無限樂觀主義：我最愛的5條正能量貼士

1. It is not too late to change your life.
改變生活永遠不遲

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Maria Robinson
“沒有人可以回到過去重新開始，但每個人都可以從今天開始創造全新的未來。”——瑪麗亞·羅賓遜

It may feel like you have been on the same path and stuck in the same habits for so long that you are stuck permanently on your current route.
貌似你已陷於同樣的習慣或徘徊在同樣的道路上太久，如此這般，你便永遠擱淺在這裏了。

It doesn’t have to be that way though. You may not be able to change your life in any way you want right now. But work with what you have where you are right now.
其實生活並非那樣不可。或許你無法一下子就讓生活變成你想要的樣子；但是，請從現在、從你已經擁有的一切開始行動起來吧。

Make a small change if that is what is possible. That small change and success will give you confidence and you can build upon that to make more and perhaps even bigger changes over the year.
請儘可能從細節開始改變。細節的改變和成功能給你信心，促使你在一年內做出更大進步。

2. Don’t make mountains out of molehills.切記小題大做。

“If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you’ve got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.” Robert Fulghum
“要是你脖子斷了、食物沒了或房子着火了，那確實很成問題。至於其他，都無關緊要罷了。”——羅伯特·富爾格姆

It is easy to let thoughts spin away. To let them grow from a thought or a situation into a big and very scary monster in your mind.
人的思維很容易受影響。芝麻大的小問題都有可能會在心裏被無限放大到嚇人的怪物。

What can you do about this thought habit? One thought combination that has helped me with this habit is to:
那該怎樣改變“小題大做”的思維習慣呢？有一個辦法對我非常有效：

Say stop right away. This works well to build self-esteem. It also works well for optimism. In this case it simply means that as soon as you become aware of that you are starting to make a mountain out of a molehill you say or shout STOP! or something similar in your mind.
暗示自己到此爲止。這對樹立信心很有幫助，還有助於積累正能量。具體來講，當你發現自己又開始小題大做時，趕緊告訴自己：行了，停下來吧！或用類似的話語提醒自己。

I tend to use the phrase: No, no, we are not going there! Broaden the perspective. After I have used my stop-phrase I ask myself this about the perceived problem: Will this matter in 5 years? Or even 5 months?
一般我會對自己說：不行，決不能那樣！開闊自己的眼界。當我對自己喊停時，我會問自己這麼一個問題：5年甚至就5個月後，這件事還這麼重要嗎？

The answer is almost always no. And my mind is once again calmer and I feel level-headed.
答案顯然是不。這麼一想，我一下子鎮定輕鬆多了。

3. Find a more helpful way to view your troubles.
用更有益的方法看待困難。

"What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise." Oscar Wilde
“人們眼裏的苦痛很多時候或許只是潛藏着的幸福。”——奧斯卡·王爾德

“If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be.” John Heywood
“如果你將困難視作經歷，懂得所有經歷必將後惠於你，不論境遇多麼不如意，也仍會開心快樂。”——約翰·海伍德

It is easy to get dragged down by the troubles that turn out to not just be molehills (or air).
有時我們的確會遇到大麻煩，並很容易受其拖累

But if you view them in a helpful and optimistic way then, yes, they may still hurt. But they tend to often hurt a lot less and can even be a source of optimistic excitement.
但是，如果你從積極的角度看待困難，儘管仍會疼痛，但總會好受一些，有時候甚至能拿來打趣取樂。

I didn’t use to like making mistakes or failing at all. I often chose to stand still and to not do anything to not risk anything. Nowadays I have Learned that these things tend to truly be a blessing in disguise.
以前我一直討厭犯錯或失敗，總是安於現狀不做任何有風險的事情。現在我發現，事情有時確實就像塞翁失馬。

What has changed? I view them differently and act upon them differently than I used to. I ask myself: what is the opportunity in this situation? I ask: how will this experience help me in the long run?
到底發生了哪些變化？我換個角度看待它們，採取截然不同的反應。我問自己：這種情況下還有哪些可能性？我又問自己：這次經歷對我以後會有幫助嗎？

These questions help me to make good use of a situation that may seem negative at first. And by doing this process over and over I am a lot less afraid of making mistakes or failing because I know from my experience that by handling this in a smart way I have gained many benefits and grown as a person over the past years.
類似問題使我能優化處理起初看來不甚樂觀的境遇。如此往復，我變得不再害怕犯錯或失敗，因爲我的經驗告訴我，多年來理性應對一切已使我受益匪淺。4. Focus on the small steps you can take.
鎖定觸手可及的小目標。

“Having a positive mental attitude is asking how something can be done rather than saying it can’t be done.” Bo Bennett
心態積極的人會問怎樣才能把事情做好，而不是抱怨事情根本無法着手。”——柏·班奈特

When you have found an opportunity in what seemed like a totally negative situation then focus on what you can do and take action on.
如果你能在逆境中尋得一線機會，那就從你力所能及的地方開始行動吧。

Ask yourself: what is one small step I can take today to get the ball rolling and move forward with this situation?
請問問自己：今天我可以實施哪些小計劃，好讓整個情況有所改觀呢？

Just take that one small step today. Then another tomorrow. The small steps tend to add up quickly and, as I mentioned above, will breed confidence that allow you to take more and bigger steps.
然後，今天只需做好那個小計劃就行了。明天再做好明天的。就像我在前文所說，小細節能迅速累積並增強自信心，促使你做出更大的改變。

5. Learn to reduce and handle worries.
5. 學會減憂抗憂。

“When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.” Winston Churchill
每次我遇到令人擔憂的事情，就會想起一位垂死老人說的話：我一生總在無止境地憂慮，其實很多擔憂從未真正發生過。”——溫斯頓·丘吉爾

Worries can be very destructive.
憂慮的殺傷力非常巨大。

But most of the things you fear will happen never happen. They are just nightmares or monsters in your own mind. And if they happen then they will most often not be as painful or bad as you expected. Worrying is most often just a waste of the time you have here.
其實，很多人們擔心的事情並不會真正發生，都只是你心中的夢魘或惡念罷了。而且，即便發生了，也並不會像你想的那樣痛苦或糟糕。憂慮純粹只會浪費你的大好時光。

I know, this is easy to say. But what can you do about it?
當然，說起來容易，那到底該怎麼做呢？

What has worked for me is a similar combination that I mentioned above.
有個方法我在前文已經提過，非常有效：

I first use my stop phrase: No, no, we are not going there!
我會先告訴自己：不行，決不能那樣！

Then I ask myself a question based on Churchill’s quote: how many of my worries and things I feared came into my reality in the past? The answer is: very few.
然後我會想到丘吉爾的那句名言，問自己：到目前爲止，我所擔心的事情有多少真正發生了呢？答案是：很少。

By repeating this over and over this quick process becomes a habit and starts to pop up often quite automatically when my mind starts to worry about something. And that has been a wonderful help.
然後，我會一再重複這點直到養成習慣：每當我不自覺地開始憂慮時，大腦就會自動予以警告。如此一來，生活便輕鬆快樂多了。