想活得輕鬆就要放手一些事情 包括過去

Do you know what’s sad?

你知道什麼是悲傷嗎？

For twenty years, I saved all my college course notes and textbooks. Two and a half college degrees: that’s a lot of paper.

20年來，我保存了所有的大學課程筆記和課本。兩個半的大學學位：那可是很多很多的資料。

Worse, I carted them around — and trust me, they weren’t light — on at least seven moves. Yet I never once looked at them.

糟糕的是，我很不容易地將它們帶在身邊，至少經歷了七次搬遷--- 相信我，它們並不輕 --- 但我一次都沒有再翻看過它們。

They sat in our basement, covered in a thick layer of dust. If books and papers could wonder, they’d wonder why they were still under our stairs after all those years. What were my plans for them? When would the Big Day come?

它們被放在我們的地下室，上面還有覆蓋着厚厚的一層土。如果書和紙有所什麼想知道的，它們一定會想知道，爲什麼這麼多年來一直都被存放在樓梯間？我將計劃對它們做些什麼呢？它們的好日子什麼時候到來？

Well, the Big Day eventually did arrive — only it was different than expected. My wife, always more accepting of change than I am, finally convinced me to recycle the entire mess.

是的，好日子最終還是來了 --- 只是與它們預期的不同。妻子比我適應改變的能力較強，最終說服我去收拾這一團糟。

The pain I experienced was also unexpected. I didn’t feel nostalgia, or suffer pangs for long-lost magical moments of my education. No, what hurt was to come across those terrible papers I’d written, reminders of poor study habits, immaturity, and an embarrassing lack of comprehension.

我所經歷的痛苦也是意料之外的。我對早已久遠的教育帶來的激動時刻並不會覺得懷舊或者痛苦。不，傷害是來自那些曾經寫過的紙，以及對壞學習習慣、不成熟、對尷尬的缺乏理解所勾起的回憶。

Good riddance indeed. I won’t have to lug those dusty, filthy things on our next move.

甩掉包袱實在是太好了。下次搬家的時候，就不用再帶着那些塵土飛揚、髒亂的東西。

But what really happened was a purging of personal history.

但是現實發生的卻是對個人過去的清理。

Initially, I struggled with this. The truth is in the record — my books, my notes, and my papers were primary source materials, documenting an important time in my life. To trash them was to trash the truth.

最初，我也有些掙扎。結果是被記錄着的 --- 在我的書裏、我的筆記裏、以及經過我一手書寫的資料裏，記錄了我生活中一段重要的時光。清理它們也就是在清理過去的結果。

What I’ve learned since taking this leap is that the lesson is more important than the truth.

這一切的改變是直到我學習了：過程遠比結果更重要。

I feel as if much of my real education has been a direct reaction to flailing about during my college years. The lessons aren’t in the documents — they’re now in me.

我覺得真正的教育大部分都反映在我對大學時光的揮舞。這些過程沒有被記錄在資料中，而是在我的身體裏面。

So I was glad to free myself of this physical burden. And the psychic one too: I don’t need to relive the painful moments, as the lessons have now sunk in.

所以，我很高興能夠從這些體力負擔中釋放自己。心靈雞湯：沒必要重溫痛苦的回憶，作爲學習，它們已經過去。

You might want to consider doing something similar.

你可能要考慮做類似的事情。

Not so long ago, a very smart person created a new holiday — Discardia! — to be celebrated four times a year. It’s a great idea, and every time I clear things out, I feel better physically and psychologically. Discardia’s slogan is “Let go of everything that doesn’t make your life awesome!”

不久前，一個非常聰明的人創造了一個新節日 ---  Discardia！--- 每年慶祝4次。這是一個偉大的想法，每一次我都會清理一些東西，然後在身體和心理上都感覺到非常的好。Discardia的口號是“放下一切不能使生活變是更美好的事物！”

What personal rubbish lurks under the stairs of your basement? Or in your mind?

還在什麼垃圾存放在你地下室的樓梯間下面？或者在你的心裏？

Let it go. And make your life awesome.

讓它去吧！讓你的生活變得更美好。