How to Spend the Life You Have Left 如何度過余下時光

How to Spend the Life You Have Left　如何度過余下時光

◎ Leo Babauta

It’s hard, from within the storm of every day life, to see things with real perspective, to know what’s important and what’s simply pressing on our consciousness right now, demanding attention.
We have people emailing us for information and requesting action, we have phone calls and visitors and a long to do list and a million chores and errands to run and all of the slings and arrows of our daily reality...and yet, what is important?
Ask yourself this: if you suddenly found out you only had 6 months to live (for whatever reason), would the thing in front of you matter to you?
Would those 20 emails waiting for a response matter? Would the paperwork waiting to be processed matter? Would the work you’re doing matter? Would the meetings you’re supposed to have matter? Would a big car and nice house and high-paying job and cool computer and mobile device and nice shoes and clothes matter?
I’m not saying they wouldn’t matter...but it’s important to ask yourself if they would.
What would matter to you?
For many of us, it’s the loved ones in our lives. If we don’t have loved ones...maybe it’s time we started figuring out why, and addressing that. Maybe we haven’t made time for others, for getting out and meeting others and helping others and being compassionate and passionate about others. Maybe we have shut ourselves in somehow. Or maybe we do have loved ones in our lives, but we don’t seem to have the time we want to spend with them.
When was the last time you told your loved ones you loved them? Spent good quality time with them, being in the moment?
For many of us, we are doing work that matters...would matter. That might mean helping others, or making a vital contribution to society, or creating something brilliant and inspiring, or expressing ourselves somehow. It’s not the money that matters, but the impact of the work. Are you doing work that matters?
For many of us, experiencing life would matter—really being in the moment, finding passion in our lives, seeing the world and traveling, or just seeing the world that’s around us right now, being with great people, doing amazing things, eating amazing food, playing.
These are just a few ideas...but what would matter to you?
I highly recommend that you spend at least a little time now, and regularly, thinking about this question...figuring out what really matters...and living a life that shows this.
How do you live a life that puts a great emphasis on what matters? Start by figuring out what matters, and what doesn’t. Then eliminate as much as you can of the stuff that doesn’t matter, or at least minimize it to the extent possible. Make room for what does matter.
Make the time for what does matter... today. Put it on your schedule, and don’t miss that appointment. Make those tough decisions—because choosing to live a life that is filled with the important stuff means making choices, and they’re not always easy choices. But it matters.
Spend time with your significant other; show them how important they are. Take the time to cuddle with your child, to read with her, to play with her, to have good conversations with her, to take walks with her. Take time to be in nature, to appreciate the beauty of the world around us. Take time to savor the little pleasures in life.
Because while you might not have only 6 months to live, I’m here to break the news to you: you really do only have a short time to live. Whether that’s 6 months, 6 years or 60...it’s but the blink of an eye.
The life you have left is a gift. Cherish it. Enjoy it now, to the fullest. Do what matters, now.


每天狂風驟雨般的生活中，用正確的角度去看待事情，判斷什么才是真正重要的、什么只是因為壓力而感到緊迫的，需要我們額外注意，因此實為不易。
每天，我們都會收到咨詢信息或要求各種行動的郵件，要打電話，接待訪客，應付冗長的工作安排，處理無數(shù)的家務雜活，沒完沒了地跑業(yè)務，還要化解現(xiàn)實生活中可笑的明槍暗箭……然而，什么是重要的？
請捫心自問：如果你突然發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的生命只剩半年（先別管什么原因），你面前這些事情對你真的重要嗎？
那20封等著你回復的郵件重要嗎？等著你處理的文件重要嗎？你正在做的工作重要嗎？你即將要開的會議重要嗎？一輛轎車、一棟別墅、一份高薪工作、一臺時髦電腦和手機、一雙漂亮鞋子和一件漂亮衣服，對你來說重要嗎？
我并不是說它們不重要……但是最重要的是，你要問問自己的內心，它們到底是否重要。
對你來說重要的是什么呢？
對我們很多人來說，重要的是那些我們愛的人。如果我們沒有所愛的人……也許現(xiàn)在我們該開始想辦法弄清楚原因了。也許我們沒有為其他人留出時間，沒有留出時間出去和他們見面，幫助他們，為他們付出我們的同情心、關心和熱情。也許我們不知不覺地把自己封閉了起來?；蛟S我們的生命里確實有愛著的人，也想多陪陪他們，但似乎就是沒有時間。
你最近一次告訴你所愛的人你愛他們，是什么時候？最近一次和他們共度美好時光，是什么時候？
對我們許多人來說，我們所做的工作是重要的，或者說是最重要的。有的工作可能意味著幫助別人，也許是對社會作出重大貢獻，也許是一個充滿智慧、鼓舞人心的發(fā)明，也許是用某種方式表現(xiàn)了自己。錢有多少不重要，最重要的是工作產(chǎn)生的影響。你是在做著最重要的工作嗎？
對許多人來說，體驗生活是重要的：完全沉浸于此刻的生活，發(fā)現(xiàn)生活的激情之處，四處旅游觀光，或欣賞身邊世界的瑣碎小事，和很棒的人在一起，做令人驚喜的事情，享受美食，盡情玩樂。
這些僅僅是個人想法……但真正對你來說重要的是什么呢？
我強烈建議，你至少得從現(xiàn)在開始，常花一點時間定期思考這個問題, 找到什么才是對你來說最重要的事情, 并為此而活。
怎樣做才能將生活的重心放在重要的事情上呢？首先弄清楚什么是重要的，什么不是。能消除不重要的事情就盡量消除；實在無法避免，就盡最大限度減少它，騰出時間來做更重要的事。
從今天開始為重要的事情留出時間。把它們寫在你的日程表上，不要讓自己失約。此外，要作好各項艱難的決定，因為，既然你選擇為重要的事情而活，你就必須作出各種抉擇，當然了，有的選擇不會那么容易。但它很重要。
花時間多陪陪你生命中很重要的人，讓他們知道你有多在乎他們。多抱抱你的孩子，多教教她讀書，多和她一起玩耍，多花點時間和她用心談話、帶她去散步。抽空讓自己融入大自然，欣賞我們周遭世界的美好。細細品味和享受生活中的點滴愉悅。
雖然你的生命可能不止6個月長，但現(xiàn)在有條壞消息要告訴你，你剩下的時間真的不多了。6個月也好，6年或60年也好……一眨眼就過完了。
剩下的時間就是生命的禮物。珍惜它。享受現(xiàn)在，讓人生從此刻更加完整。從現(xiàn)在開始，做有意義的事。