來自內心的禮物

We were just about getting ready to warm up for the practice game over the weekend when I had an interesting conversation with one of the team mates I actually didn't know quite well.

周末的時候，當我們正要為即將到來的游戲熱身，團隊成員中有一個我其實不太了解的成員和我進行了一場有趣的對話。

"So what do you do?" he asked. "Well, we work for ourselves, we run a software company", I replied. "Oh really! that's awesome! I work for xyz company, but you know I always wanted to get into animation design and work for myself. It was my dream. I got stuck in the wrong industry."

“你是做什么工作的?”他問道。“嗯，我們?yōu)樽约捍蚬?，我們開了一個軟件公司”我回答。“真的?那真是太棒了!我為XX公司工作，但你知道我一直想做動畫設計，想做自由職業(yè)。那是我的夢想。我現(xiàn)在被困在一個錯誤的行業(yè)里。”

"You ain't dead yet, are you?" I thought trying hard not say that aloud. He continued "You know, I've been wanting to do this for 10 years now, but once you have a family, it's very tough to do anything else."

“你不還沒死呢嗎……” 我掙扎著沒把這句吼出來。他繼續(xù)說：“你知道嗎?我想做這行都有十年了，但是一旦你有了家庭，那想要再做點兒別的事就難了。”

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.

- Eric Hoffer

世界上最難的算術題是如何清點我們的祝福。

According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet, he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher.

據(jù)傳說，一個年輕的男子在漫游沙漠途中看到一泉如水晶般清澈而可口的水。水的味道非常甜美，于是他灌滿了他的皮水壺，這樣就可以帶一些回去，送給曾經(jīng)是他老師的部落長老。

After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.

經(jīng)過四天的旅程，他把水呈獻給老人。老人深飲一口，和藹地笑了笑，并深切感激學生贈予他甜美的水。年輕人懷著愉快的心情回到了村莊。

Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container.

后來，老師讓他的另一個學生品嘗水。學生吐了出來，說水太難喝了。它顯然已經(jīng)因為陳舊的皮革容器而變得不再新鮮。

The student challenged his teacher: "Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?"

學生質疑他的老師：“師父，水是臭的，你為什么要假裝喜歡它?”

The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter."

老師回答說，“你只品嘗了水的味道，我卻是在品嘗禮物的味道。水僅僅是裝載善與愛之行為的容器，而沒有什么東西比善與愛更甜美了。”

I think we understand this lesson best when we receive innocent gifts of love from young children. Whether it's a ceramic tray or a macaroni bracelet, the natural and proper response is appreciation and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.

我認為當我們從天真的孩子們那里收到愛的禮物時，能夠最透徹地明白這個道理。無論它是一個陶瓷托盤或通心粉手鐲，我們自然而恰當?shù)姆磻切蕾p，并表示感激，因為我們喜歡禮物所包含的心意。

Gratitude doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling embodied in it. We should remind ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.

感恩并不總是自然而來的。不幸的是，大多數(shù)兒童和成人只看重被贈予的東西本身，而不是它體現(xiàn)的情誼。我們應該提醒自己，并教導我們的孩子，感情和對感激之情的表達是美麗而純潔的。畢竟，發(fā)自內心給與的禮物才是真正的禮物。