Be Happy
“The days that make us happy make us wise.”----John Masefield
when I first read this line by England’s Poet Laureate, it startled me. What did Masefield mean? Without thinking about it much, I had always assumed that the opposite was true. But his sober assurance was arresting. I could not forget it.
Finally, I seemed to grasp his meaning and realized that here was a profound observation. The wisdom that happiness makes possible lies in clear perception, not fogged by anxiety nor dimmed by despair and boredom, and without the blind spots caused by fear.
Active happiness---not mere satisfaction or contentment ---often comes suddenly, like an April shower or the unfolding of a bud. Then you discover what kind of wisdom has accompanied it. The grass is greener; bird songs are sweeter; the shortcomings of your friends are more understandable and more forgivable. Happiness is like a pair of eyeglasses correcting your spiritual vision.
Nor are the insights of happiness limited to what is near around you. Unhappy, with your thoughts turned in upon your emotional woes, your vision is cut short as though by a wall. Happy, the wall crumbles.
The long vista is there for the seeing. The ground at your feet, the world about you----people, thoughts, emotions, pressures---are now fitted into the larger scene. Everything assumes a fairer proportion. And here is the beginning of wisdom.
快 樂
“快樂的日子使人睿智。”
--- 約翰·梅斯菲爾德
第一次讀到英國桂冠詩人梅斯菲爾德的這行詩時，我感到十分震驚。他想表達什麼意思？我以前從未對此仔細考慮，總是認定這行詩反過來才正確。但他冷靜而又胸有成竹的表達引起了我的注意，令我無法忘懷。
終於，我似乎領會了他的意思，並意識到這行詩意義深遠。快樂帶來的睿智存在於敏銳的洞察力之間，不會因憂慮而含混迷惑，也不會因絕望和厭倦而黯然模糊，更不會因恐懼而造成盲點。
積極的快樂 – 並非單純的滿意或知足 – 通常不期而至，就像四月裡突然下起的春雨，或是花蕾的突然綻放。然後，你就會發覺與快樂結伴而來的究竟是何種智慧。草地更為青翠，鳥吟更為甜美，朋友的缺點也變得更能讓人理解，寬容。快樂就像是一副眼鏡，可以矯正你的精神視力。
快樂的視野並不僅限於你周圍的事物。當你不快樂時，你的思維陷入情感上的悲哀，你的眼界就像是被一道牆給阻隔了，而當你快樂時，這道牆就會砰然倒塌。
你的眼界變得更為寬廣。你腳下的大地，你身邊的世界，包括人，思想，情感和壓力，現在都融入了更為廣闊的景象之中，其間每件事物 的比例都更加合理。而這就是睿智的起始。
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