英汉英语美文：感知塑造现实，想要快乐须铭记的原则
one of the major principles of happiness – and this comes as a shock to no one – is that perception shapes reality. the way we view something determines our experience. i saw this during the inauguration. a person could say, "it's fantastic to be here among so many people," or a person could say, "it's a pain to be stuck in these crowds and long lines." same reality, different perception.
想要快乐须铭记一条原则，那就是“感知塑造现实”，谁也不会对这句话吃惊。我们看待事物的方式决定我们的体验。从就职仪式中我就发现了这一点。一个人可以说：“能和这么多人在这里真好!”另一个人也可以说：“陷入长长的队伍和人群中真痛苦。” 同样的现实，不一样的感受。
i realized the importance of characterization when i eavesdropped on a few conversations between my three-year-old and her grandmother.
我无意中听到了我3岁女儿和她祖母的对话后，我发现了描述方式有多重要。
my daughter:"can i please have some ice cream?" (yes, she did say 'please'.)
我的女儿说：“请问我能吃一些冰激凌吗？” (是的，她说了‘请’。)
my mother-in-law:"okay, but you had a cookie earlier, so i'm just going to give you a little bit."
我的岳母说：“好的，但是你刚才吃了一块饼干，我只再给你一点。”
my daughter:"no, no, i want a big bowl! not a little bit."
我的女儿：“不，不，我要一大碗!不是一点。”
my mother-in-law:"tonight you're going to go to bed nice and early."
我的岳母：“今晚你要乖乖地早些睡觉。”
my daughter:"no, no, no! not early, i want to stay up late!"
我的女儿：“不，不! 不要早，要晚！”
had my mother-in-law said, "i'm giving you a big scoop" or "we're letting you stay up late," my daughter would have accepted that characterization instead of protesting. same bowl of ice cream, same bedtime, different perception.
如果我的岳母说：“我给你一大勺”或“我让你晚些睡觉”，我的女儿也许就会接受这个“描述”而不会抗议了。同样大小的碗，同样的睡觉时间，不同的感知。
and this isn't just true of children. the other day, i was talking to an acquaintance, and the subject of happiness came up. she said, "well, gretchen, you dabble in the subject of happiness, don't you?"
这一情况不仅仅出现在儿童身上。前些天，我在和一位熟人谈话，聊到了快乐的话题。她说：“gretchen，你在涉足快乐问题，是吗?”
yes, in fact, i do dabble in the subject of happiness. i've been dabbling away for ten hours a day for more than three years now.
是的，事实上，我是在“涉足”快乐问题，最近三年多来每天10小时地“涉足”了。
i'm proud to say that i handled it nicely in the moment, but i'm embarrassed to admit how much this characterization annoyed me. my reaction doesn't speak well of me, at all; i know perfectly well that this person has no particular reason to know what i'm up to and that she didn't mean to bug me – yet i found it hard not to feel irritated with that particular characterization.
我很自豪当时自己很好地应对了这一情况，但是不好意思，我要承认这个人的描述方式惹恼了我。我完全不该有那样消极的反应，因为我很清楚那人没必要知道我所做的，而且她不是有意要气我。可我发现，不被这种“描述”惹恼是很难的一件事。
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