◎ Elisha Goldstein
Abraham Joshua Herschel was one of the leading American Rabbis, theologians, and social activists of the 20th century. He said something that I’ll never forget and that has stayed with me since the moment I heard it. In his book God in Search of Man, he wrote, “Life is routine and routine is resistance to wonder.”
亞伯拉罕·約書亞·赫施爾是美國拉比的領(lǐng)軍人、神學(xué)家、20世紀(jì)的社會活動家之一。他說的一句話我永遠(yuǎn)也不會忘記,自從第一次聽到,那句話就在我的腦海中留下了深深的烙印。在《覓人的上帝》里,他寫道:“生活就是習(xí)以為常;而習(xí)以為常,就是拒絕求知。”
There’s a true story of a man I have worked with who has spent his entire life believing that his ears were not symmetrical and therefore sunglasses always looked crooked on his face. He came to accept this over time, until he came in touch with mindfulness practice.
告訴你一個(gè)真實(shí)的故事。我有一個(gè)同事,他一直堅(jiān)信自己的耳朵長得不對稱,造成自己戴墨鏡總是歪的。長年累月,他習(xí)慣了這種思想。直到有一天,在仔細(xì)觀察下,才發(fā)現(xiàn)情況并非如此。
One day as he was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom he chose to take a moment to come down from his busy mind, become present, and really look at himself. What he noticed was astonishing.
那天,他站在浴室的鏡子前,什么也不想,只是靜下心來,沉浸在此刻。他仔仔細(xì)細(xì)地打量著鏡子里的自己。然后,他驚呆了。
He suddenly realized that he had not been standing straight and that one shoulder was slightly lower than the other. In that moment, he chose to stand up straight and low and behold his eyeglasses were no longer crooked on his face. All this time he thought his face was lopsided in some way when in effect, it was his posture.
他突然發(fā)現(xiàn),自己一直佝僂著身子站立,因此兩側(cè)肩膀一邊高一邊低。在那一刻,他決定挺直腰板來,當(dāng)他這么做的時(shí)候,臉上的眼鏡也隨之戴正了。他一直以為長歪的是自己的臉,卻沒想到,真正的問題出在自己的姿勢上。
This story is just a metaphor for the rest of us in our lives. Over time, what do we just get used to and learn to accept that keeps us limited in how we see things? What in our lives has become routine to a point that we have lost our sense of wonder in this world?
這個(gè)故事不也暗喻了我們其他人的生活嗎?隨著時(shí)間的流逝,我們習(xí)慣了什么?接受了什么?——那些東西是否局限了我們的視角?我們是否對某些東西太習(xí)以為常,以至于麻木了感官,不再對這個(gè)世界充滿好奇?
When dealing with a myriad of mental health conditions (e.g. stress, anxiety, depression, or addiction), we get stuck in routine ways of reacting to things. A challenge may arise and the automatic reaction is “who cares, I’ll never succeed anyway.” As we become accustomed to this, it can be likened to unknowingly walking around with crooked posture. Once we become aware of it, we can begin the process of straightening ourselves out.
當(dāng)我們處理無數(shù)有關(guān)心理健康的問題時(shí)(如壓力、焦慮、抑郁或者上癮),我們就會陷入慣常的反應(yīng)中來應(yīng)對。當(dāng)我們遇上挑戰(zhàn),也常常不由自主地告訴自己:“管它呢,反正我不可能成功。”我們對自己的反應(yīng)習(xí)以為常,就像我的同事蜷曲著走路卻毫不自知一樣。然而,一旦我們意識到這個(gè)問題,我們便可以自我矯正,重新開始。
It’s a worthy question to explore: What do you notice in your life that’s routine?
這是一個(gè)值得探討的問題:你的生活中有哪些習(xí)以為常的習(xí)慣?
Do you watch TV every night? Do you take the same route to work every day? If you are in a relationship, do you sleep on the same side of the bed night after night or does only one of you cook the meals or clean? Do you often shoot down new ideas? Do you react to stress or pain with routine avoidance? Is this routine taking away the wonder in everyday life?
你是否每天看電視?是否每天選擇同一條路線去上班?當(dāng)你戀愛時(shí),是否總是睡在床的同一側(cè)?你和你的戀人,是否總是固定一個(gè)人做飯洗碗?你是否習(xí)慣斃掉新的觀點(diǎn)?是否習(xí)慣了逃避痛苦和壓力?你是否因?yàn)樽约旱牧?xí)以為常,而正在喪失生活的樂趣?
To do: Pick one thing from your “routine list” and choose to begin becoming aware of it and switching it up.
快行動吧:從你的“常規(guī)清單”中選擇一項(xiàng),意識到問題,然后改變。