佚名/Anonymous
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 na ture and gentle disposition.He's never been all that interested in gett ing credit for the terrific work he does.He just wants to do his job,a nd 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 sta rt to get comfortable with a person,a place or a situation,something c omes along to alter the recipe.A terrific neighbor moves away.A child in the family graduates.Another child finds new love and loyalties thro ugh marriage.The family's principal breadwinner is laid off.
Our ability to cope with change and disruption determines,to a grea t 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 rememberin g that "to every thing there is a season,and a time to every purpose un der 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 h is fellow bureaucrats that "survivability depends upon adaptability." An d 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 f low."
"It's like surfing," Chris explained,"You can't organize the ocean.Waves just happen.You ride waves where they take you.Sure,you're alwa ys hoping for the perfect wave where you can get,but mostly you just ta ke waves the way they come."
I'm not exactly sure,but I think Chris was saying that life is a se ries of events-both good and bad.No matter how deft your organizationa l skills,there will always be life-influencing factors over which you h ave no control.The truly successful person expects the unexpected,and is prepared to make adjustments should the need arise-as it almost alwa ys 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 future-for him,and fo r us.And then we'll go out and do everything we can to make that future happen.
如果今天我有些哀傷，請經諒，因為馬克要走了，我為此感到難過。
或許你不知道馬克是經，但你得知道，認識像馬克這樣的人是很榮幸的。幾年來，他一直是公司裏的核心人物，不但性情溫文爾雅，職業技能也堪稱典範。他工作出色，但這絕不是為謀求個人榮譽，他隻是喜歡自己的工作，想把工作做到最好。
現在，他就要奔赴一個難得的新工作崗位了。這個工作機會聽起來是個百年一遇的良機。當然，我們由衷地為他感到高興，但向一位摯友、一個值得信賴的同事揮手道別又絕非易事。
生活向我們拋來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，生活就會發生變化，一改和諧的局麵。這就像一個極好的鄰居搬走了；家中的一個孩子從學校畢業了，而另一個結了婚，找尋到了愛情和忠誠；家裏的頂梁柱失業了，等等。
我們的心態是否平和，我們過得是否幸福，對生活是否滿足，在很大程度上取決於我們應對變化和分離的能力。
然而，我們該如何應對呢？多少年來，哲學家們一直都在考慮這個問題，他們的回答也不盡相同。《聖經》中《傳道書》的作者認為：要想舒坦無憂，就得記住“萬物都有定期，凡事都有定時”。卡裏·紀伯倫鼓勵他的傾聽者：“今天，讓我們用回憶擁抱過去，用期盼迎接未來吧。”
我有一個朋友在政府部門工作，他常常提醒同僚：“生存能力取決於適應力。”加利福尼亞州的衝浪高手克裏斯也曾告訴過我：解決生活中所遇到的種種困難的方法，可以用四個字來概括，即“順流而行”。
克裏斯解釋說：“這就像衝浪——你無法控製波濤洶湧的大海，隻能乘浪而行。當然，你總希望波浪按照自己的心意來，但很多時候，來什麽樣的浪，你就得趕什麽樣的浪。”
對於克裏斯的這席話，我雖不完全讚同，但我想，他認為生活是由一連串的事件構成——有好也有壞。不論你處理問題的能力有多高，總有些影響生活的因素是你無法控製的。真正有成就的人總會對意料之外的事作好準備，並隨時準備調整——要知道，生活總是需要不斷調整的。
我們會想念馬克，就像你會想念那個鄰居、那個畢業的孩子或新郎（新娘）一樣。但是，與其沉湎於分離的悲傷中，還不如寄希望於一個更加光明的未來——為他，也為我們自己。這樣，我們就會走出悲傷的陰影，全力以赴地去實現美好的明天。