(附中文版)
Years ago, there used to be a TV in my bedroom. From time to time, I would watch the late night news before drifting into sleep. More often than not, following those evenings of watching the news, bits and pieces of the news would somehow wind up in my dreams. Unfortunately, most of the news on TV was negative, depressing and even violent, a fact I didn’t recognize at the time. I remember getting up one morning feeling tired and disturbed following a dream that involved a fire scene; I then recalled that the last thing I did before falling asleep was watching an evening news report of an apartment building catching on fire. That was the day I moved the TV out of the master bedroom.
I realized on that day that just like I strive to feed myself healthy and nutritious food to keep my physical body healthy, I need to be equally vigilant about the kind of food I feed my mind and soul.
The information one absorbs from the environment on a daily basis is like mental “food” that is fed to the mind and soul. This mental “food” can come in the forms of media news, books one reads, phone conversation with a friend, chit chats with a co-worker and so on. How many of us have actually paid attention to the quality of the information we take in and whether these messages contribute to our sense of well-being? How much of the information you allow yourself to be exposed to is positive and how much of it is negative? Have you ever paid attention to how you feel after reading a newspaper article or after a conversation with someone? Do you feel excited, happy, touched, or do you feel drained, irritated or worried?
In the days of economic downturn like the one we are experiencing at the moment, it is hard to read the newspaper without coming across headlines of layoffs, company bankruptcies and busted real estate markets, splashing across the front page. It doesn’t take much to be drawn into such doom and gloom mentality. Negativity breeds more negativity. One would indeed believe that the world is going down the toilet after reading enough of such dire reports, coupled with more “bad news” stories from friends, neighbours, colleagues and other sources. How can one not feel fearful, worried and hopeless when one allows oneself to be excessively exposed to such an overwhelming amount of negativity?
I am not advocating that we should stop taking in information altogether and bury our heads in the sand so we don’t hear any bad news. The question is how much is enough? How does it help you to hear, read or even contribute one more piece of information that is just the same that everything is going downhill? It is important to notice how one’s attitude has been affected by dwelling on all this.
Information is a double-edged sword: it can be useful, and it can also be harmful. Repeated exposure to the same information becomes part of your thoughts and beliefs, your thoughts and beliefs then impact your emotions, and those emotions in turn influence your attitude in life. One of my all-time favourite quotes from Mahatma Gandhi beautifully illustrates this chain reaction of how one’s thoughts can turn into one’s destiny:
Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.
- Mahatma Gandhi
Take good care of our mind and soul by feeding it positive, uplifting and nourishing thoughts. We can take control of our own thoughts by first of all, recognizing and weeding out excessive and harmful negativity. We can also choose the kind of attitude we want to have in life. In the face of uncertainty, we can choose to be fearful or optimistic. If becoming worried and anxious can solve all our problems, then I’d be the first one to sign up to become a perpetual worrier; however, I know that is as unlikely as proving the earth is the centre of the universe.
Economy isn’t everything and the sky is not falling; when all is said and done, we can look upon this uncertain period as another growth experience. Life is to be lived, not feared.
