如何利用感激之心找回生活的重心

photo by carf 

照片提供：carf

撰文：Jonathan

翻译：Shayne Yeats

Life can become very hectic at times and it’s easy to lose sight of what is truly important. With the ups and downs of day-to-day life, our emotions can take us on a roller coaster ride. When things are going our way and our expectation are met, we feel good. But when we lose focus and stumble off our path it’s hard not to let our frustration get the best of us.

生活有时会变得非常忙碌，而且你一个不小心就会丢失生活的重心。日子一天天潮起潮落般地度过，我们的心境像似过山车般忽高忽低。当事事顺心时，我们就会感觉非常棒。但当我们变得三心二意，行路艰难时，我们很容易就会陷入挫败的泥沼中。

Regardless of the valleys and hills of life, we can remain centered by using gratitude as a tool. It’s hard to be focused on all the negative aspects of your life while feeling grateful. The same applies to being grateful for people. It’s hard to think about the shortcoming of others when you’re focused on how grateful you are for them.

不论你是在人生的顶峰还是低谷，我们都可以利用感激之心来保持生活的重心。当你心怀感激之时，你就能够将注意力从生活的消极面转移到其它地方。同样地，当你也对人们心怀感激之心时，你看到的只会是他人的好，而不是他们的缺点。

Gratitude helps us re-center ourselves when we’re feeling stuck and unsatisfied with our lives. It helps us gain perspective.

当我们陷于困境或对人生不满时，感激之心能帮助我们去重新找回生活的重心。它让我们看到希望。

The real question is, how can we develop a constant state of gratitude? If gratitude becomes a habit, we’re likely to feel more joy, be at peace and have a greater enjoyment for life. In order to make an “attitude of gratitude” a habit, the most important thing is that our gratitude is independent of our circumstances.

而问题的艰难之处就是我们该如何才能保持持续性的感激之心？假如心怀感激变成了我们的习惯，那么我们似乎就会更加的快乐，而且还会心平气和地更加享受人生。为了养成“心怀感激”的习惯，我们要注意到的最重要的一点就是感激独立于我们的处境而存在。

If our gratitude is only focused on the constant ebb and flow of life, we’ll likely be incredibly grateful when things are going well. But as soon as our circumstances change, we leave ourselves open to disappointment and frustration. This is the type of gratitude that often start with “at least”; “at least I have a place to stay,” “at least I have clothes on my back,” or “at least I have a job.” This type of gratitude is a struggle to find contentment when you’re really not that happy about your life. You’re just trying to look on the bright side.

假如我们的感激之心是建立在人生的起起伏伏之上的话，那么我们会在一帆风顺时会非常地感激生活，而一旦情况有所转变，我们顿时就会被失望和挫败所笼罩。这种类型的感激之心常常开端于“至少”这种想法；“至少我还有居住的地方，”，“至少我还有衣服可以替换，”，或者“至少我还有一份工作。”这种类型的感激其实就是在你对生活不满的时候勉强安慰自己的做法。你所做的只不过是去努力看到事物的积极面。

To really make gratitude a habit, we need to move to a deeper level of thankfulness. This means being grateful for things that are independent of your current position such as; existence, your breath, love, your mistakes and failures, emotions, the universe.

要真正的养成心怀感激的习惯，我们要更加深刻地理解感激的含义。这意味着你要对与你目前境况无关的事情心怀感激，比如个体的存在、你的呼吸、爱，你犯的错误和经历的失败，你的情绪，以及这个宇宙。

When we move to this level of gratitude, we may still be thankful for the things in our life, but now we’re thankful for life itself. Now we’re encompassing every facet of our lives, including the ups and downs, highs and lows. We’re no longer just thankful that we’re getting by, we’re thankful that we are alive. In this way, our gratitude is no longer dependent or attached to our position.

