英語學習:Optimism強身健體延年益壽

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「不如意事十常八九」,這句話的意義可以是︰人生是不如意的,做人沒什麼意思;亦可以是不如意事是常見的,沒需要過分介懷。 「不如意事十常八九」也等於人生總有如意的時候。

不同的看法,是因為態度不同。前者是pessimistic,解tending to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen,傾向從最壞的方面看,即悲觀的。後者是optimistic,解hopeful and confident about the future,對前景抱希望和信心,即樂觀的。凡事pessimistic的人是pessimist(悲觀主義者),相反就是optimist(樂觀主義者)。

心態定處事

University of Pennsylvania心理學教授Martin Seligman研究optimists和pessimists二十多年,他曾任American Psychological Association的主席。他在著作Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life中,分析兩種看事物態度的分別。

The defining characteristic(決定性的特質) of pessimists is that they tend to believe bad events will last a long time, will undermine(暗中顛復、暗中破壞) everything they do, and are their own fault.

悲觀的人傾向相信不如意事是長期的,遺害不斷。

The optimists, who are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world, think about misfortune(厄運、不幸的事) in the opposite way. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback(挫折), that its causes are confined to this one case.

Hard knocks解difficult or painful experiences or circumstances,種種痛苦的經驗、挫折和錘鍊。 Hard knocks、misfortune和setback在上面一段的意思差不多。樂觀者會把這些不如意事看作暫時的、只此一次的。對挫折的看法不同,處理方法也自然不同,結果也不一樣。

The optimists believe defeat is not their fault: Circumstances(情勢、環境、情況), bad luck, or other people brought it about. Such people are unfazed(處變不驚的) by defeat. Confronted by a bad situation, they perceive it as a challenge and try harder.

Pessimists give up more easily and get depressed(情緒低落的) more often. Optimists do much better in school and college, at work and on the playing field. They regularly exceed the predictions of aptitude tests…. Their health is usually good . They age well, much freer than most of us from the usual physical ills of middle age. Evidence suggests they may even live longer.

Optimist更長壽這可能性最近已有研究證實了。男女都是一樣,optimist活到85歲以上的機會比最悲觀的人高出五至七成,在Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences發表的研究報告指出這個樂觀和平均壽命的關係,但科學家不知道原因。

悲觀變樂天

另有研究發現,”optimists had a 35 percent lower risk of experiencing the most severe complications related to heart disease in comparison to pessimists”,樂觀者心臟較健康。

我們一般認為optimism或pessimism是天生的性格,但專家卻說經過自我心理調校,悲觀者都可以變樂觀,享受optimism的種種好處。

首先要”notice your negativity”,要察覺自己的悲觀看法,嘗試找出樂觀的原因,起初不易,但慢慢就會做得到,想想為什麼凡事會向壞方面看,有人覺得pessimism可讓我們較易接受失望和挫敗,但這想法是錯誤的。

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