高爾夫球、沙子、咖啡與人生

⊙ By Jess Lively

翻譯：藍藍

高爾夫球、沙子、咖啡與人生

⊙ By Jess Lively

翻譯：藍藍

你經常有事情太多、時間太少、日子太快、生活太忙的焦慮嗎？來，深呼吸，別被千頭萬緒的生活嚇著了，先從找到你的“高爾夫球”開始吧！

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he picked up a large, empty jar and filled it with golf balls.

He asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor picked up a box of2)pebbles and poured it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a3)unanimous yes.

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured them into the jar, filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things∶family, children, health, friends, and favorite4)passions. Things, that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the things that matter, like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else—the small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all of your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. So pay attention to the things that are5)critical to your happiness. Take care of the golf balls first. Set your6)priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One student raised her hand and asked what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled and said, “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

一名教授在哲學課的學生面前擺出幾樣東西。開始上課了，教授拿起一個大大的空罐子，往里面裝滿高爾夫球。

他問大家罐子滿不滿，學生們都說滿了。

教授拿起一盒鵝卵石，把石頭倒進罐子里。他輕輕地搖了搖罐子，鵝卵石便滾到高爾夫球之間的空隙里去了。

他又問大家罐子滿不滿，學生們都說滿了。

教授接著拿起一盒沙子，把沙子倒進罐子里。自然，沙子填滿了剩下的空隙。

他再次問大家罐子滿不滿，學生們一致表示已經滿了。

然后，教授從講臺底下拿出了兩杯咖啡，將咖啡全倒進罐子里，這下連沙子之間的小縫隙都被填滿了。學生們不禁哄堂大笑。

“現在，”教授說，“我希望你們能認識到這么一點——這個罐子就象征著你們的人生。高爾夫球就是那些重要的事情：家庭、孩子、健康、朋友，以及你們最熱愛的東西。哪怕你們失去了其他的一切，人生里只剩下這些事情，你們的人生依然是充實完整的。鵝卵石就是那些要緊的事情，比如工作、房子、車子。沙子就是剩下的其他事情——各種小事。”

“如果你們先把沙子倒進罐子，里面就沒有空間再裝鵝卵石或者高爾夫球了——人生也是如此。如果將所有的時間和精力都花在小事上，你就沒有辦法顧及那些對你來說真正重要的東西。所以，要將重點放在那些和你的幸福息息相關的事情上。首先處理好‘高爾夫球’，確定你的優先項。剩下的那些，不過是‘沙子’而已。”

一名學生舉起手來，問教授咖啡代表著什么。

教授笑著回答：“我很高興你問到了這一點。這只是告訴你們，無論生活看起來有多充實忙碌，你們總能騰出點時間來，和朋友喝上一杯咖啡呢。”

1) golf [ɡ?lf] n. 高爾夫球

2) pebble [?peb(?)l] n. 卵石，石子

3) unanimous [ju??n?nIm?s] adj. 全體一致的，無異議的

4) passion [?p??(?)n] n. 強烈愛好

5) critical [?krItIk(?)l] adj. 緊要的，關鍵性的

6) priority [praI??rItI] n. 優先度

無論是produce、stuff還是room，都是大家早就學過的單詞了。但是，如果認真讀讀文中的句子，你會發現之前學過的詞義在這里解釋不通。事實上，英語學習者遇到的很多常用“生詞”，并不是因為大家沒見過，而是因為它們在實際對話中可以表達各種不同的含義。比如這里的produce，你能夠通過上下文推測出它的含義嗎？那么stuff和room呢？大家可以先根據語境對生詞進行推測，再用詞典找到最合適的詞義，對照譯文加深理解——通過這樣的方法，你的詞匯量就會慢慢累積起來咯！