活在當下，珍惜親情——親歷空難后的感悟

by Ric Elias 譯/范輝

“天有不測風云，人有旦夕禍福”，事故、災難隨時可能發生，我們的生命也因此隨時可能出現不測。“生命無常”也許是每一個從事故和災難中死里逃生的人都能深刻體會到的，本文作者也不例外。2009年1月15日，本文作者搭乘的全美航空1549班機剛起飛幾分鐘便撞上鳥群，致使飛機發生故障，最后只好鋌而走險，迫降在紐約哈德遜河上。飛機上的人全部獲救，這次迫降也被稱為一次奇跡。在與死神擦肩而過之后，作者親自見證到所有的一切都可能在一瞬間發生改變，更明白了“活在當下，珍惜親情”的可貴之處。

Imagine a big explosion as you climb through 3，000 ft. Imagine a plane full of smoke. Imagine an engine going clack， clack， clack， clack， clack， clack， clack. It sounds scary. Well I had a unique seat that day. I was sitting in 1D. I was the only one who could talk to the flight attendants. So I looked at them right away， and they said， “No problem. We probably hit some birds.” The pilot had already turned the plane around， and we werent that far. You could see Manhattan. Two minutes later， three things happened at the same time. The pilot lines up the plane with the Hudson River. Thats usually not the route. He turns off the engines. Now imagine being in a plane with no sound. And then he says three words—the most unemotional three words Ive ever heard. He says， “Brace for impact1）.” I didnt have to talk to the flight attendant anymore. I could see in her eyes； it was terror. Life was over.

Now I want to share with you three things I learned about myself that day. I learned that it all changes in an instant. We have this bucket list2）. We have these things we want to do in life， and I thought about all the people I wanted to reach out to3） that I didnt， all the fences I wanted to mend， all the experiences I wanted to have and I never did. As I thought about that later on， I came up with a saying， which is， “I collect bad wines4）.” Because if the wine is ready and the person is there， Im opening it. I no longer want to postpone anything in life. And that urgency， that purpose， has really changed my life.

The second thing I learned that day—and this is as we clear5） the George Washington Bridge6）—was I really feel one real regret. Ive lived a good life. In my own humanity and mistakes， Ive tried to get better at everything I tried. But in my humanity， I also allow my ego to get in. And I regretted the time I wasted on things that did not matter with people that matter. And I thought about my relationship with my wife， with my friends， with people. And after， as I reflected on that， I decided to eliminate negative energy from my life. Its not perfect， but its a lot better. Ive not had a fight with my wife in two years. It feels great. I no longer try to be right； I choose to be happy.

The third thing I learned—and this is as your mental clock starts going， “15， 14， 13.” You can see the water coming. Im saying， “Please blow up.” I dont want this thing to break into 20 pieces like youve seen in those documentaries. And as were coming down， I had a sense that dying is not scary. Its almost like weve been preparing for it our whole lives. But it was very sad. I didnt want to go. I love my life. And that sadness really framed in one thought， which is I only wish for one thing. I only wish I could see my kids grow up. About a month later， I was at a performance by my daughter. And Im bawling， Im crying， like a little kid. And it made all the sense in the world to me. I realized at that point， by connecting those two dots， that the only thing that matters in my life is being a great dad. Above all， the only goal I have in life is to be a good dad.

I was given the gift of a miracle， of not dying that day. I was given another gift， which was to be able to see into the future and come back and live differently. I challenge you guys that are flying today， imagine the same thing happens on your plane—and please dont— but imagine， and how would you change？ What would you get done that youre waiting to get done because you think youll be here forever？ How would you change your relationships and the negative energy in them？ And more than anything， are you being the best parent you can？

