健康生活:放慢你的腳步 享受美好生活

I don’t usually read forwarded email, but I received one today that caught my attention. It was written by someone who works at Volvo in Sweden, and he mentions how any project in the company “takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It’s a rule.”

我並不常常去看那些轉發的郵件，但是今天收到的一封卻引起了我的注意。這封信是一位瑞典沃爾沃工作人員寫的，他提到公司裏的任何項目，“即使想法簡單、高明，但是也至少要花兩年的時間才確定下來。”

Apparently the fast-paced global corporate world, focused on immediate results, “contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.”

顯然，快節奏的全球合作注重立竿見影的成果。“這與瑞典緩慢模式迥然不同。從另一方面來說，他們不斷的討論，討論，再討論，召開n場會議並且放慢議題過程。最終，這種模式常常帶來更豐厚的回報”

He relates the following story:
The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn’t say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, “Do you have a fixed parking space? I’ve noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot.” To which he replied, “Since we’re here early we’ll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don’t you think? Imagine my face.

他講述了下面這個故事：
起初，我在瑞典，每天早上我的同事到我的小旅館來，順道帶我去公司。時至九月，飛雪嚴寒，我們到達公司比較早，他把車停在了離入口處很遠的地方（2000個員工都是開車來上班）。第一天，我沒說什麼，第二天，第三天同樣是這樣。一天早上，我問道：“你有固定的停車地點嗎？我發現我們總是停在離入口處很遠的地方，哪怕停車場沒有其他的車子。”他回答說：“正是因爲我們到的比較早，我們有時間走過去，遲到的人更需要一個靠近大門的空車位。不是嗎？”可以想象我的臉紅成什麼樣了吧。

He goes on to talk about a movement in Europe named Slow Food, which “establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle.”

他繼續談論着在歐洲的一場慢食運動，它鼓勵人們應該細嚼慢嚥的吃喝，擁有足夠的時間品嚐食物，花些時間和家人朋友在一起，而不是一味的奔忙。慢食運動反對它的對立面：快餐精神和擁護它作爲一種生活方式的任何事物。

I love this idea. It is what is at the heart of the simplicity movement, as well as those who are trying to live frugal lives. It’s not just a matter of reducing clutter or saving money … it’s a matter of slowing down to enjoy life more, of savoring life’s simple pleasures, of rejecting on some level the materialistic culture we are all caught up in and embracing fellow humans instead. It is about changing our values and priorities.

我愛這種觀點。這場簡約運動的核心和那些想盡力過上節約型生活的人的想法是一致的。這不僅僅只是減少垃圾和節約金錢。在更大程度上，放慢腳步是爲了享受生活，品味簡約的快樂，擯棄我們日陷其中的拜物文化，皈依人本。它關乎改變我們的價值觀和生活優先權。

He goes on:Basically, the movement questions the sense of “hurry” and “craziness” generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of “having in quantity” (life status) versus “having with quality”, “life quality” or the “quality of being”. French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US’s attention, pupils of the fast and the “do it now!”.

他繼續說：本質上，這場運動質疑了因全球化產生的“忙碌”與“狂熱”，也正是因爲“物質生活”（生活地位）與“品質生活”的比較，或者說“生活質量”與“生存質量”的比較才刺激了這場運動的產生。儘管法國人每週只工作35個小時，產量卻高出美國和英國人的。德國建立了每週工作28.8工作制，卻發現他們的產量增加了20%。這種慢速的生活態度引起了美國人的注意，尤其那些那些崇尚快節奏生活的人和立刻執行者們。

This no-rush attitude doesn’t represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the “now”, present and concrete, versus the “global”, undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans’ essential values, the simplicity of living.

這種不慌不忙的態度並不代表做的少或者產量低。它意味着以高品質，高產量，盡善盡美的態度去工作和處理事情，注意細節避免壓力。它象徵着人們重塑家庭觀念，朋友關係，重新擁有自由和閒暇時光。用當下的具體的“現實”世界代替模糊不清的“全球”概念。它體現了簡約生活的人類價值觀念。

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It’s time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

它倡導一種無壓工作環境，身心更愉悅，產量更高，在這種環境中，人們更樂於做他們所熟知的事情並知道如何做到最好。是時候停下來好好考慮什麼樣的公司既需要提高品質又工作輕鬆，既增加了產量又保證了產品質量與服務，同時又不失人們靈魂之質。

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.

大多數人爲了生存拼命的趕時間，但是我們恐怕只能等死於心臟病或者在趕時間的時候葬身車禍才能趕上時間吧。另一些人總在擔憂未來，忘記了他們正生活在當下，這段他們唯一存在的時間中。我們擁有平等的時間，沒有人多些或少點。不同的是我們如何對待我們的時間。我們需要珍惜每一刻。正如約翰·列儂所說：“生活正是你在忙於另一些計劃的時候從身邊悄然而過”。