過生活 Live Life

   

    

(本文刊載於國度復興報 2014年11月23日)       

        一條珍珠項鍊，由一顆顆飽滿圓潤的珍珠組成；人的一生，由每一天24小時的生活組成。無論你是誰，每個人都要「過生活」。有一個很基本卻很重要的問題，經常在我腦子裡打轉，那就是「你究竟想過什麼樣的生活？」，這個問題就像山谷裡的回聲，一遍遍在我的心頭蕩漾。

A pearl necklace, made up of fully rounded pearls; a person's life, made up of 24 hours every day for life. No matter who you are, everyone wants to "live life".  There's a very basic yet very important question, which often spins around in my mind, and that is: "what kind of life do you really want to live?" This question is like an echo in a valley, rippling in my mind over and over again.

        有一則關於「釣魚」的故事，讓這個問題更加鮮明，這則耐人尋味的故事說到：有一位年長的富翁，在一個平靜的小島釣魚，他每天都會遇到一位島上的土著，與他一起釣魚。但這位土著每天只釣一條魚就回家。有一天，富翁問土著：你為何不多釣幾條魚？土著回答：我每天吃一條魚就足夠了。富翁說：你多釣ㄧ些魚，可以到市場賣魚賺錢，有了錢就可以去買漁網，捕更多魚。土著問：然後呢？富翁答：你可以把更多魚拿去賣，然後就可以買一艘漁船，捕捉到更多的魚，甚至還可以請人來幫你捕魚去賣。土著問：然後呢？富翁答：然後你也可以成為富翁，和我一樣悠閒地釣魚。土著說：我現在不是正悠閒地和你一起釣魚嗎？富翁霎時無言以對。然後土著就拿著魚，開心地哼著歌回家了。

There's a story about "fishing", that'll make this question even more clear-cut, it's an intriguing story that goes like this: there's an elderly rich man, fishing on a calm island, and every day he would encounter a man indigenous to the island, and they would fish together. But every day the indigenous man would only catch one fish and go home. One day, the rich man asked the aboriginal, "why don't you catch a few more fish?" The aboriginal replied "I eat one fish every day, it is enough." The rich man said," if you catch some more fish, you can go to the market, sell the fish, and make money. With the money, you can buy a fishing net, and catch even more fish." The aboriginal said, "and then what?" The rich man replied "you can take more fish to sell, then you can buy a fishing boat, catch more fish, and even bring someone along to help you catch and sell fish." The aboriginal asked, "and then what?" The rich man replied, "then you too can become rich and fish leisurely like I do." The aboriginal replied "am I not leisurely fishing with you right now?" The millionaire was speechless. Then the aboriginal took his fish and happily hummed his way home.

       這篇故事很寫實，在真實生活中，許多人就好比那位年長的富翁，從年輕到中壯年，這段人生的精華時期，都在為金錢打拼，為名利奮戰。日復一日，年復一年，大部份的寶貴光陰，都消磨在自己不感興趣的工作上；等到步入中老年之後，精神和體力都大不如從前，才開始過自己真正想要的生活！

This story is realistic. In real life, many people are just like the elderly rich man, who, from youth till middle age, the essence of one's life, are working hard for money, fighting for fame and fortune. Day after day, year after year, a majority of precious time is wasted away in work that is of no interest to us; waiting until after we retire at an old age, when our mental and physical strength isn't as great as before, before we start living the life we actually wanted!

       辛苦了大半輩子，繞了好大一圈，終於回到「幸福」 的原點，這是何苦呢？

       反觀那位島上的土著，他懂得知足常樂，每天能悠閒地釣魚，開心地哼歌，享受人生的 「小確幸」和家庭的溫暖，誰能說他不「幸福」呢？

Half a lifetime of hardship, comes around in a full, enormous circle, until finally returning to the original point of "happiness". Why does this have to be so?

By contrast, the island aboriginal, understood that “happiness lies in contentment”; every day he leisurely fished, happily hummed, enjoying life’s little pleasures and the warmth of his family. So who's to say he's not "happy"?

