[美文欣賞]

Choose Optimism--By Rich De Vos

If you expect something to turn out badly, it probably will.Pessimism is seldom disappointed. But the same principle also works in reverse. If you expect good things to happen, they usually do! There seems to be a natural cause-and-effect relationship between optimism and success.

Optimism and pessimism are both powerful forces, and each of us must choose which we want to shape our outlook and our expectations. There is enough good and bad in everyone’s life — ample sorrow and happiness, sufficient joy and pain — to find a rational basis for either optimism or pessimism. We can choose to laugh or cry, bless or curse. It’s our decision: From which perspective do we want to view life? Will we look up in hope or down in despair?

I believe in the upward look. I choose to highlight the positive and slip right over the negative. I am an optimist by choice as much as by nature. Sure, I know that sorrow exists. I am in my 70s now, and I’ve lived through more than one crisis. But when all is said and done, I find that the good in life far outweighs the bad.

An optimistic attitude is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. The way you look at life will determine how you feel, how you perform, and how well you will get along with other people. Conversely, negative thoughts, attitudes, and expectations feed on themselves; they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Pessimism creates a dismal place where no one wants to live.

Years ago, I drove into a service station to get some gas. It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling great. As I walked into the station to pay for the gas, the attendant said to me, “How do you feel?” That seemed like an odd question, but I felt fine and told him so. “You don’t look well,” he replied. This took me completely by surprise. A little less confidently, I told him that I had never felt better. Without hesitation, he continued to tell me how bad I looked and that my skin appeared yellow.

By the time I left the service station, I was feeling a little uneasy. About a block away, I pulled over to the side of the road to look at my face in the mirror. How did I feel? Was I jaundiced? Was everything all right? By the time I got home, I was beginning to feel a little queasy. Did I have a bad liver? Had I picked up some rare disease?

The next time I went into that gas station, feeling fine again, I figured out what had happened. The place had recently been painted a bright, bilious yellow, and the light reflecting off the walls made everyone inside look as though they had hepatitis! I wondered how many other folks had reacted the way I did. I had let one short conversation with a total stranger change my attitude for an entire day. He told me I looked sick, and before long, I was actually feeling sick. That single negative observation had a profound effect on the way I felt and acted.

The only thing more powerful than negativism is a positive affirmation, a word of optimism and hope. One of the things I am most thankful for is the fact that I have grown up in a nation with a grand tradition of optimism. When a whole culture adopts an upward look, incredible things can be accomplished. When the world is seen as a hopeful, positive place, people are empowered to attempt and to achieve.

[參考譯文]

選擇樂觀

假如你預期某事會有不妙的結果，結局也許就真的不妙——悲觀的想法很少落空。但這個法則反過來也同樣成立：如果你自感鴻運當頭，通常就會有好運降臨!在樂觀與成功之間似乎有一種天然的因果關系。

樂觀和悲觀都是強大的力量，我們每個人都必須在這兩者之間做出選擇，從而給我們對未來的展望和預期染上或明或暗的色彩。每個人的生命中都有足夠多的幸與不幸——數不清的哀傷和喜悅，歡欣與痛苦——給我們樂觀或悲觀的理由。我們可以選擇哭或是笑，祝福或是詛咒。我們可以選擇用什么樣的眼光去看待生活——是昂首去尋找希望抑或垂頭在絕望中逡巡。

我喜歡向上看。我會把注意力集中在生活中光明的一面，忽略那些陰暗的角落。天性和個人選擇是我成了一個樂觀主義者。當然，我知道生命中總有傷痛，年逾古稀的我曾不止一次經歷過危機。但是，當一切塵埃落定，我發現生命中的美好遠遠比丑惡為多。

樂觀的態度不是一種奢侈品;它是我們生活的必需。你看待生活的方式將決定你的感受、你的表現，以及你與他人相處得怎樣。反過來，悲觀的想法、態度和預期也會自成因果：它們是能自我實現的預言。悲觀會制造出無人愿望的黑暗處所。

幾年前，我驅車去一個加油站加油，那天天氣很好，我的心情也不錯。當我走進加油站付油錢時，服務員問我：“你感覺怎樣?”問題問得有點古怪，我感覺很好，于是便照實回答了他。他又說：“你氣色不好。”他的話讓我非常吃驚。我告訴他我的感覺從未像現在這么好，但說此話時已不像原來那么底氣十足。而他則毫無顧忌的繼續大講我的氣色是如何的差勁，還說我膚色發黃。

在離開加油站的時候，我覺得有點心神不寧。駛出一個街區之后，我把車泊在路旁，從鏡中審視自己的臉。我怎么了?我得了黃疸病嗎?是不是有什么異常?等我回到家里，我開始覺得有點惡心。我的肝臟出了毛病嗎?是不是染上了什么怪病?

再次光顧那么加油站的時候，我已恢復正常，感覺良好，而且明白了各種蹊蹺。這個地方不久前把墻漆成了一種鮮亮的、膽汁般的黃色，這顏色使置身其中的每一個人都給映得像得了肝炎。不知道有多少人也曾有過和我相似的經歷。和每一個完全陌生的人的一次短短對話竟然改變了我整整一天的心情。他說我面有病容，很快我就真的覺得不舒服，僅僅是一個消極的看法就大大影響了我感覺和行為的方式。