心情隨筆：不花錢就能買到的快樂

摘錄：爲了找到真正的快樂，我們必須首先改變對待金錢的態度。我們必須要知道花掉掙到的錢只是讓我們暫時舒坦，卻並不能帶來任何持久的利益。最後我們擁有一些實際上我們根本不想要或根本不需要的東西，而內在的情感問題依然沒有解決。

Our materialistic society has led us to believe that happiness cannot be obtained without having money.

Rather than learning to be satisfied with what we have, we are taught to want more. We learn from advertising, and from the media, that we need to buy trinkets and toys in order to make ourselves happy, or to fulfill emotional needs, and that the purchases they are trying to talk us into will provide us with the psychological comfort we are looking for.

在這個物質社會，我們深信沒有錢就沒有幸福感。

我們不斷的奢望得到更多而不是學着滿足我們現有的。通過廣告和媒體，我們瞭解到爲了讓自己開心，爲了滿足心理需求，我們需要買一些小玩意兒和玩具，彷彿買了這些東西我們就能找到一直想要的心理安慰。

Unfortunately, as a society we have bought into these misguided messages and have come to believe that spending money on certain items will bring us fame, fortune, happiness, beauty, or popularity. We end up using money as a crutch to provide us with something we ultimately must find within ourselves. As we become caught up in this charade, we trade precious hours of our lives trying to earn the money we have been taught to covet so much.

不幸的是我們還是會被這些信息誤導並且開始相信花錢買一些東西會帶給我們帶來聲譽，運氣，快樂，美麗或者名氣。我們不斷拿金錢作爲靠山，得到最終想要的東西。一次一次我們深陷其中，於是，爲了買到我們垂涎已久的東西，我們用寶貴的時間辛苦賺錢。

We trade hours of our lives working, sacrificing time that could have been spent with our families, for the pursuit of the almighty dollar.

我們把生命中的每時每刻拿來工作，犧牲我們本該和家人在一起的時間，只爲了追求萬能的美元。

In order to find true happiness, we first must learn to change our attitudes about money. We must learn that money, and the spending of it, provides only a temporary relief but does not present us with any real long lasting benefits. We end up owning something we either do not really want or do not really need, and the underlying emotional issues remain.

爲了找到真正的快樂，我們必須首先改變對待金錢的態度。我們必須要知道花掉掙到的錢只是讓我們暫時舒坦，卻並不能帶來任何持久的利益。最後我們擁有一些實際上我們根本不想要或根本不需要的東西，而內在的情感問題依然沒有解決。

Rather than focus on the temporary satisfaction you may feel from spending money, try the following to bring you happiness without it.

與其通過花錢讓自己得到一時的滿足感，不如試試下面幾招讓你不用花錢買就感到快樂：

Imagine Having no Money

假想自己分文沒有

Imagine what you would do for happiness if you had no money at all. Think about how you would spend your time, and what you would do for enjoyment. Change your focus from material possessions to other things that bring you enjoyment, such as spending quality time with your family and friends. Rather than focusing on the accumulation of possessions, concentrate instead on playing with or reading to your children, or spending time out enjoying nature.

想象一下如果你一分錢沒有做什麼會感到快樂。想一下沒錢的你將如何打發時間，如何找樂子。把焦點從物質層面的東西轉移到能讓你快樂的其他事上，比如，陪家人朋友一起度過休閒時光。多和你的孩子玩耍或者給孩子朗讀或者出去親近大自然，而不是專注於積累財富。

Want What you Already Have

滿足你所擁有的

Society teaches us to want what others have. Instead, shift your thinking so that you are satisfied with, or want, what is already yours. What tends to happen is once we reach our goals in terms of owning personal possessions, we trade those old goals in for a set of new ones that involves bigger, better, and grander objects.

社會教會我們追逐潮流，別人有什麼，我們就追求什麼。然而，我們不應該真這麼做，而是對於我們已經擁有的東西感到知足。往往我們一旦達到目標就會制定一堆新的更大更好的目標。

Goals are good to have because they motivate us to work, and to continue to strive for self improvement. The key is to find a balance between having worthy goals and recognizing when we are allowing the desire for possessions to overwhelm the importance of other aspects of our lives. Rather than constantly striving for things we do not have, we need to shift our focus to being thankful for the things we already possess.

有目標是好的，因爲目標讓我們的工作更有積極性，讓我們不斷改進。而關鍵是我們要找到一個平橫點，不僅能讓我們的目標有價值，還要讓我們不能因爲對物質的慾望而忽視了生活其它方面的重要性。我們應該感謝那些我們已經擁有的，而不是不斷追求我們沒有的。

Volunteer Your Time

把你的時間貢獻出來

One way to appreciate what you have is to work with others who have nothing, or who have disabilities that no amount of money can overcome. Volunteering time to work in a food bank, or to work with underprivileged children, can really alter your perspective on where you are in life, and can create a deeper appreciation for the gifts you do have in your life.

有一個辦法讓你珍惜擁有，那就是和那些一無所有的人或者那些身患殘疾的人共事。做一名志願者在食物銀行(美國慈善機構)工作或者幫助貧困兒童，這樣真的會讓你有不同的生活感悟，讓你深深的感謝上天賜予你的一切。

Helping others can boost your spirits as well. There is a great deal of personal satisfaction to be gained from giving aid to those who are in need of it, leaving you with a sense of satisfaction that will carry over into your own life. Use the experiences of helping others to teach your children compassion and civic responsibility.

同時，幫助他人是很高尚的品質。幫助那些需要幫助的人會讓你有很大的滿足感，也讓你終生受益匪淺。這樣，你可以用幫助過別人的經驗去教育自己的孩子要有同情心和責任感。

There are a number of ways to enjoy life without the need for a great deal of money. Certainly, it is important to work and earn enough to provide for our basic needs and the needs of our families, but it is important to recognize when the desire for personal possessions becomes overly consuming. There needs to be a balance between a satisfying work life and a rich home life, and the best way to achieve such a balance is to ensure the drive for material possessions does not become all consuming.

不需要大筆的金錢，我們也可以盡情享受生活。當然，賺錢也很重要，因爲我們要養家餬口。但是千萬不要讓自己的金錢慾望變成過度消費。我們既要追求令人滿意的工作生活又要追求富裕的家庭生活。最好的方式來實現這樣一個平衡是保證有足夠多的錢的時候要控制自己不能什麼都要買。