人生如舞――幸福不是单行道.docVIP

人生如舞――幸福不是单行道 　　Growing up， I felt like I knew the path to happiness. The story went something like this： if I worked hard in middle school and even harder in high school， I would get into a “good” college. Then， if I worked really-reallyreally hard in college and pulled one or two or 20 all-nighters[开夜车] studying for tests and writing essays， I would get a “good” job. Then， after working a few years for 60 or more hours a week， I would be promoted to a better job with longer hours but less grunt work[枯燥乏味的工作]. Then， after a decade or two more of working for 80 or more hours a week， I would finally arrive there， to “the successful， happy place.” But， lately， I have been spending a lot of time questioning the path to happiness. I started questioning this path to happiness when I took a joke philosophy[哲学] class last year. Admittedly， a lot of the class was mumbo-jumbo[胡言乱语]； we spent most of the class analyzing[分析] our personalities and the elements of our personal spiritual chakras[脉轮]. But， after one of our weekly meditation[冥想] sessions， my professor played the video “Life Is a Dance” by Alan Watts注1. In three minutes， Watts convinced me that “the successful， happy place” I have been working toward does not exist. Watts video made me really question my path. I started thinking about my dreams and my bucket list注2. This led me to realize how much I want to travel and motivated[刺激] me to start planning my trip around the world （flying from Spain to South Korea next week！）. Then， somehow， all of this has led me back to the beginning， questioning the American path to happiness. I realize， especially in the States， I am surrounded by a culture of people putting up with[忍受] crap[（俚）粪便] to get to the imaginary “successful， happy place.” For example， just this morning， browsing[浏览] through my Facebook News Feed注3 （a really nasty habit that I should stop but thats a whole other story）， I saw my friend had posted on her Facebook “All I do is sleep”and her friend poste