Quora精选：真的会有人觉得生活很美好吗？

I'm surrounded by people who claim they enjoy life - but I've always had a hard time believing them. Life, to me, is full of so much pain. Sure, there are some great moments here and there but I think in the grand scheme of things the unpredictability, relationships, stress, expectations, etc make life a pretty shitty experience.

我周围的人都声称自己很享受生活，但我总很难相信他们。生活，于我而言，有着太多的痛苦。当然，偶尔也会有一些美好的瞬间，但总的来说，生活中不可预知性、人际关系、压力、期望等等，都会让我感觉糟透了。

Are these people being honest? Are there actually people who enjoy life? Or am I the only one who secretly believes that life is overrated?

这些人说的都是真的吗？真的会有人觉得生活很美好吗？还是只有我会暗中觉得生活没那么美好？

Answered by Jack Thompson

Jack Thompson的回复：

Yes.

是。

I want you to look at this photo of the world's tallest stacked pile of pig iron. It's from Wikipedia, and it's very nice.

来看看这张照片吧，世界上堆得最高的一堆生铁。照片来自维基百科，看着很漂亮。

See, when you're trying to take a good photo, there's a lot to think about. Lens, light, filters, perspective, composition, timing, permits, thieves, alimony, and the list goes on. Looking through the viewfinder, you're not in the world. You're in your head.

瞧，当你想拍张好照片时，你得考虑很多东西。镜头、光线、滤光、透视、构图、时机、能否拍照、小偷、生活费等等，不胜枚举。从取景器中看过去时，你并不在这个世界中。你只是在自己的脑海里。

Like the photographer, you're looking but you're not really seeing.

就像摄影师一样，你只是在观察，但并没有真的去体会。

You look at life and complain that life is full of pain, and while life is punctuated by great moments, you don't enjoy it as a whole.

你看着生活，抱怨生活充满痛苦。即使不时会有美妙的时刻穿插其中，总的来说，你也无法去享受生活。

What I see is you looking through the viewfinder of life waiting for the opportunity to press the button to capture what you want, but when you finally do, the feeling doesn't last because you're already looking for the next opportunity. Or you're looking at the past, going over and over your long list of missed opportunities trying to work out when you should have pressed the button, and who to blame. Or you're imagining what life will be like when everything falls into place. That curiously timeless moment when everything is perfect is especially pernicious.

依我所见，你就是在透过生活的取景器观察，伺机按下快门，捕捉你想要的画面。但按下快门之后你也不会兴奋很久，因为你已经开始寻找下一个按快门的时机，或是一遍遍回味过去，试图把之前错失的良机一个个揪出来，想着这都怪谁。又或者你会想像，如果一切都能按你想的顺理成章地发展下去，生活又会是什么样子的？当一切都趋于完美时，这永无止境的挑剔尤其无益。

Guess what? None of it's real. It's all in your head. What you're not enjoying is not actually, well, life.

猜猜怎么着？这些都是虚妄，只存在于你的脑海之中。而你不喜欢的那些，也并不是真正的生活。

What you're not enjoying is comparing your life to constantly shifting ideals you will never reach, revisiting the past you can not change, and always wanting more even while you are getting what you want. What you're not enjoying are fantasies, very normal ones I might add, which are typically much more compelling than the simple, humble, often very dull reality of life.

你不喜欢的，是把你的实际生活和你不断变化但又达不到的理想生活相比较，是沉缅于已无法挽回的过去，是得到想要的后还会渴望更多。让你无法享受的是幻想，或者哪怕很平常的事情，但它们往往比简单、卑微、通常乏味无比的现实生活要吸引人得多。

Sure, there's pain and greatness, but they're two points on a rich spectrum of all kinds of mediocrity. In the grand scheme of things, you will be fine. Mostly other people are lying, or more properly are selfdeluded, but some are telling the truth. Yes, there are people who enjoy life, but not equally all the time - why would you want to? And yes, others secretly and not-so-secretly think that life is overrated, including myself.

的确，生活有悲有喜，但这只是丰富多彩的平凡生活的两端。总的来说，你不会有事的。许多人都在撒谎，更有甚者是在自欺欺人，但也有人说了实话。是的，是有人会觉得生活很美好，但也不总是那么美好——为什么你会希望总能如此？同时，也有人暗中觉得或者隐约表示他们认为生活没那么美好，包括我在内。

Life becomes a much more enjoyable ride once you stop confusing it with what you thought it was, or what you wish it would become, and simply let it be what it is. Acceptance (not to be confused with passivity) is your ticket to wherever you need to go. I also suggest you leave the camera at home. Buy postcards.

一旦你不再将生活与你的想象或期望混淆，而是让它该怎样就怎样，生活会变得愉快得多。接受，而非顺从，能引领你去任何你想去的地方。同时我也建议你把相机留在家里，买明信片去。