，其時(shí)間長(zhǎng)度是特定的。如果這些時(shí)間沒有被充分利用，那就是個(gè)悲劇，因?yàn)槿说臐撃苓�未實(shí)現(xiàn)，因?yàn)榛鸹ㄟ�沒形成火焰就被補(bǔ)滅。
由于存在于肉體之中，所以我們接受這些風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。我們使易朽的肉體服從周圍物理環(huán)境的法則。你仔細(xì)想一想就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種交易并不是那么糟糕。當(dāng)我們幻想生命應(yīng)該如何時(shí)，問題就來了。當(dāng)生命和我們的幻想不一致時(shí)，我們就變得煩惱，無奈或沮喪。
我們活著，那我們就要活得精彩;我們有能力體驗(yàn)，那我們就要體驗(yàn)人生甘苦;我們有能力學(xué)習(xí)，那我們就要在學(xué)海徜徉。生命的意義可以在一瞬間抓住-一個(gè)經(jīng)常被我們忽略的短暫瞬間。
當(dāng)生命戲劇般地一幕幕拉開時(shí)，其中隱含的意義是什么?當(dāng)我們周圍所有其他都似乎隨著時(shí)間而消逝時(shí)，我們能夠掌握哪個(gè)真理并依靠它來生活呢?
這些瞬間串聯(lián)在一起，我們稱之為事件。這些事件串聯(lián)系在一起， 我們稱之為生活。當(dāng)我們抓住那個(gè)瞬間并按照我們的意志來改變它-這意志受到我們內(nèi)心深處的精神的驅(qū)使，我們就發(fā)現(xiàn)了生命的意義-這意義將在我們離開地球之后長(zhǎng)久存在。
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