seeking pleasure

　　not long ago, i read this story in a magazine: there was once a group of young people searching everywhere for pleasure but what they got was only annoyance , melancholy and torture.

　　so they turned to socrates for advice on where pleasure lay. but instead of giving any answers, socrates asked them to help with building a boat first. the group of guys had to set about the task, laying aside their own business of seeking pleasure. it took them a long time to cut down a tall tree, gouging out the center. through painstaking effort, they made a canoe out of the tree. they launched the canoe into a river, and then rowed together in it, singing with joy.

　　socrates asked: “my children, do you have pleasure now?” they answered in chorus: “we couldn’t be happier!” socrates added, “that’s it! whenever you are too busy pursuing something definite to notice anything bitter, pleasure will occur.”

　　from the story i got to know that pleasure always hides behind every tiny thing that you are engaged in, and that you may only get pleasure through hard work and creativity.

　　it also tells us that we might have no alternative but to experience some pain in our daily life and in the process of seeking pleasure, or sometimes tend to look for pleasure in material things, like a new car, clothes, etc, but true long term pleasure comes from within our soul and spirit. so why not turn suffering into praising life, and turn tears into the light in your heart, only in this way can we make it through and hold the magical spark to light the fire of life.

　　so my dear friends, just remember pleasure is a state of mind and a matter of choice, and i wish you all a life of pleasure.

　　寻找快乐

　　前几天，我在一份杂志上看到一则这样的故事：一群年轻人到处寻找快乐，却遇到许多烦恼，忧愁和痛苦。

　　他们向苏格拉底请教，快乐到底在哪里?苏格拉底没有立即给他们答案，而是让他们先帮助造一艘船。这帮年轻人暂时把寻找快乐的事儿放到一边，开始这项工作。他们花了很长时间锯倒了一棵又高又大的树，挖空树心，造出了一条独木船。独木船下水了，他们一边合力荡浆，一边齐声快乐的唱起歌来。

　　苏格拉底问：“孩子们，你们快乐吗?”他们齐声回答：“快乐极了!”苏格拉底道：“快乐就是这样，它往往在你为着一个明确的目的忙的无暇顾及其他的时候突然来访。”

　　从这个故事当中我知道了，快乐隐藏在你用心做的每一件小事当中，通过我们的努力和创造，才能得到快乐。

　　它还告诉我们，在生活中和追求快乐的过程中，可能无法避免会遇到一些痛苦，人们往往把快乐建立在对物质的追求上，像一辆新车，新衣服，等等。但真正意义上的快乐应该是从精神上得到的。为什么不把痛苦锤炼成对生命的赞扬，把眼泪作为心灵的灯盏呢?只有这样才会真正寻找到快乐，一展生命中灿烂的光泽!

　　朋友们，请记住：快乐是一种心态，也是一种选择，我祝愿大家一生快乐!