书城外语转个弯人生更开阔
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第43章 意志力为你导航 (13)

Remember, most time is wasted in minutes, not hours. The average person diddles away enough minutes in ten years to have earned a college degree.

Thinking of this reminds me of a verse from my childhood by Julia Fletcher Carney:

Little drops of water,

Little grains of sand,

Make the mighty ocean,

And the pleasant land.

Do you recall the next four lines?

So the little minutes,

Humble though they be,

Make the mighty ages

Of eternity.

近来,我们的电视机屏幕上常常出现这样一则广告:男男女女都在争取买一点时间。它真实地刻画了我们这个慌乱世界的大部分人的境况。“我不要40小时的一周,”哥伦比亚大学前校长尼古拉斯?默里?巴特勒说,“我想要40小时的一天。”

一些人和我们工作的时间一样长,然而成就却似乎比我们的要大得多,对此我一直很好奇。他们是如何做到的呢?

第一,他们从不浪费那些时常打断我们生活的点滴的时间。他们不是把时间浪费在等电话或修理工的愤怒上,而是充满创造性地抓住那些星星点点的时间。他们手头总有各式各样的工具——一支钢笔,一本书,一把剪刀或一根针。

克莱门特?C.莫尔是古典语老师。执教期间,他出版了一部希伯来语词典,与此同时,他还是纽约市综合神学院的主要捐助者。

然而,他被人们怀念的原因并不是神学院或是他的词典,而是1822年他在圣诞节期间灵光乍现时匆忙间一挥而就的一组诗文——他随手把它们塞到一旁,仿佛无关紧要。

魔术般的诗篇是这样开始的:“那是圣诞前夜,整所房子里……”诗文从未给莫尔带来一分钱,然而它们的确给他带来了不朽的声望。

对我们而言,很多有关时间使用的建议我们都是能够做到的。西雅图有一位实业家总会带着一个装有信纸和信封的公事包,利用无数零星的时间,他与众多友人保持着联系。

比如,我认识的一位妇女利用上下班的乘车时间背诵《圣经》中的“登山宝训”。比如,我们家的一条床罩是岳母亲手缝制的,尽管每天都很忙,她还是利用分分秒秒为家人准备了一件充满纪念意义的漂亮礼物。

谨记,大多数时间都是以分为单位而不是以小时为单位浪费掉的。普通人在10年的时间里浪费的分分秒秒加起来足以让他拥有一个大学学位。

想到这里,我想起了小时候学到的朱莉娅?弗莱彻?卡尼的一个诗节:

小小水滴,

汇流成海;

细细沙粒,

聚为良田。

你是否记得接下来的四行呢?

一分一秒,

本不起眼;

积年成代,

成就非凡。

记忆填空

1. For one thing, they don’t squander the bits and pieces of__ that punctuate our days. Rather than__ energy getting irritated waiting for a phone__ or a repair person, they capture those__ creatively. They keep tools handy—a pen, a book, a pair of scissors, a needle, whatever.

2. Little drops of water,

Little grains of__ ,

Make the mighty__ ,

And the pleasant land.

佳句翻译

1. 一些人和我们工作的时间一样长,然而成就却似乎比我们的要大得多,对此我一直很好奇。

译______________

2. 他们从不浪费那些时常打断我们生活的点滴的时间。

译______________

3. 谨记,大多数时间都是以分为单位而不是以小时为单位浪费掉的。

译______________

短语应用

1. I never cease to marvel at how some people, working with the same number of hours we all have, seem to get so much more done.

much more:更加;更何况

造______________

2. The average person diddles away enough minutes in ten years to have earned a college degree.

diddle away:浪费掉

造______________

忙碌的意义

Importance of Being Busy

佚名 / Anonymous

Routines are the unwritten algorithms, followed by each one of us, everyday in life. Routine is a chain of events, which never changes their order, once it is prioritized. Following the routine is a schedule of events. For a student it would be writing assignments, attending school, coaching classes or doing a project. For the businessman brandishing the tiniest mobile phone and shielded by the darker than black shade of Mercedes, schedule is restricted to attending meetings, presentations and entertaining new prospective clients.