（中文版）
幾年前，我在主臥室裏放了一個電視機， 以便於睡覺前看一些夜間新聞之類的節目。沒多長時間後，我發現臨睡前看的這些新聞常常會零零星星地出現在我的夢裏。當時，我並沒有意識到大多數的媒體新聞總是在報告一些消極，令人壓抑，甚至是暴力性的消息。不久後的一個早晨，盡管有了一夜充沛的睡眠，我起床後仍然覺得特別的疲乏和困擾，因為那晚我一宿都在做一個關於火災的夢。我想起前一天晚上的夜間新聞報告的是一個關於本市一幢公寓著火的新聞。那天下班後，我把電視機搬出了主臥。
那一天，我意識到，盡管在保持身體健康的方麵，我總是有意識地為自己選擇一些新鮮和有營養的食品。但是，我卻並沒有留心自己精神和心靈上的“食物”是不是也有營養，是不是也對自己有益。
我們每天在周圍的環境中吸收的信息就好比一種精神和心靈上的“食物”。這種“食物”可以是來源於新聞媒體，或者是從書裏學到的東西，也可以來自於和朋友或者同事閑聊時的交流。我們有沒有關心過這種被自己吸收的信息的質量如何？我們有沒有觀察過自己一天聽到，讀到，看到，或者想到的東西是積極樂觀的還是消極悲觀的？這種交流和吸收對自己的身心健康有沒有益處? 當我們讀完了一篇文章或者和別人交流完畢後，我們有沒有注意到自己的感覺和情緒如何？我們是覺得高興，快樂，感動，還是覺得惱怒，焦慮還是擔憂？
在目前的這一段經濟非常時期裏，媒體的頭條新聞通常是一些關於裁員，公司破產，或者房地產泡沫之類的消息。大家的注意力也開始一直集中在這些陰鬱的消息裏，再加上發生在自己身上的一些事，或者從親戚，朋友，同事，鄰居和其他渠道裏聽到更多的壞消息，我們的情緒和心理也隨之開始變得黯淡。這種心理有時會導致一些人開始在一種惶惶不安的焦慮中生活。於是，我們對前景的看法也開始變得渺茫，灰暗。好像一瞬間這個世界充斥的都是不景氣的東西。這種灰色的心情也會使我們漸漸失去看待事物的客觀性，平衡性和全麵性。我們一味沉浸在自己的焦慮中，而且開始忽略其它仍然在世界上發生的一些美好和令人鼓舞的事情，我們對那些美好東西的存在開始視而不見。我們眼裏看到的隻是一片暗淡的景象，我們的內心世界也隨之變得低沉，心裏越覺得低沉，眼裏看出來的也就越是一幅暗淡的景象。戴灰色的眼鏡看出來的自然是灰色的風景。
俗話說，近朱者赤，近墨者黑。其實，我們不僅僅要注意和什麽樣的人交友結伴，我們也要留意自己每天接觸到的環境因素，這個環境因素包括自己每天吸取的信息及其渠道。很多時候，外在環境對內在心理是有著潛移默化的影響。
我不是倡導大家對外界的新聞和消息不聞不問，也不是否認經濟在衰退的這個事實。我隻是覺得，我們在觀察力和思考力上要有獨立性，不要不經考慮就全盤照收外界的消息，以為這個世界在這個時期隻有壞的事情在發生，有的時候，媒體報道是很片麵的。即便是經濟衰退的時侯，世界上仍然是有很多令人振奮，感動的消息，媒體不報道或者我們沒有聽說不等於這些事情不存在。經濟隻不過是大千世界中的一個方麵，經濟衰退也不等於世界末日即將到來。每天閱讀，打聽，甚至積極參與傳播這種千篇一律的消極新聞的行為對我們有益處嗎？
信息是一把雙刃劍，它有它的益處，但也有其不良的一麵，尤其是當這種負麵性的信息開始泛濫的時候。當我們一而再，再而三的讓這種消極的東西包圍，侵入我們的思想的時候，我們對事物的思考能力就會失去平衡性，因為我們滿眼看到的都是消沉，沮喪的消息。在情緒上，我們也會因此而把前景看得更悲觀。在潛移默化，不知不覺中，這種悲觀的情緒也會開始影響到我們對待人生的態度。一個人的心態在很大程度上可以影響到一個人的命運。印度的聖雄甘地對這種從思想到心態，從心態到命運，一環扣一環的連鎖反應有過這樣一席名言：
你的人生信條會演變成你的思想，
你的思想會演變成你的言談，
你的言談會演變成你的行為，
你的行為會演變成你的習慣，
你的習慣會演變成你的價值觀，
你的價值觀會演變成你的命運。
- 聖雄甘地
如果我們想要維持自己在精神和心靈上的健康，我們必須在精神上做自己的把門人，讓自己去接觸更有營養，更具有積極意義的的思想和精神“食物”，把更多的焦點放在對自己身心健康有益的東西上。隻有這樣，我們才能更好地擺正心態來迎接生活。天沒有塌下來，經濟不是一切，經濟不穩定的非常時期隻不過是人生的一種經曆。隻有通過經曆，我們才會真正體會生活，我們才會最終認識到什麽是一個人生命中最重要，最寶貴的東西。
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