不花钱就能买到的快乐

 　　Our materialistic¹ society has led us to believe that happiness cannot be obtained without having money.

　　在这个物质社会，我们深信没有钱就没有幸福感。

　　Rather than learning to be satisfied with what we have, we are taught to want more. We learn from advertising², and from the media, that we need to buy trinkets and toys in order to make ourselves happy, or to fulfill³ emotional needs, and that the purchases they are trying to talk us into will provide us with the psychological comfort we are looking for.

　　我们不断的奢望得到更多而不是学着满足我们现有的。通过广告和媒体，我们了解到为了让自己开心，为了满足心理需求，我们需要买一些小玩意儿和玩具，仿佛买了这些东西我们就能找到一直想要的心理安慰。

　　Unfortunately, as a society we have bought into these misguided messages and have come to believe that spending money on certain items will bring us fame, fortune, happiness, beauty, or popularity. We end up using money as a crutch⁴ to provide us with something we ultimately must find within ourselves. As we become caught up in this charade⁵, we trade precious hours of our lives trying to earn the money we have been taught to covet⁶ so much.

　　不幸的是我们还是会被这些信息误导并且开始相信花钱买一些东西会带给我们带来声誉，运气，快乐，美丽或者名气。我们不断拿金钱作为靠山，得到最终想要的东西。一次一次我们深陷其中，于是，为了买到我们垂涎已久的东西，我们用宝贵的时间辛苦赚钱。

　　We trade hours of our lives working, sacrificing time that could have been spent with our families, for the pursuit of the almighty⁷ dollar.

　　我们把生命中的每时每刻拿来工作，牺牲我们本该和家人在一起的时间，只为了追求万能的美元。

　　In order to find true happiness, we first must learn to change our attitudes about money. We must learn that money, and the spending of it, provides only a temporary relief but does not present us with any real long lasting⁸ benefits. We end up owning something we either do not really want or do not really need, and the underlying⁹ emotional issues remain.

　　为了找到真正的快乐，我们必须首先改变对待金钱的态度。我们必须要知道花掉挣到的钱只是让我们暂时舒坦，却并不能带来任何持久的利益。最后我们拥有一些实际上我们根本不想要或根本不需要的东西，而内在的情感问题依然没有解决。

　　Rather than focus on the temporary satisfaction you may feel from spending money, try the following to bring you happiness without it.

　　与其通过花钱让自己得到一时的满足感，不如试试下面几招让你不用花钱买就感到快乐：

　　Imagine Having no Money

　　假想自己分文没有

　　Imagine what you would do for happiness if you had no money at all. Think about how you would spend your time, and what you would do for enjoyment¹⁰. Change your focus from material possessions to other things that bring you enjoyment, such as spending quality time with your family and friends. Rather than focusing on the accumulation of possessions, concentrate instead on playing with or reading to your children, or spending time out enjoying nature.

　　想象一下如果你一分钱没有做什么会感到快乐。想一下没钱的你将如何打发时间，如何找乐子。把焦点从物质层面的东西转移到能让你快乐的其他事上，比如，陪家人朋友一起度过休闲时光。多和你的孩子玩耍或者给孩子朗读或者出去亲近大自然，而不是专注于积累财富。

　　Want What you Already Have

　　满足你所拥有的

　　Society teaches us to want what others have. Instead, shift your thinking so that you are satisfied with, or want, what is already yours. What tends to happen is once we reach our goals in terms of owning personal possessions, we trade those old goals in for a set of new ones that involves bigger, better, and grander objects.

　　社会教会我们追逐潮流，别人有什么，我们就追求什么。然而，我们不应该真这么做，而是对于我们已经拥有的东西感到知足。往往我们一旦达到目标就会制定一堆新的更大更好的目标。

　　Goals are good to have because they motivate us to work, and to continue to strive for self improvement. The key is to find a balance between having worthy¹¹ goals and recognizing when we are allowing the desire for possessions to overwhelm the importance of other aspects of our lives. Rather than constantly striving for things we do not have, we need to shift our focus to being thankful for the things we already possess.

　　有目标是好的，因为目标让我们的工作更有积极性，让我们不断改进。而关键是我们要找到一个平横点，不仅能让我们的目标有价值，还要让我们不能因为对物质的欲望而忽视了生活其它方面的重要性。我们应该感谢那些我们已经拥有的，而不是不断追求我们没有的。

　　Volunteer Your Time

　　把你的时间贡献出来

　　One way to appreciate what you have is to work with others who have nothing, or who have disabilities that no amount of money can overcome. Volunteering time to work in a food bank, or to work with underprivileged children, can really alter your perspective on where you are in life, and can create a deeper appreciation¹² for the gifts you do have in your life.

　　有一个办法让你珍惜拥有，那就是和那些一无所有的人或者那些身患残疾的人共事。做一名志愿者在食物银行（美国慈善机构）工作或者帮助贫困儿童，这样真的会让你有不同的生活感悟，让你深深的感谢上天赐予你的一切。

　　Helping¹³ others can boost your spirits as well. There is a great deal of personal satisfaction to be gained from giving aid to those who are in need of it, leaving you with a sense of satisfaction that will carry over into your own life. Use the experiences of helping others to teach your children compassion¹⁴ and civic¹⁵ responsibility.

　　同时，帮助他人是很高尚的品质。帮助那些需要帮助的人会让你有很大的满足感，也让你终生受益匪浅。这样，你可以用帮助过别人的经验去教育自己的孩子要有同情心和责任感。

　　There are a number of ways to enjoy life without the need for a great deal of money. Certainly, it is important to work and earn enough to provide for our basic needs and the needs of our families, but it is important to recognize when the desire for personal possessions becomes overly consuming. There needs to be a balance between a satisfying work life and a rich home life, and the best way to achieve such a balance is to ensure the drive for material possessions does not become all consuming.

　　不需要大笔的金钱，我们也可以尽情享受生活。当然，赚钱也很重要，因为我们要养家糊口。但是千万不要让自己的金钱欲望变成过度消费。我们既要追求令人满意的工作生活又要追求富裕的家庭生活。最好的方式来实现这样一个平衡是保证有足够多的钱的时候要控制自己不能什么都要买。

1 materialistic   

a.唯物主义的，物质享乐主义的

参考例句：

• She made him both soft and materialistic. 她把他变成女性化而又实际化。
• Materialistic dialectics is an important part of constituting Marxism. 唯物辩证法是马克思主义的重要组成部分。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

4 crutch   

n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱

参考例句：

• Her religion was a crutch to her when John died.约翰死后，她在精神上依靠宗教信仰支撑住自己。
• He uses his wife as a kind of crutch because of his lack of confidence.他缺乏自信心，总把妻子当作主心骨。

5 charade   

n.用动作等表演文字意义的字谜游戏

参考例句：

• You must not refine too much upon this charade.你切不可过分推敲这个字谜。
• His poems,despite their dignity and felicity,have an air of charade.他的诗篇虽然庄严巧妙，却有猜迷之嫌。

6 covet   

vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西)

参考例句：

• We do not covet anything from any nation.我们不觊觎任何国家的任何东西。
• Many large companies covet these low-cost acquisition of troubled small companies.许多大公司都觊觎低价收购这些陷入困境的小公司。

7 almighty   

adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的

参考例句：

• Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
• It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。

8 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

9 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

10 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

11 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

12 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

14 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

15 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。