一個人若是找到了適合自己的工作，他便是幸福的

When I was in my teens,I read a quotation from Thomas Carlyle:“Blessed is he who has found his work.Let him ask no other blessedness.”At the time I thought that was a pretty grim remark,but I know now that Mr.Carlyle was right.When you find the thing that you can do better than anything else in the world,then all the wonderful byproducts fall in line:financial security,happy personal relationships,peace of mind.I believe that until you find it,your search for the byproducts will be in vain.

我在年少時曾讀過托馬斯·卡萊爾(Thomas Carlyle)的一句話：“一個人若是找到適合自己的工作，他便是幸福的，請讓他別再祈求其他的幸福了。”當時，我覺得這句話過于殘酷沉悶，而如今才知道卡萊爾先生是正確的。當你找到世上你能做得最好的事情時，穩(wěn)定的收入、快樂的人際關系以及平靜的心情等所有奇妙的“副產品”都會接踵而來。我相信，除非你找到它，否則你對一切“副產品”的追求也不過是徒勞而已。

I also believe that in the process of searching,no experience is ever wasted,unless we allow ourselves to run out of hope.In my own case,I had 34 different jobs before I found the right one.Many of those jobs were heartbreakingly difficult.A few of them involved working with unscrupulous and horribly unpleasant people.Yet,in looking back,I can see that the most unpleasant ofthose jobs,in many cases,gave me the biggest dividends—the most valuable preparation for my proper life work.

我也相信，除非我們不再有希望，否則在追尋的過程中我們的付出都不會白費。就我而言，在找到合適的工作前，我曾嘗試過34種不同的工作。其中有很多工作的艱難程度簡直令人難耐。在有些工作中，還會與一些不道德且令人討厭的人相處。但是，回過頭來才領悟到，在很多情況下，我從那些最令人頭疼的工作中得到了最豐厚的報酬，它們成為我正確事業(yè)生涯的最有價值的準備。

And I have seen this happen in the destinies of hundreds of people.Periods which they thought were hopeless,dark,and of no possible practical value have turned out to be the most priceless experience they ever had.I know a girl who is a famous package designer for American industry.She was just given a promotion for which she competed with six well-qualified designers.Her past,like all of ours,had its good times and its bad times.One of the worst of the bad times was a period when she lost her husband and was left with two small children to support.She took a clerking job in a grocery store because her apartment was on the floor above it and between customers she could run up and keep an eye on the babies

在成百上千人的命運中，我也看到了這一點。他們擁有的最寶貴的經歷，正是那些曾經被認為絕望、黑暗、不可能有實用價值的時期。我的一位朋友現(xiàn)在是美國著名工業(yè)包裝設計師。最近，在與6位高水平設計師的競爭中，她脫穎而出，得到了提升。像我們所有人一樣，她的過去也有巔峰與低谷。她失去了丈夫，還得撫養(yǎng)兩個孩子，那是她最艱難痛苦的時期。她在自家樓下找了一份雜貨店營業(yè)員的工作，這樣一來，在沒有顧客時她就可以抽空跑上樓看看孩子。

Yet the other day when she told me of her promotion to the top package design job,she exclaimed in astonishment,“And do you know that the single factor which swung it in my favor was that I alone had over-the-counter experience with the customers who buy our packaged foods!”

但是，在她告訴我她被提升為首席包裝設計師的那天，她驚嘆道：“你知道嗎?只有我與購買我們包裝食品的顧客有過直接的接觸，而這正是我獲得這份工作的唯一原因。“

When people talk about the sweet uses of adversity,I think they unduly stress a grim and kind of hopeless resignation,a conviction that,like unpleasant medicine,it’s somehow“good for us.”But I think it’s much more than that.I know that the unhappy periods of our lives offer us concrete and useful plus-values,chief among them a heightened understanding and compassion for others.We may not see it at the time,we may consider the experience entirely wasted,but,as Emerson says,“The years teach much which the days never know.”

我認為，人們在談論逆境的益處時，過度強調了一種冷酷與絕望的順從，一種良藥苦口般的信仰——逆境或多或少都有益于我們。然而，我覺得它的益處遠不止此。我知道，生活中的不幸會帶給我們具體而有用的附加值，其中最主要的就是對人們更深切的理解與同情。也許，我們當時并未意識到這一點，也許會認為這些經歷毫無價值，但是，正如愛默生所言：“年復一年所積累的學問，是每日每天所無法了解的。