当我们的感激之情到达了这个层次后，我们依旧会感激生活中的琐事，但是差别就是我们现在在感激生活本身。现在我们在拥抱生活中的方方面面，包括人生的起伏和高潮于底谷。我们不再仅仅是感激我们所体验到的一切，而是感激我们还活着。这样，我们的感激就不会依托于我们处境之上了。

We don’t have to rely on things to make us grateful, because we’ve moved beyond things. Instead of trying to be grateful for things, we’re now grateful to just be.

我们不再依赖于身外事去获得心灵上的感激，因为我们已经超越了万事万物。我们不再为万事万物而心怀感激，我们现在只为存在本身而感激。

Here are a few ways to help you make gratitude a part of your life:

以下几个方法有助于感激之心成为你生命中的一部分：

1. Create rituals to remember your gratitude.

1.创建一个仪式让你心怀感激

This is probably my favorite of all the methods I’ve found for cultivating gratitude. When I walk in the door to my home after work I like to silently think to myself “how wonderful it is to be home, how grateful I am to have this space where I can express myself and cultivate my creativity.”

在所有方法中，这个是我最喜欢的用来培养感激之心的方式。当我结束了一天的工作走向我家房门的时候，我就会默默地思忖“回家的感觉真是太美妙了，我真是太感激我有这么一个美妙的地方来表达自己，培养自己的创造力。”

Another great ritual to make is to make a habit of silently listing all the things you’re grateful for as soon as you wake up. I find it’s best to do this before I get out of bed. I know I’m not the only one that has a difficult time getting out of bed, so this really helps me to start my day with a feeling of joy and gratitude. This same practice can be applied at night as well and can have a great effect on your quality of sleep and dreams.

另一个非常棒的仪式就是在你清晨醒来的时候就立刻在头脑中罗列你感激的事。我现在起床之前做这件事效果最佳。我知道我并不是唯一一个喜欢赖床的人，而这样做真的对我有很大帮助，我可以心情愉悦并心怀感激地开始新的一天。这个练习同样可以运用在夜晚，而且这对你的睡眠质量和美梦都有非常大的助益。

2. Journal about what you’re grateful for.

2.写日记记下让你感激的事

When we journal about what we’re thankful for, we’re moving our thoughts to the material. This can be a powerful process and allows us to physically see the abundance in our lives.

当我们写日记记下让我们感激的事时，我们就是在将自己的思绪聚焦在实体上。这是个很强大的过程，同时也让我们亲眼看到生活的丰富多彩。

3. Use a gratitude rock.

3.找一块感恩石

Find a nice smooth rock that feels good when you hold it. Now name this rock your “gratitude rock.” Put in your pocket or purse and carry it around with you wherever you go. Whenever you reach in your pocket and feel it, remember what you’re grateful for.

找一块表面光滑的石头。然后将这块石头命名为你的“感恩石”。把它放在你的口袋或钱包里，并随身携带。每当你伸进口袋触摸到它的时候，就想想那些让你感激的事。

You can also use any other object you like, or even a color. Whenever I see the color green it reminds me of gratitude for life and the earth. Perhaps yours is the sky. Whatever is personal and has meaning to you is most important.

当然你也可以使用其它的物品，色彩也可以。每当我看见绿色，我就会为生命和地球而感激万分。也许天空是你所喜欢的。对你而言意义非凡的私人物品就是于你而言最重要的东西。

If we’re simply grateful for life itself, we can be thankful even when we have nothing. Our gratitude is rooted in the permanent and not ever-changing landscape of our lives.

假如我们能够单纯地为生命本身而心怀感激，那么即使我们一无所有我们仍旧常怀感激之心。我们的感激之心深深地根植于我们恒久不变的存在中。

If we can find a way to have gratitude in each moment, our lives will improve dramatically. Begin each day and live each moment in gratitude. Watch your life transform.

假如我们能够找到一种能够让自己每时每刻都心怀感激之情的方法的话，我们的生活就会发生戏剧化的巨大提升。每分每秒心怀感激，你的生活就会与众不同。