永遠(yuǎn)在變

Please excuse me if I'm a little pensive today. Mark is leaving， and I'm feeling kind of sad.

You probably don't know Mark， but you might be lucky enough to know someone just like him. He's been the heart and soul of the office for a couple of years， combining exemplary professional skills with a sweet nature and gentle disposition. He's never been all that interested in getting credit for the terrific work he does. He just wants to do his job， and to do it superbly well.

And now he's moving on to an exciting new professional opportunity. It sounds like it could be the chance of a lifetime， and we're genuinely， sincerely pleased for him. But that doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye to a dear friend and trusted colleague.

Life has a way of throwing these curve balls at us. Just when we start to get comfortable with a person， a place or a situation， something comes along to alter the recipe. A terrific neighbor moves away. A child in the family graduates. Another child finds new love and loyalties through marriage. The family's principal breadwinner is laid off.

Our ability to cope with change and disruption determines， to a great degree， our peace， happiness and contentment in life.

But how do we do that? Philosophers have considered the question for centuries， and their responses have been varied. According to the author of the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes， comfort can be found in remembering that \"to every thing there is a season， and a time to every purpose under the heaven.\" Kahlil Gibran urged his listeners to \"let today embrace the past with remembrance， and the future with longing.\"

A friend of mine who works for the government is fond of reminding his fellow bureaucrats that \"survivability depends upon adaptability.\" And then there's Chris， the California surf-rat， who once told me that the answer to life's problems can be summed up in four words: \"Go with the flow.\"

\"It's like surfing，\" Chris explained， \"You can't organize the ocean. Waves just happen. You ride 'em where they take you. Sure， you're always hoping for the perfect wave where you can get， but mostly you just take'em the way they come.\"

I'm not exactly sure. but I think Chris was saying that life is a series of events--both good and bad. No matter how deft your organizational skills， there will always be life-influencing factors over which you have no control. The truly successful person expects the unexpected， and is prepared to make adjustments should the need arise- as it almost always does.

We're going to miss Mark， just like you'll miss that neighbor， that graduate， or that newlywed. But rather than dwell on the sadness of our parting， we'll focus on our hopes for a brighter futurefor him， and for us. And then we'll go out and do everything we can to make that future happen.

如果今天我有些沉默，請(qǐng)?jiān)彛驗(yàn)轳R克要走了，我有些難過(guò)。

或許你不知道馬克是誰(shuí)，但你一定也很幸運(yùn)，認(rèn)識(shí)像馬克這樣的人。幾年來(lái)，他一直是公司里的核心人物，不但性情溫文爾雅，就連職業(yè)技能也堪稱(chēng)典范。他工作出色，但這絕不是為謀求個(gè)人榮譽(yù)。他只是喜歡自己的工作，想把工作做到最好。

現(xiàn)在，他就要奔赴一個(gè)難得的新工作崗位了。這個(gè)工作機(jī)會(huì)聽(tīng)來(lái)就像是百年一遇之良機(jī)。當(dāng)然，我們由衷地為他感到高興，但向一位摯友、一個(gè)值得信賴(lài)的同事?lián)]手道別又絕非易事。

生活向我們拋來(lái)這樣的曲線球自有其道理。就在我們剛剛熟悉了某人、某地或某種情形時(shí)，生活就會(huì)發(fā)生某種變化，一改這種和諧的局面。這就像一個(gè)極好的鄰居搬走了;家中的一個(gè)孩子從學(xué)校畢業(yè)了，而另一個(gè)結(jié)了婚，找尋到了新的愛(ài)情和忠誠(chéng);家里的頂梁柱失業(yè)了，等等。

我們的心態(tài)是否平和，我們過(guò)得是否幸福、對(duì)生活是否滿足，在很大程度上，都取決于我們應(yīng)對(duì)變化和變革的能力。

然而，我們?cè)撊绾螒?yīng)對(duì)呢?多少年來(lái)，哲學(xué)家們一直都在考慮這個(gè)問(wèn)題，他們的回答也不盡相同。《圣經(jīng)》中《傳道書(shū)》的作者認(rèn)為，要想舒坦無(wú)憂，就得記住“萬(wàn)物都有定期，凡事都有定時(shí)”。卡里·紀(jì)伯倫鼓勵(lì)他的傾聽(tīng)者:“今天，讓我們用回憶擁抱過(guò)去，用期盼迎接未來(lái)吧。”

我有一個(gè)朋友在政府部門(mén)工作。他常常提醒同僚:“生存能力取決于適應(yīng)力。”加利福尼亞州的沖浪高手克里斯也曾告訴過(guò)我，解決生活中所遇到的種種困難的方法可以用四個(gè)字來(lái)概括，即“順勢(shì)而為”。

克里斯解釋說(shuō):“這就像沖浪。你無(wú)法控制波濤洶涌的大海，你只能乘浪而行。當(dāng)然，你總希望能趕上最合自己心意的波浪，但很多時(shí)候，有什么樣的浪來(lái)，你就得趕什么樣的浪。”

對(duì)于克里斯的這席話。我雖不全然贊同，但我想，他認(rèn)為生活是由一連串的事件構(gòu)成——有好也有壞。不論你處理問(wèn)題的能力有多高，總有些影響生活的因素是你無(wú)法控制的。真正有成就的人總會(huì)對(duì)意料之外的事做好準(zhǔn)備，并隨時(shí)做好必要調(diào)整的準(zhǔn)備——要知道，生活總是需要不斷調(diào)整的。

我們會(huì)想念馬克，就像你會(huì)想念那個(gè)鄰居、那個(gè)畢業(yè)的孩子或新郎(新娘)一樣。但是，與其沉湎在分離的悲傷中，還不如寄希望于一個(gè)更加光明的未來(lái)——為他，也為我們自己。這樣，我們就會(huì)走出悲傷的陰影，全力以赴地去實(shí)現(xiàn)美好的明天。