Another Door
When I come across a good essay in reading newspapers, I am often inclined to cut and keep it. But just as I am about to do so I find the article on the opposite side is as much interesting. It may be a discussion of the way to keep in good health, or advice about how to behave and conduct oneself in society. If I cut the front essay, the opposite one is bound to suffer damage, leaving out half of it or keeping the text without the subject. As a result, the scissors would stay before they start, or halfway done when I find out the regretful consequence that inevitably causes my repentance.
Sometimes two things are to be done at the same time, both deserving your attention. You can only take up one of them, the other has to wait or be given up. But you know the future is unpredictable—the changed situation may not allow you to do what is left behind. Thus you are caught in a fix and feel sad. How come that nice opportunities and brilliant ideas should gather around all at once. It may happen that your life changes dramatically on your preference of one alternative to the other.
In fact that is what life is like: we are often faced with the two opposite aspects of a thing which are both desirable like newspaper cutting. It often occurs that our attention is drawn to one thing only after we are engaged in another. The former may be more important than the latter and give rise to a divided mind. I still remember a philosopher’s remarks: “When one door shuts, another opens in life.” So a casual or passive choice may not be a bad one.
Whatever we do in our lifetime, wherever life’s storm tosses us, there must be something we can achieve, some shore we can land, that opens up new vistas to us. Don’t forget God always keeps an alternative door open for every one. While the front door is closed, there must be another open for you.
另一扇大門
平日讀報,看到一篇好文章時,總有把它剪下來的欲望。然而有時拿起剪子的時候,才發(fā)現(xiàn)背面的文章也很有意思,或是教你如何養(yǎng)生,或是關(guān)照你如何做人處事。只要你剪下了正面的文章,這背面的文章就要受到損傷,或是只剩下半塊,或是缺了文章的題目。常常因舍不得反而弄得無法再下剪子。后悔和遺憾更是在所難免。
有時你在一個時間段里,想到兩件事情可做,兩件事都是好事。然而時間和精力只能使你割舍一件,或留在今后再做。但你知道,那今后的條件和未知的變化,不一定還能使你完成后一件事。于是,你往往處在十分憂郁的狀況中。甚至奇怪,怎么這么好的機會和想法都趕在了一個點上。有時你真是因為選擇了這一樣而放棄了那一樣,因此徹底改變了你的人生。
其實生活就是這樣,就像剪報一樣,有時一件事的正反兩面都是比較完美的,而我們又總是在關(guān)注一件事時才發(fā)現(xiàn)了另一件事。于是我們常常被絆住,鬧得舉棋不定。記得一位哲學(xué)家說過:“當(dāng)一扇門關(guān)閉的時候,生活會為你開啟另一扇門。”有時無意與被動的選擇并不一定就是太壞的。
人生在世無論做什么,無論生活的浪濤把我們拋向哪一方,其實都有我們的風(fēng)景與可為之處。別忘了,上蒼隨時都在為我們準(zhǔn)備著另一扇門。當(dāng)你的大門關(guān)閉時,另一扇大門就一定會為你敞開。