心靈雞湯: 生命裏比金錢更重要的10樣東西

A recent Gallup poll, quoted in The Atlantic, found that "well-being rises with income at all levels of income, across countries." In other words, as the article's title states, the poll proves that "Yes, Money Does Buy Happiness."

《亞特蘭大報》刊登了一項最近的蓋洛普民意測驗，結果顯示“在各個國家，不論收入水平，人們的幸福感都隨着收入的提高而上升。”換句話說，就像那篇文章的標題所說的，這項調查證明了“是的，金錢可以買來幸福。”

Except that it doesn't prove that at all. What the study actually discovered was a "strong correlation" between each nation's real GDP per capita and the sense of "well-being" among those nation's citizens.

而事實上這項調查根本不能證明這一點。這項研究發現的其實是根據調查那些國家的公民，每個國家真實的人均GDP和幸福感之間存在“強烈的相關性”。

Correlation isn't causation. The data could just as easily be interpreted the other way around: that happiness creates wealth. What's most likely, though, is that happiness and wealth are part of a cycle, each one creating more of the other.

相關性並不是因果關係。這些數據也可以很容易地被解讀成另一種意思：幸福創造了財富。而最有可能的是，幸福和財富是一個循環，二者可以相互創造。改變思維現狀，從學會思維導圖開始>>

And that's the reason for this post. Assuming you want to create both wealth and happiness for yourself and those around you, you have two approaches: wait until you're wealthy to be happy, or become more happy now and thereby create more wealth.

這就是爲什麼我要寫這篇文章。假設你想爲你自己和身邊的人創造財富和幸福，你有兩種途徑：等到你變得富有，然後就會幸福了。或者現在讓自己更幸福，然後就能創造更多財富。

I maintain that, in today's economy, it's easier to start with the happiness, because unlike wealth (which takes time to accumulate), you can increase the amount of happiness in your life within minutes, simply by taking more notice of things that make you happy.

我堅持認爲，在今天的經濟環境下，從創造幸福開始會更容易一些，因爲和財富不同（財富需要時間積累），你在幾分鐘之內就可以提高自己的幸福感，你只需要留意那些讓你可以快樂的東西。

With that in mind, here are ten things that can make you happy immediately, regardless of where you are in the cycle.

知道了這一點，我們來看看10樣可以馬上讓你快樂起來的東西。不管你是想先要幸福還是先要財富。

1. Life

1.活着

It's easy to forget that the mere fact of conscious existence--that you are alive--is itself a miracle. As the old saying goes "every day above ground is a good day."

我們很容易忘記，單純的意識到自己的存在，也就是你還活着，這本身就是一個奇蹟。就好像那句老話說的“真實存在的每一天都是美好的”。

2. Health

2.健康

Rather than thinking of illness as something bad that happens to you, start thinking of health as something good that's happening to you.

不要去想疾病這種可能會降臨的壞事情，開始想想健康這種好東西。

3. Purpose

3.目標

There is nothing more conducive to long-term happiness than knowing that your actions are making the world a better place.

知道你的行爲正在讓世界變得更美好，沒有什麼比這個更有益於長期的快樂了。

4. Friendship

4.友誼

Almost everyone has friends, although it's easy to lose track of them in the rush of events. Take a few minutes--today--to reconnect with some of them.

幾乎每個人都有朋友，雖然在匆匆忙忙中我們很容易和他們失去聯繫。花幾分鐘，就從今天開始，重新和他們建立聯繫吧。

5. Family

5.家庭

If you've got a good relationship with your family, rejoice! You're experiencing one of the deepest sources of happiness on the planet.

如果你和家人的關係不錯，好好享受吧！你正在擁有這個地球上最深層的幸福資源。

6. Self-reliance

6.自力更生

Feeling secure that you can count on yourself to accomplish what you set out to accomplish creates a quiet but potent happiness.

你十分確定你可以完全依賴自己去完成那些你想要完成的事情，這會給你帶來無言但強大的幸福感。

7. Community

7.社區

Having the support of a wider group makes you more aware that you're part of something greater than yourself.

有一個更廣泛的團隊的支持會讓你更加感覺到你不是一個人在戰鬥。

8. Gratitude

8.感恩

Rather than focusing on what you don't have or what's out of reach, be thankful for the wonderful things already in your life.

不要專注於那些你沒能擁有或是無法觸及的事物，而要感謝那些已經出現在你生命中的美好。

9. Laughter

9.歡笑

It is impossible to laugh and be miserable at the same time. Regular doses of laughter are more than medicine... it's the flavor of life.

不可能在同一時刻又歡笑又悲傷。經常笑一笑勝過良藥。這就是生活的滋味。

10. Love

10.愛

'Nuff said.

這個就不用多說了。

Create these ten things in your life and I guarantee that you'll either become more wealthy or, if not, you won't really care anyway because you'll already have what's important.

在你的生活中創造這10樣東西，我保證你會變得更加富有，如果沒有的話，你也不會在意了，因爲你已經擁有了重要的東西。