想象一下當你升至三千英尺（編注：約914米）的高空時發生大爆炸的情景。想象一下飛機上濃煙彌漫的樣子。想象一下引擎不停地發出噼啪聲的情形。這聽起來很嚇人。那天，我坐在一個特別的座位上——1D號座位。我是唯一一位能和空乘人員說話的乘客。當時我立刻將目光投向空乘人員，而他們說：“沒事，可能飛機撞到鳥了。”飛行員已經調轉了航向，我們才飛了不遠，還可以看見曼哈頓。兩分鐘過后，同時發生了三件事：飛行員將飛機對準哈德遜河，那可不是飛機的正常航道；他關掉發動機——現在請想象一下坐在一架沒有任何聲音的飛機里的情形；然后，他說了四個字，這是我聽過的最不帶感情的四個字：“準備著陸。”這下，我再也不用跟那位空乘人員交流了。從她的眼睛里，我就看出來了——那是恐懼。生命就要結束了。

現在，我想跟大家分享那天我學到的關于自己的三件事。我認識到所有的一切會在一瞬間發生改變。我們都有遺愿清單，我們都有一些有生之年想要去做的事情。我想到了那些我想幫卻沒幫的人，想到了那些我想改善的人際關系，想到了那些我想體驗卻從未嘗試過的事。后來，當我想起這件事時，我想出一句話：“我愿收藏差酒。”因為如果酒已備好，朋友在旁，我就會把酒打開。我再也不想推遲生命中的任何事了。這種緊迫感或者說決心真的改變了我的生活。

那天我學到的第二件事發生在我們飛過喬治·華盛頓大橋的時候，那一刻我實實在在地感到我有一件讓我真正后悔的事。我的日子過得不錯。我有自己的性情，也犯過錯，但我盡力把我做的每一件事辦得更好。但是就我的性情而言，我也有以自我為中心的時候。我后悔以前把時間浪費在和重要的人爭執不重要的事情上。我想到了自己跟妻子、朋友以及他人的關系。經歷這一事故后，當我回想起這些事時，我決定消除生命中的負能量。我還沒有完全做到，但已經好多了。我有兩年的時間沒有和妻子吵架了，這讓人感覺很棒。我不再強調正確與否，而是選擇快樂地生活。

那天我認識到第三件事是在我心里開始倒數“15、14、13……”的時候。我可以看見河水離我們越來越近。我說：“拜托，還是爆炸吧。”但我可不想讓這玩意兒像紀錄片里看到的那樣碎成20塊。當我們慢慢下落時，我感覺到死亡并不可怕。當時的感覺幾乎就像是我們一輩子都在為死亡作準備。不過死亡是件令人非常悲傷的事。我不想死。我熱愛自己的生活。那種悲傷源自于一個念想，那也是我唯一的愿望，就是我只希望能看著我的孩子們長大。大概一個月之后，我出席了女兒的演出。在那里，我像孩子似的盡情地玩，大聲地喊。而這對我來說就是世界的全部意義。在那一刻，當我把墜機與這件事聯系起來看時，我發現自己人生中至關重要的事情只有一件，那就是當個好父親。最重要的是，我人生中的唯一目標就是當個好父親。

哈德遜河上的奇跡是上天給我的一份禮物，讓我那天幸免于難。我得到的另一份禮物是能夠看到未來，然后重新回來，開始一種完全不同的活法。我想考驗一下今天要乘坐飛機的各位，想一想如果你們的飛機也發生了同樣的事——當然千萬不要是真的——但是請試想一下，如果那樣，你們會作何改變呢？你們會想去完成由于覺得死亡永遠不會降臨到自己頭上就一直拖著未做的哪些事？你們會如何改變自己的人際關系，并消除其中的負能量呢？而比任何事都重要的是，你們是不是在盡可能成為最好的父母？

1. impact [??mp?kt] n. 著陸

2. bucket list：遺愿清單，即離開人世之前想做的事情清單

3. reach out to （sb.）：向（某人）伸出援手

4. 這句話是作者自己創造的。在他看來，收藏好酒的人通常會將酒保存起來，等到未來特定的重要場合才愿意打開分享；而收藏差酒的人則愿意將自己買到的好酒立即打開，而不會等到某個特定時候才打開。

5. clear [kl??（r）] vt. 越過，飛過

6. George Washington Bridge：喬治·華盛頓大橋，跨越哈德遜河的懸索橋，是紐約市的一條重要交通要道。