佚名/Anonymous
Have you ever, at any one time, had the feeling that life is bad, real bad, and you wish you were in another situation?You fnd life make things diffcult for you, work sucks, life sucks, everything seems to go wrong……
Read the following story……it may change your views about life：
After a conversation with one of my friends, he told me despite taking two jobs, he brings back barely above 1K per month, he is happy as he is. I wonder how he can be as happy as he is considering he has to skimp his life with the low pay to support a pair of old parents, in-laws, a wife, two daughters and the many bills of a household.
He explained that it was through a incident that he saw in one country……That happened a few years ago when he was really feeling low and touring there after a major setback.
He said that right in front of his very eyes, he saw a mother chopoff her child's right hand with a chopper. The helplessness in the mother's eyes, the scream of pain from the innocent 4-year-old child haunted him until today.
You may ask why did the mother do so；had the child been naughty, had the child's hand been infected?No, it was done for two simple words—TO BEG！The desperate mother deliberately caused the child to be handicapped so that the child could go out to the streets to beg.
Taken aback by the scene, he dropped a piece of bread he was eating half-way. And almost instantly, a flock of 5 or 6 children swamped towards this small piece of bread which was covered with sand, robbing bits from one another—the natural reaction of hunger.
Stricken by the happenings, he instructed his guide to drive him to the nearest bakery. He arrived at two bakeries and bought every single loaf of bread he found in the bakeries. The owner was dumfounded but willingly sold everything. He spent less than$100 to obtain about 400 loaves of bread and spent another$100 to get daily necessities.
Off he went in the truck full of bread into the streets. As he distributed the bread and necessities to the children（mostly handicapped）and a few adults, he received cheers and bows from these unfortunate. For the frst time in his life he wondered how people can give up their dignity for a loaf of bread which cost less than$0.25.
He began to tell himself how fortunate he is. How fortunate he is to be able to have a complete body, have a job, have a family, have the chance to complain what food is nice and what isn't nice, have the chance to be clothed, have the many things that these people in front of him are deprived of……
Now I begin to think and feel it, too！Was my life really that bad?Perhaps……no, I should not feel bad at all……What about you?Maybe the next time you think you are, think about the child who lost one hand to beg on the streets.“Contentment is not the fulfllment of what you want, it is the realization of how much you already have.”
When the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lost it, but it's also true that we don’t know what we have been missing until it arrives.
曾经在某个时期，你是否觉得生活简直糟透了，并希望自己脱离这个困境？你觉得生命对你来说太艰难，工作艰辛，生活乏味，好像一切都不顺利……
那么，读读下面这个故事，也许会使你对生活的看法有所改观。
我和一个朋友聊天，他告诉我，他做了两份工作，月收入仍只有1000元左右，但他还是很开心。我很奇怪，要知道，他必须节衣缩食才能供养年老的父母、岳父母、妻子、两个女儿，以及维持家里的各项开支。
他解释说，他之所以有这么好的心态，是因为他在某国目睹的一件事。几年前，因一次重大的打击，他情绪极端低落，就去那里旅游散心。
他说，他亲眼看见一个女人用菜刀切下了她儿子的右手。那位母亲无助的眼神，四岁孩童撕心裂肺的哭号，让他至今难忘。
你可能会问，那位母亲为何要这样做？是孩子太顽皮？或者他的手被感染？不，这样做只是因为两个最简单的字眼——乞讨！绝望的母亲故意让孩子残疾，只是为了让孩子能在街上乞讨。
我的朋友吓呆了，他吃了一半的面包掉到地上。几乎是在一瞬间，五六个孩子冲向他那沾满沙粒的面包，相互争夺——这是人饥饿的原始反应。
震惊过后，他让导游开车送他去最近的面包店。他买下了两家面包房所有的面包。面包店的老板惊讶得说不出话来，但仍然很高兴把所有的东西都卖给他。他花了不到100美元，买下了400多块面包。又花了100美元，买了些日常用品。
接着，他把满载面包的货车开到大街上，给儿童（大部分是残疾人）和一些大人分发这些面包和日用品。这些不幸的人纷纷对他报以欢呼和鞠躬。有生以来，他第一次如此惊异：人可以为了一块不足两毛五分钱的面包而放弃自己的尊严。
他开始觉得自己很幸运——完整的躯体，体面的工作，衣食无忧，以及拥有面前这些人所没有的东西……听他这么一说，我也感同身受！我的生活真的如此不堪吗？也许……不，我完全不该觉得糟糕……你呢？如果下次你觉得日子过不下去了，就想想那个为了乞讨而失去一只手的孩子吧。“获得满足并不是要得到你想要的一切，而要意识到你已经拥有了太多。”
这道幸福之门关上时，那一道就会打开，但我们往往只看到关上了的这道门，而没有看到开启的那道门。的确，我们不知道珍惜已经拥有的一切，只是在失去后，才知道其可贵。
W词汇笔记
situation[,sitju'ei??n]n.位置；形势；局面；处境；状况；职位
例 This situation is unfavorable for us.
这样的局面对我们来说是不利的。
despite[dis'pait]prep.不管；尽管
例 The girl lives on despite the car accident.
尽管遭遇车祸，女孩仍然活了下来。
incident['insid?nt]n.事件
例 The kidnapping caused an international incident.
这一绑架事件引起了国际纠纷。
haunt[h?：nt]v.（思想、回忆等）萦绕在……心中；缠扰
例 Memories of the old days haunted the old man.
对过去岁月的回忆常常萦绕在老人的心头。
S小试身手
你觉得生命对你来说太艰难，工作艰辛，生活乏味，好像一切都不顺利……
译____________________________
那位母亲无助的眼神，四岁孩童撕心裂肺的哭号，让他至今难忘。
译____________________________
绝望的母亲故意让孩子残疾，只是为了让孩子能在街上乞讨。
译____________________________
P短语家族
……everything seems to go wrong……
go wrong：出错；发生故障
造____________________________
I wonder how he can be as happy as he is considering he has to skimp his life with the low pay to support a pair of old parents……
a pair of：一对；一双
造____________________________