Happiness equates with fun?
I live in Hollywood. You may think people in such a glamorous, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.
Many intelligent people still equate happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more abiding emotion.
Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.
I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant access to glamorous parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells "happiness".
But in memoir after memoir, celebrities reveal the unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children, profound loneliness.
The way people cling to the belief that a fun-filled, pain-free life equates happiness actually diminishes their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equated with happiness, then pain must be equated with unhappiness. But, in fact, the opposite is true: More times than not, things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
As a result, many people avoid the very endeavors that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment, civic or charitable work, and self-improvement.
中文譯注：
我住在迪斯尼、好萊塢和year-round sun附近。你可能會認(rèn)為在如此富有魅力的、充滿樂趣的地方住著的人比其它地方的人幸福。如果是這樣子，那么你對于幸福的性質(zhì)有一些錯誤的觀點(diǎn)了。
許多聰明的人仍然視幸福為樂趣。 事實(shí)是樂趣和幸福有一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)的共同或其實(shí)根本就沒有不同。 樂趣是我們在一個行為期間經(jīng)歷的。 幸福是我們在一個行為之后經(jīng)歷的。 它是更深入更持久的情緒。
去一趟游樂園或球賽,看一場電影或電視, 是幫助我們放松、暫時忘記我們的煩惱甚至放聲大笑的有趣的活動。 但是它們并不能帶來幸福，因?yàn)楫?dāng)樂趣結(jié)束時它們的效力沒有了。
我時常有個想法，如果好萊塢明星扮演一個角色,他將教我們幸福與樂趣無關(guān)。這些富有又美麗的人物舉行持續(xù)的能夠與其他上層階級接觸的富有魅力的宴會，名車，豪宅，每件事物都在拼寫著“幸?！薄?BR> 但是在一本傳記又一本傳記, 名人揭露在他們所有的樂趣之下被隱著的不幸福: 憂郁，酗酒，毒癮，破碎的婚姻，搗亂的孩子和深深的寂寞感。問一個單身漢，即使他發(fā)現(xiàn)約會比較少了，已經(jīng)經(jīng)常不滿意了，他為什么仍拒絕婚姻。如果他是誠實(shí)的,他將會告訴你他對于作出一個承諾的害怕。 因?yàn)槌兄Z事實(shí)上相當(dāng)痛苦。 單身生活充滿樂趣、冒險和刺激。 婚姻是如此的重大，但是它們不是它最有區(qū)別的特征。
同樣地, 選擇不想要孩子的夫婦寧愿要痛苦少的樂趣而不要充滿痛苦的幸福。 他們能到外面吃飯，他們能想要睡多晚就能睡多晚。而有孩子的夫婦有整個夜晚的安穩(wěn)睡眠或一次三天的假期都會覺得是很幸運(yùn)了。 我認(rèn)識的任何父母都不會說養(yǎng)育孩子是有樂趣的。
理解并接受真正的幸福和樂趣武官是的進(jìn)步。我們能夠從這個觀點(diǎn)出發(fā)繼續(xù)。 它從時間中解放了我們: 現(xiàn)在我們能花費(fèi)更多的時間做真正帶給我們幸福的事情了。它從金錢中解放了我們: 買新車或那些時尚的衣服是無意義的，這不能給我們帶來更多的幸福。而且它從羨慕中解放了我們:我們現(xiàn)在了解，我們可以肯定的是那些富有的和富有魅力的人很快樂，因?yàn)樗麄兛偸怯羞@么多的樂趣而實(shí)際上一點(diǎn)也不可能很幸福。
I live in Hollywood. You may think people in such a glamorous, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.
Many intelligent people still equate happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more abiding emotion.
Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.
I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant access to glamorous parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells "happiness".
But in memoir after memoir, celebrities reveal the unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children, profound loneliness.
The way people cling to the belief that a fun-filled, pain-free life equates happiness actually diminishes their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equated with happiness, then pain must be equated with unhappiness. But, in fact, the opposite is true: More times than not, things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
As a result, many people avoid the very endeavors that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment, civic or charitable work, and self-improvement.
中文譯注：
我住在迪斯尼、好萊塢和year-round sun附近。你可能會認(rèn)為在如此富有魅力的、充滿樂趣的地方住著的人比其它地方的人幸福。如果是這樣子，那么你對于幸福的性質(zhì)有一些錯誤的觀點(diǎn)了。
許多聰明的人仍然視幸福為樂趣。 事實(shí)是樂趣和幸福有一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)的共同或其實(shí)根本就沒有不同。 樂趣是我們在一個行為期間經(jīng)歷的。 幸福是我們在一個行為之后經(jīng)歷的。 它是更深入更持久的情緒。
去一趟游樂園或球賽,看一場電影或電視, 是幫助我們放松、暫時忘記我們的煩惱甚至放聲大笑的有趣的活動。 但是它們并不能帶來幸福，因?yàn)楫?dāng)樂趣結(jié)束時它們的效力沒有了。
我時常有個想法，如果好萊塢明星扮演一個角色,他將教我們幸福與樂趣無關(guān)。這些富有又美麗的人物舉行持續(xù)的能夠與其他上層階級接觸的富有魅力的宴會，名車，豪宅，每件事物都在拼寫著“幸?！薄?BR> 但是在一本傳記又一本傳記, 名人揭露在他們所有的樂趣之下被隱著的不幸福: 憂郁，酗酒，毒癮，破碎的婚姻，搗亂的孩子和深深的寂寞感。問一個單身漢，即使他發(fā)現(xiàn)約會比較少了，已經(jīng)經(jīng)常不滿意了，他為什么仍拒絕婚姻。如果他是誠實(shí)的,他將會告訴你他對于作出一個承諾的害怕。 因?yàn)槌兄Z事實(shí)上相當(dāng)痛苦。 單身生活充滿樂趣、冒險和刺激。 婚姻是如此的重大，但是它們不是它最有區(qū)別的特征。
同樣地, 選擇不想要孩子的夫婦寧愿要痛苦少的樂趣而不要充滿痛苦的幸福。 他們能到外面吃飯，他們能想要睡多晚就能睡多晚。而有孩子的夫婦有整個夜晚的安穩(wěn)睡眠或一次三天的假期都會覺得是很幸運(yùn)了。 我認(rèn)識的任何父母都不會說養(yǎng)育孩子是有樂趣的。
理解并接受真正的幸福和樂趣武官是的進(jìn)步。我們能夠從這個觀點(diǎn)出發(fā)繼續(xù)。 它從時間中解放了我們: 現(xiàn)在我們能花費(fèi)更多的時間做真正帶給我們幸福的事情了。它從金錢中解放了我們: 買新車或那些時尚的衣服是無意義的，這不能給我們帶來更多的幸福。而且它從羨慕中解放了我們:我們現(xiàn)在了解，我們可以肯定的是那些富有的和富有魅力的人很快樂，因?yàn)樗麄兛偸怯羞@么多的樂趣而實(shí)際上一點(diǎn)也不可能很幸福。