Sometimes life becomes so hectic that you feel as if you are the only person to whom the whole world has been merciless and that you are the only person who is working harder than anyone else. But this is the thought, which comes due to a thorough introspection of us. Even though others will be facing the same shade of destiny like us, still we find others to be very luckier than us. Yes, the other side of the grass is always greener and more fresh.

Maintaining your cool, at the times of difficulty and hectic schedules is the key to a bright carrier and successful life. Because unless we ourselves change the pace, with the change in times and keep ourselves abreast of the latest timetable of our organizer, we will fall behind.

However the more things one has to do or one is into, more is involved in, the greater the involvement in a mental, physical or social way into the things in which he is involved. Due to this his own personal problems are out of sight, because all the time his mind is thinking of completing the undertaken tasks. Problems once that they are out of sight, imply they are out of mind.

Each thing that we do, adds a new dimension to our personality. It shapes our thinking and makes us more organized, experienced, knowledgeable and creative. The time and sweat that we put in everyday into our tasks is the brick and mortar of our future. So friends, it is always better to be busy rather than idle. Now hasn’t everyone heard that an idle mind is a devil’s workshop? Behind every successful man is a devotedly followed hectic schedule rather than a woman.

常规是未成文的规则体系,我们每个人每天都要遵守生活常规。由一系列事件所组成的常规之间的顺序很不容易打乱。遵守常规就如同例行公事一样,对一个学生而言,无非是写作业、上学、参加辅导班或实施一个计划。对生意人而言无非是摆弄他们微小的手机,防护得比奔驰车还要严实,而他们的日程只是局限于参加会议、作演说或博取潜在客户的欢心。

有时生活变得异常忙乱,让你觉得世界只对你一个人残忍,你是世界上比任何人都卖力工作的人。但这是自我反省后得出的结论。虽然别人可能和我们一样会遭受同样的不幸,但我们总觉得别人比自己幸运。确实,我们总会认为叶子的另一面更鲜绿。

困难和繁忙时期的冷静豁达是创造光明和成功人生的关键。因为我们若不随着时间的流逝调整自己的步伐,紧跟领导的最新日程安排,就会掉队。

一个人要做的事情越多,他投入的精力和体力就越多,也就越认识不到自身的问题,因为他把全部心思都放在怎样完成任务上。看不到自身的问题,也就不会烦心了。

我们所做的每件事都对我们的人格有新的量度。它能塑造我们的思想,使我们更有组织性,更富经验,更有学识和创造力。我们每天为完成任务所花的时间和所流的汗水就是构筑我们未来的砖瓦。所以,朋友们,繁忙总比无所事事好。“游手好闲的头脑是魔鬼的作坊。”想必大家都听过这句话吧?每个成功男人的背后是一张规整而紧凑的日程安排,而非女人。

记忆填空

1. Following the routine is a schedule of__. For a__ it would be writing assignments, attending school, coaching__ or doing a project.

2. Even though others will be facing the__ shade of destiny like us, still we find others to be very__ than us. Yes, the__ side of the grass is always greener and more fresh.

3. However the__ things one has to do or one is into, more is involved in, the greater the involvement in a__, physical or social way into the things in__ he is involved.

佳句翻译

1. 有时生活变得异常忙乱,让你觉得世界只对你一个人残忍,你是世界上比任何人都卖力工作的人。

译______________

2. 困难和繁忙时期的冷静豁达是创造光明和成功人生的关键。

译______________

3. 每个成功男人的背后是一张规整而紧凑的日程安排,而非女人。

译______________

短语应用

1. …because all the time his mind is thinking of completing the undertaken tasks.

think of:考虑;关心;想起

造______________

2. Problems once that they are out of sight, imply they are out of mind.

out of sight:在看不见的地方;好极了;太棒了

造______________