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That age-old question hit me one day on my way to work: Do we have free will or are we just puppets in a 1)Punch and Judy show?
某天,上班的途中,一个老掉牙的问题忽然从我脑海里冒出来:我们是否拥有自由意志,还是说,我们只是木偶戏里那些被人控制的木偶。
It’s such a fundamental question about our lives that countless people ask on a daily basis and yet it is probably one of the things we’ll never know in our 2)corporeal forms. I, for one, often wake up 3)bruised and scarred from the events of the day before. Seldom do I wake up fresh with 4)zeal and looking forward to the day ahead. But does that mean that my fate should leave me scarred and always in a state of disrepair? Is my fate so 5)mundane that all it involves is the daily 6)slog and nothing more? No enjoyment, no fulfillment, and no satisfaction with my actions? Since the fate is 7)sealed, is there nothing more for me to do apart from just going with the flow? 
这实在是我们人生的一个根本问题,无数人天天都在问,然而答案却很可能是我们这肉身永远无从知道的事情之一。拿我来举例,一觉醒来,我常常发现自己还在因前一天的事而伤痕累累。我醒来后很少会感觉焕然一新,满怀热情,期待着眼前这新的一天。但那是否意味着我的命运就是注定要我伤痕累累,并总是处于无可救药的状态?是否意味着我的命运就是那么平淡乏味,每天就是艰难行进,没有别的任何东西?所做一切不会带来享受快乐,没有成就感,也没有满足感可言?还是说,既然命运已注定一切,所以除了顺其自然,我再没别的可做?
As a matter of fact, what 8)Winston Churchill once said really impresses me: Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. Our destiny is basically our destination for our life…it’s the place where we intend to arrive after we put away the road map (9)figuratively speaking) or turn off the internal navigation 10)GPS, once we finish driving.
事实上,温斯顿·丘吉尔曾说过的一些话让我印象深刻:命运不是碰运气,而是一种选择,命运不是要我们等待的东西,而是要我们去实现的东西。我们的命运本质上就是我们人生旅途的目的地……是我们把地图(比喻的说法)放到一边或者关掉汽车内置的GPS导航器之后,一旦行程结束,我们要到达的那个地方。
I recalled a conversation I had not too long ago with a former business acquaintance whom I relied on occasionally for my own 11)accountability. Each time we’d speak to one another he kept telling me about what he was “going to do” and what he had been “thinking about doing.” However, he rarely could give 12)updates on what he actually had done. When I questioned him about what had been holding him back, his explanation was always the same. He seemed to believe that the reason he hadn’t achieved the majority of his business and personal goals was because it just wasn’t his destiny. It seemed as though he actually convinced himself that some things simply weren’t “13)in the cards” for him when things did not go well. I couldn’t help but wonder why he really believed that he was less worthy, capable, deserving or destined for success than others? In his eyes, “Life is a circle. So be patient and wait…don’t waste your energy trying to make the inevitable happen…because it will happen anyway. There is no escape from it.”
我想起不久前和一位工作旧交的一番对话,我的职责有时需要这位旧交来帮忙完成。每次我们交谈起来,他总是告诉我他“正准备做什么”和“他一直在考虑做什么”,然而,他很少告诉我实际上他已经做了什么。当我问他受了什么牵制的时候,他总是给出同一个解释。他似乎认为自己无论公或私的目标大部分都没能实现,其原因是那些“并非他命中注定能成就的”。似乎当事情进展得不顺利时,他就会说服自己,有些东西确实不在他“命中注定”之列。我忍不住会想,他为什么会真的相信相比他人自己就是不那么有用,不那么能干,不那么值得奖赏,注定不那么成功?在他的看来,“生命是一场轮回。所以要耐心要等待……不要浪费你的能量试图去使必然之事发生……因为要发生的总会发生。逃也逃不掉。”
This would also mean that there is little that can be done about the future except let it happen. It’s not the most productive way to live life. In my experience, this kind of thinking leads to an innate laziness and a tendency to 14)procrastinate heavily. Although the future is15)shrouded in darkness, mystery and 16)suspense, or even though we all have goals and ambitions and think we are following the path of success, what we fail to realize is that the path to success is not one that has been laid before us, but rather, it is the one we create as we move along. Fate is a force we cannot control, however we can always determine what we choose to be in this moment. I choose how to perceive where I am right now and what to do with what has been 17)bestowed on me. I can choose consciously what decisions to make and do what I feel is right for me. When faced with something, I can choose to deal with it as a challenge and to make the most of it, or to do it half-heartedly.
这也意味着除了顺其自然以外,对于未来,我们几乎没什么可做的。这不是最富有成效的生活方式。以我的经验看来,这种想法会令人心生懒惰的念头,做事倾向于拖拖拉拉。虽然未来被裹在黑暗、神秘和悬念中,或即使我们所有人怀有目标和抱负,想着我们正处在追求成功的道路上,我们没有意识到的是——通往成功的道路并没有摆在我们眼前,而是需要我们在前进的途中开辟。命运是我们无法掌控的一种力量,然而我们总能决定这一刻我们选择成为什么样的人。我选择如何认识我此刻所处的位置以及如何处理已经降临在我身上的东西。我可以有意识地选择作出什么决定和做我们感觉适合自己的事情。当面对某事时,我可以选择把它视为一个挑战来应对并充分利用,也可以选择吊儿郎当地应付了事。
Our fate is not by chance; on the contrary it is the result of our intentions and our deliberate actions that 18)follow suit. Destiny doesn’t come by falling out of the sky; you’ve got to think it, believe it, commit to it, do it, be passionate about it and achieve it. To be productive is never a quick 19)coast down a hill. It’s more like you’re making the effort to walk up the stairs. And you have your fate in your hands.
我们的命运不是靠偶然运气决定的,相反,它是我们的意愿和随着意愿有意为之的结果。命运不会从天而降,你必须思考命运,相信命运,专注其中,为之行动,对其充满热情,最终有所成就。要人生有所成就绝非如一次快速的下坡滑行,而是更像是在努力往上爬楼梯。而你的命运就掌握在你手里。
