摘要：If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. If we really kn

Day 361: On Smiling

第361天：关于微笑

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. If we really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile? Our smile affirms our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. The source of a true smile is an awakened mind.

在日常生活中，如果我们能够保持微笑，能够保持平和和快乐，那么不仅是我们自己，而且我们周围的人也都能从中受益。

如果我们真的懂得如何生活，还有什么比以微笑开始新的一天更好的方式呢？

我们的微笑肯定了我们在平和与快乐中生活的意识和决心。

真正微笑的源泉是觉醒的心灵。

—Thich Nhat Hanh

Smiling is one of the easiest, and one of the hardest things to do. It’s natural to smile when you’re happy and feel good, and almost impossible when you’re in pain or feeling unwell.

微笑是最容易做的事情之一，也是最难做到的事情之一。

当你开心和感觉良好时，微笑是很自然的事，但当你痛苦或感觉不舒服时，微笑几乎是不可能的。

With increased self-control, your ability to do things in spite of what you feel like doing increases. Smiling can be an excellent exercise in this practice.

随着自我控制能力的增强，你做事情时不顾一切的能力也会增强。

微笑是进行这种练习的绝佳方式。

I don’t want to downplay the negative things that may be happening in your or anyone else’s life. However, the truth is that we often resort to scowling, crying, worrying, and radiating negativity when we experience negative emotions, just because this state is easier to access than the positive one.

我不想贬低你或其他人生活中可能发生的负面事情。

然而，事实是，当我们遇到负面情绪时，我们常常会皱眉头、哭泣、担心，并散发出消极的情绪，只是因为这种状态比积极的状态更容易进入。

When you think about it logically, it makes no sense to further ruin your mood after experiencing something negative. If you have a cold, you don’t go out naked in the middle of the winter to catch pneumonia, too. Yet, that’s pretty much what we’re doing anytime we decide to humor negative emotions instead of smiling despite them, or at least trying to lift our spirits a little.

从逻辑上想一想，在经历负面情绪后进一步破坏自己的心情是毫无意义的。

如果你感冒了，你一定不会在大冬天光着身子出门，以致感染肺炎。

然而，无论何时，我们决定幽默地对待负面情绪，而不是不管不顾地微笑，或者至少试着振作一下精神，我们实际上就在做类似的事情。

Obviously, it’s easy to say that. Some negative events are such that they can destroy a person from the inside out, and telling them to smile would be ridiculous. Apply this advice primarily to the small everyday struggles you encounter, where your negative reaction isn’t necessary.

显然，说这话很容易。

有些负面事件会从里到外摧毁一个人，告诉他微笑就太荒谬了。

这个建议主要适用于你日常遇到的小困难，在这些困难中，你的消极反应是没有必要的。

For the next week, try to handle every difficulty with a smile on your face. It doesn’t matter if your smile isn’t entirely genuine. The point is to make an effort in overcoming your default reaction of feeling negative and replace it with a more positive attitude.

在接下来的一周里，试着面带微笑地处理每一个困难。

即使你的微笑不完全真诚也没关系。

关键是要努力克服自己默认的消极反应，代之以更积极的态度。

Even if you fail to maintain a better mood for more than a couple of minutes, the exercise in itself will help you better control your impulses and might even lift your spirits slightly. And if you repeat it often enough, your brain’s pathways will change and make you more capable of feeling positive, even when bad things happen — and that’s not a bad ability to have, is it?

即使你不能在几分钟内保持较好的情绪，这个练习本身也会帮助你更好地控制自己的冲动，甚至会让你的精神稍稍振作起来。

如果你经常重复这样的练习，你的大脑通路就会发生变化，使你更有能力保持积极的情绪，即使发生了不好的事情——拥有这样的能力并不坏，不是吗？

来源：启萌教育