Happiness Project: Use a milestone moment(e-c)practice

Happiness Project: Use a milestone moment
快乐计划:里程碑时刻


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MilestoneI’m working on my Happiness Project, and you should have one, too! Everyone’s project will look different, but it’s the rare person who can’t benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday’s post will help you think about your own happiness project.

  我正进行自己的快乐计划，你也应该有一份!虽然每个人的计划看上去不尽相同，可是极少人不从中受益。加入其中--不需要从后面赶上，只要立刻参与进来。每周五的帖子将会帮助你思考自己的快乐计划。

I’m a big believer in using milestone moments as cues for evaluation and reflection. Even though it’s a bit of a clich, I’ve seen many examples -- including in my own life -- when people were prompted to make positive changes because they’d hit a milestone like a major birthday, marriage, the death of a parent, the birth of a child, loss of a job, or the accomplishment of a career marker like getting tenure or making partner.

  我很相信将程碑时刻作为启迪和反思的暗示来看待。即便是老调重弹，可我见过许多例子--包括本人在内--人们会因为遇到诸如重大生日、婚姻或家长去世、小孩出生、事业这样一个里程碑事件或例如获得转正、获得伙伴这些职业生涯业绩标记时获得了做出一个积极的改变的激励。

These major milestones don’t usually happen very often, so lesser, more familiar milestones – though less attention-getting – can also act as a helpful prompt to reflection.

  这些重大的里程碑不一定经常发生，所以其它那些比较不出名，可又更熟悉的，却受到关注比较少的那些也能作为人们帮助反思的一个提醒。

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary. The Big Man is one of the very most important elements to my happiness, but he’s also one of the elements that’s easiest to take for granted. (And to complain about.) I try to use our anniversary as a cue to think about how grateful I am for him.

  昨天是我的结婚纪念日。对我的快乐来说，大男人是非常重要的一个元素，而也似乎他是最容易被看成是“理所当然”的（以及最容易去抱怨的）。我正努力将我们的结婚纪念人作为让自己去考虑对他有多么感激的一个提示。

I do the same thing with my children’s birthdays. With the tumult of party invitations, ordering the ice-cream cake, and hunting down Tinkerbell paper plates, it’s very easy for me not to reflect on the more important things. I have to remind myself of what really matters, of what we’re really celebrating.


  我的孩子们过生日时，我也会做同样的事情。 手忙脚乱地发出派对邀请，定购冰淇淋蛋糕，四处寻觅Tinkerbell纸碟。这些让我容易忘记去反思那些更重要的东西。 我不得不要提醒自己的其实重要的是什么；提醒真正在庆祝的是什么。

So for your Happiness Project, be on the watch for milestones. Transitions of any kind can be a helpful prompt to a more thoughtful and grateful frame of mind.

  所以在你的快乐计划中，请对这些里程碑要留心。 任何一种转变都是让你去更多感激、更多思考的一个好的促动。

On a darker note, on the subject of wedding anniversaries, it occured to me that a great (if slightly grim) tradition would be to use our anniversary as a prompt to do an annual review of our situation, should the worst befall. Are our wills up-to-date? Do the Big Man and I have access to the financial information that the other person routinely handles? Etc. (For example, I know offhand that the Big Man has no idea where I keep the tax documents or the kids’ birth certificates. I should probably mention that.)

  说一点比较阴暗的， 提到结婚纪念日，我发现一个好的（不过有些严肃的）传统习惯是那么就让我们的纪念日作为对我们的生活状况的一个年度评估的机会，以防万一最糟的事情发生下。我们的遗嘱更新了吗？我和大男人知道对方日常要处理的经济信息吗?等等(例如：我立刻就想到大男人不知道我把纳税文件或我们孩子的出生证放在哪里了。或许我应该提出来）

Every couple would have different concerns, but questions might include pensions, insurance, debts, guardianship of children, what the plan might be if income level or childcare arrangements had to change dramatically.

  每对夫妇的担心问题也许不同，但是其中要都包括：养老金，保险，债务，儿童抚养权，收入水平或儿童抚养安排如果会发生激烈变化，那么可能的计划是什么。

One of my Happiness-Project resolutions is “Read memoirs of catastrophe,” and I’ve read lots of accounts of cancer, sudden death, and other disasters. One common theme is how horrible and difficult it is to deal with cold logistics at a time of shock and grief. Being organized and knowledgeable would be a comfort.

  快乐项目中的一条决意是:"阅读灾难回忆录”，我已经渡过许多癌症、突然死亡等其它灾难的故事。 共同的一个主题是在震惊、悲哀期间，人们要冷静地做出安排时会变为一件多么难，多么可怕的事。有准备，有了解将会成为人们的一个慰藉。

Repeating this review once a year, in the normal course, would keep it from seeming morbid – instead, it would be an ordinary expression of family responsibility.

  正常的情况下，每年都进行一次这样的评估就不会让它看上去病态。相反，这将会是承担家庭责任的普通的一个表达方式。

We could call it Unthinkable Day, or Be-Prepared Day, or Hourglass Day…having this review take place on an otherwise happy occasion might make it seem less gloomy.

  我们可以称之为“不可想之日”或“准备日”或“砂漏日”...将这个评估安排在一个快乐的场合下进行会让它看上去不那么阴森。

The days are long, but the years are short.

  日子漫长，一年如梭。