       閉上眼睛，聆聽心底最真實的聲音，「你究竟想過什麼樣的生活？」「什麼樣的生活」能讓你感受到真正的滿足？難道「幸福」和「滿足」的人生，果真來自於開名車、住豪宅、穿戴名牌、品嚐名貴佳餚，看到存款簿的數字不斷增加？

       或者來自於追求名利，受人稱羨崇拜？然而，無論ㄧ個人多麼有錢有勢、有名有利，他都必須回歸生活的本質，回到人與人之間「愛與被愛」的關係。

Close your eyes, listen to the heart of your most authentic voice, "what kind of life do you really want to live?" "what kind of life" will make you feel truly content?  Do you really think "happy" and "content" lives really come from driving famous cars, living in luxury, wearing designer clothes, tasting rare delicacies, and seeing deposit book balances constantly increasing?

Or does it come from the pursuit of fame and fortune, to receive the admiration and worship of others? Actually, regardless of how much money or power, fame or fortune an individual has, he still needs to return to the essence of life, return to the "love and be loved" relationship between people.  

       有一件事是可以確定的：人世間最寶貴的東西，絕對是再多的金錢與名利都換不到的，因為那是「無價之寶」！換句話說，生活中充滿愈多「無價之寶」，就擁有愈多真實的「幸福」！ 親情無價、友情無價、愛情無價、健康無價、喜樂無價、平安無價、自由無價、知足無價、感恩無價、生命無價，你我都是神所創造的「無價珍寶」！

One thing is for sure: the most precious thing in the world, cannot be bought or traded for more wealth or fame, because that thing is "priceless"! In other words, when life is filled with more "priceless", then we have more true "happiness"! Affection is priceless, friendship is priceless, love is priceless, health is priceless, joy is priceless, peace is priceless, freedom is priceless, contentment is priceless, gratitude is priceless, life is priceless, you and me both are "priceless" creations of God!

       當我抱持著這樣的信念，很自然地，我選擇回歸家庭，過著「陪伴孩子成長」 的生活。對我來說，既然孩子是神所創造最獨特的「無價珍寶」，那麼能將神賜給我的兩個小男孩照顧好，就是我最大的成就感。我喜歡帶孩子們遊山玩水，從大自然和玩樂中學習。我們選擇就讀陽明山上的公立小學，拋開所謂的競爭力，拒絕補習文化，因為我相信「學習」是一輩子的事，從小培養孩子敏銳的觀察力、適度的好奇心，和自我學習能力，才能終身學習，「活到老，學到老」；我也深信等孩子長大後，他們不會再為兒時某次考試一百分而沾沾自喜，卻會牢記童年時期與父母、手足、同學、朋友一起參與的活動、遊戲或旅行，以及一起共享的歡笑歲月。這些都是無價的生命資產！

When I hold onto this kind of conviction, naturally, I choose to return home, and live a life of “nurturing children as they grow up”. For me, since a child is the most unique "priceless" treasure created by God, then taking care of my two little boys that God gave me, is my greatest accomplishment. I like to take the kids sightseeing, to learn from nature and having fun. We chose to let them study at a public primary school on Yangmingshan, which puts aside so-called competitiveness, and rejects cram-school culture, because I believe "learning" is a life-long affair, when they’re young, cultivate a child's keen powers of observation, moderate curiosity, and self leaning abilities, so that they become life-long learners, "live till you're old, learn till you're old". I also believe that after the kids have grown up, they won't be smug about how as a kid they scored 100 points on a test, instead they will always remember their childhood, and the events, games, or travel that they participated in with their parents, brothers, classmates, and friends, as well as the years of laughter they shared together. These are all priceless life assets!

      「過生活」是ㄧ門藝術，也是一生的學習，需要勇氣、智慧、夢想、信心、愛心……這些五顏六色的彩筆，在生命的畫布上，揮灑出生活的色彩。那是一種「踏實的幸福感」，我心嚮往之！

"Living life" is an art, and it takes a lifetime of study, requiring courage, wisdom, dreams, faith, love....these colorful crayons, on the canvas of life, compose the colors of life. That's the kind of "practical sense of happiness" I yearn for!

作者:譚亞菁 Oct. 12, 2014

Translated by Parker Gadbois