英语学习

Thoughts on Death

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."

It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself:

"If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"

And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—

these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

关于死亡的思考

我的第三个故事是关于死亡的。

当我17岁的时候，我读到一句名言：“如果你把每一天都当作生命的最后一天，总有一天你一定会对的。”

它给我留下了深刻的印象，在过去的33年里，我每天早晨都会对着镜子问自己：

“如果今天是我生命的最后一天，我是否愿意做我今天要做的事？”

当答案连续好几天都是“不”的时候，我知道我需要改变一些东西。

记住我很快就要死了，这是我所遇到的帮助我做出人生重大选择的最重要的工具。

因为几乎所有的一切都是外在的期待，所有的骄傲，所有的尴尬或失败的恐惧-

这些东西在面对死亡时就会消失，只留下真正重要的东西。

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer.

I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was.

The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months.

My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die.

It means to try and tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next ten years to tell them in just a few months.

It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day.记住你要死了，这是我所知道的最好的方法，以避免陷入这样的陷阱：你会失去一些东西。

你已经裸体了。没有理由不跟随你的心。

大约一年前我被诊断出患有癌症。

我在早上7:30做了一次扫描，很明显我的胰腺上有一个肿瘤。我甚至不知道胰腺是什么。

医生告诉我，这几乎可以肯定是一种无法治愈的癌症，我的寿命预计不会超过三到六个月。

我的医生建议我回家把我的事情处理好，这是医生对“准备死亡”的准则。

意思是试着告诉你的孩子所有你认为你能在未来十年里在几个月内告诉他们的一切。

这意味着要确保所有事情都按部就班，这样对你的家人来说就尽可能容易了。意思是说再见。

我整天都在接受诊断。

Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor.

I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.

I had the surgery and thankfully I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades.

Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die.

Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.

And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.

And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.

It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.那天晚上晚些时候，我做了一个活组织检查，他们把一个内窥镜插入我的喉咙，穿过我的胃，进入我的肠道，在我的胰腺上植入了一个小细胞。

我服用了镇静剂，但当时在场的妻子告诉我，当他们在显微镜下观察细胞时，医生们开始哭泣，因为这是一种非常罕见的胰腺癌，可以通过手术治愈。

我做了手术，谢天谢地我现在很好。

这是我最接近死亡的一次，我希望这也是我几十年来最接近死亡的一次。

经历了这一切之后，我现在可以更加肯定地告诉你们，死亡是一个有用但纯粹是理智的概念：没有人想死。

天堂里的人都不想死。

然而死亡是我们共同的目的地。没有人能逃脱。

这是应该的，因为死亡很可能是生命中最好的发明。

它是生活的改变剂。它清除了旧世界，为新事物让路。

美文阅读

如果有一部分钱被认为是意外所得，那么占有这笔钱的人花起它来就会非常痛快。

对大多数人来说，意外所得包括彩票中奖所得以及别人白送给你的钱——男朋友、父母给的钱。有一句话要提醒父母，不要给孩子太多金钱奖励，这会让孩子误以为那些钱是自己的意外所得。他们会不珍惜那些钱，也会不珍惜你的赠予所赋予的爱。