星火英语四级美文摘抄

2017-03-24

星火英语四级美文摘抄

Alone Again, Naturally

Alone, we squander life by rejecting its full potential and wasting its remaining promises.Alone, we accept that experiences unshared are barely worthwhile, that sunsets viewed singlyare not as spectacular, that time spent apart is fallow and pointless. And so we grow oldbelieving we are nothing by ourselves, steadfastly shunning the opportunities for self-discoveryand personal growth that solitude could bring us.We’ve even coined a word for those whoprefer to be by themselves: antisocial, as if they were enemies of society. They are viewed asfriendless, suspect in a world that goes around in twos or more and is wary of solitarytravelers.People who need people are threatened by people who don’t. The idea of seekingcontentment alone is heretical, for society steadfastly decrees that our completeness lies inothers. Instead, we cling to each other for solace, comfort,and safety, believing that we arenothing alone—insignificant, unfulfilled, lost—accepting solitude in the tiniest, mostreluctant of slices, if at all, which is tragic, for it rejects God’s precious gift of life.Ironically,most of us crave more intimacy and companionship than we can bear.We begrudgeourselves,our spouses,and our partners sufficient physical and emotional breathing room,andthen bemoan the suffocation of our relationships.To point out these facts is not to suggest weshould abandon all our close ties.Medical surveys show that the majority of elderly people wholive alone,yet maintain frequent contact with relatives and friends,rate their physical andemotional well-being as “excellent.”Just as an apple a day kept the doctor away when theywere young, an active social calendar appears to serve the same purpose now.

星火英语四级美文鉴赏

Choose Optimism

If you expect something to turn out badly, it probably will.Pessimism is seldom disappointed. But the same principle also works in reverse.If you expect good things to happen, they usually do! There seems to be a natural cause-and-effect relationship between optimism and success.

Optimism and pessimism are both powerful forces,and each of us must choose which we want to shape our outlook and our expectations.There is enough good and bad in everyone’s life—ample sorrow and happiness,sufficient joy and pain—to find a rational basis for either optimism or pessimism. We can choose to laugh or cry, bless or curse.It’s our decision: From which perspective do we want to view life?Will we look up in hope or down in despair?I believe in the upward look. I choose to highlight the positive and slip right over the negative.I am an optimist by choice as much as by nature.Sure, I know that sorrow exists.I am in my 70s now, and I’ve lived through more than one crisis.But when all is said and done, I find that the good in life far outweighs the bad.An optimistic attitude is not a luxury; it’s a necessity.The way you look at life will determine how you feel, how you perform,and how well you will get along with other people.Conversely, negative thoughts, attitudes,and expectations feed on themselves;they become a self-fulfilling prophecy.Pessimism creates a dismal place where no one wants to live.The only thing more powerful than negativism is a positive affirmation,a word of optimism and hope.One of the things I am most thankful for is the fact that I have grown up in a nation with a grand tradition of optimism.When a whole culture adopts an upward look, incredible things can be accomplished.When the world is seen as a hopeful, positive place, people are empowered to attempt and to achieve.

星火英语四级美文赏析

Choose Optimism

星火英语四级美文品味

The Blue Days

Everybody has blue days. These are miserable days when you feel lousy, grumpy, lonely, andutterly exhausted.Days when you feel small and insignificant, when everything seems just outof reach.You can’t rise to the occasion.Just getting started seems impossible.On blue days youcan become paranoid that everyone is out to get you.This is not always such a bad thing.Youfeel frustrated and anxious, which can induce a nail-biting frenzy that can escalate into atriple-chocolate-mud-cake-eating frenzy in a blink of an eye! On blue days you feel like you’refloating in an ocean of sadness.

You’re about to burst into tears at any moment and you don’t even know why.Ultimately, youfeel like you’re wandering through life without purpose.You’re not sure how much longer youcan hang on, and you feel like shouting,“Will someone please shoot me!”It doesn’t take much tobring on a blue day.You might just wake up not feeling or looking your best,find some newwrinkles, put on a little weight, or get a huge pimple on your nose.You could forget your date’sname or have an embarrassing photograph published. You might get dumped,divorced, or fired,make a fool of yourself in public,be afflicted with a demeaning nickname,or just have a plain oldbad-hair day. Maybe work is a pain in the butt.You’re under major pressure to fill someoneelse’s shoes,your boss is picking on you, and everyone in the office is driving you crazy.Youmight have a splitting headache,or a slipped dish, bad breath, a toothache,chronic gas, drylips, or a nasty ingrown toenail.Whatever the reason, you’re convinced that someone up theredoesn’t like you. Oh what to do, what to dooo?

星火英语四级美文摘抄

相关话题