別錯過我們生活中的這些美好
The World Around You Is An Amazing Place – Take Time To See It
我們生活的世界很精彩 停下腳步看一看
What’s the hurry? Wake up, have a shower, get dressed, grab a snack from the fridge for breakfast, rush off to work, pop in and out of meetings, rush out at the end of the day, only to get home, make dinner, scarf it down, sit in front of the TV, go to bed and hope you wake up so you can do it all over again!
幹嘛那麼急？急着起牀，洗澡，打扮，從冰箱裏拿塊零食當早餐；趕着去工作，忙着開會，工作結束又急匆匆地趕回家；回到家忙着做飯，忙着收拾，坐在電視機前看電視，趕着去睡覺，然後地第二天早上醒來，繼續重新忙碌！
Now imagine if you were leisurely walking a trail in the woods, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of nature. You had nowhere to be and nothing was hectic. The only thing you had to worry about was maybe stepping in a puddle and getting your socks wet.
現在想像一下，你悠閒地在森林的小徑上散步，把一切盡收眼底，傾聽大自然的悠美聲音，品味大自然的美妙芳香。你不用趕着去哪裏，也沒什麼需要忙忙碌碌，你唯一要擔心的，可能只是不小心踩進了水坑弄溼了襪子。
The world around us is an amazing place. Too often we get so used to it that we no longer see it. Consider taking some time out of your day to truly see what’s around you, often right under your nose. Here are a few things from the natural world that I find amazing and try to take in every chance I get.
我們生活的世界很精彩，可是因爲我們太過習慣所以反而會漠視。現在就想想從每天的生活中抽出一些時間，看看生活中都在發生些什麼，其實很多就在你眼前。下面是我覺得自然世界裏很精彩的一些東西，我會抓住每個機會：
1. Northern lights 北極光
We are fortunate enough to live in the Northern hemisphere and at a latitude that allows us to see these wonders quite frequently. It never occurred to me just how special this natural phenomenon was until we were living in Australia. While there, a local radio station was holding a contest asking people what they most wanted to see in their life time and one of the callers said they wish they could see the Northern lights – something we saw at least a few times a month in the winter back home.
我們很幸運可以生活在北半球這樣一個緯度，讓我們可以經常看到神奇的北極光。我從來沒有想過這個自然現象會有多特別，直到我去澳大利亞生活了一段時間我才意識到。住在澳大利亞的時候，當地的音樂電臺舉行過一個比賽，問人們一生中最想看到的美景是什麼，有一位聽衆打電話進來說很想看到北極光，而那是我冬天回老家時一個月至少能看幾次的景色。
2. Hoar frost 霜降
One of the things I find fascinating is how beautiful everything can be in winter. It’s not just dark, cold and miserable. There are days when you can be fortunate enough to wake up to a fresh snow fall, bright blue skies and hoar frost. It’s a pretty amazing sight when everything is covered in a delicate layer of frost.
另外一件讓我覺得很迷人的事情是冬日裏的一切看起來都很美，冬季不僅僅代表着黑暗，寒冷和痛苦，也有這樣幸運的日子，你起牀發現外面剛下過雪，天空碧藍，四周都是霜降的美景。可以看一層精緻的白霜包裹着世界萬物，很棒。
3. HUGE snow flakes 大片雪花
My favorite type of snow is not the type you make snowmen out of or have snowball fights with but rather the big, slow moving, fluffy kind. Watching extra large flakes of snow sluggishly fall to the ground is really quite neat.
我最愛的雪，不是我們可以堆雪人打雪仗的那種，而是那種從空中緩緩飄落的很大片的鵝毛大雪。看着大片的雪花慢慢地落在地上，真的是一種很寧靜的美好。
4. Lightning 閃電
I’m not a huge fan of electrical storms and they scare me just a little, but I still find them really amazing and actually quite beautiful.
我並不喜歡電閃雷鳴的天氣，因爲有點害怕，但是我還是覺得閃電很炫目也超級漂亮。
5. Waterfalls 瀑布
Niagara falls has to be the most impressive waterfalls I’ve seen so far. I was shocked at the shear volume and power of the water as it flows over the edge and how quickly it settles once at the bottom. Watching a waterfall is a bit different to watching a slow moving stream but each beautiful in its own right.
尼亞加拉瀑布是我至今見過的瀑布中最讓我印象深刻的。看着那麼多的水力量十足地流過邊緣，迅速地降落到底部，我覺得很震驚。瀑布和潺潺細流的小溪有些不同，但是都各有各的美。
7. Birds 鳥兒
I’ve never been a bird-watcher in the hobby sense of the word but last summer I took a special liking to a little blue jay that came by our place every morning. My son and I would put peanuts out for it in the morning and then we’d sit there and watch the little guy as he grabbed one and flew off into a nearby tree to eat it. They are actually quite interesting to watch.
我從來沒有把觀鳥發展成一門興趣愛好，但是去年夏天我對每天來我們家的小藍松鴉有着一種特殊的喜愛。每天早上我和兒子會拿花生給它吃，然後我們就坐在那兒，看着這隻可愛的小傢伙抓起其中的一粒，飛到附近的樹上品嚐起來。觀察它們的行爲真的很有趣。
I could go on about what an amazing place the world around us can be. It’s important that we take the time to not only look at what exists around us but to actually see it as well. Take time today to truly see something that perhaps you’ve walked by a thousand times before but never really noticed.
我還可以繼續聊聊我們生活的世界裏各種精彩。能夠停下腳步，看到我們生活中的事物，真正感受它們的美好，這很重要。就從今天開始，停下來去仔細看看，那些你路過很多次卻從未好好注意的各種事物。
What do you find amazing about the world around you? Do you often take time to slow down and see it?
生活中哪些東西讓你覺得很精彩？你會停下來認真感受嗎？
6. Flowers 花朵
Where we lived in Australia, it seemed everyone had a rose garden. One afternoon while out on a walk I thought of the old saying “take time to stop and smell the roses” and I did just that. I made a point, that one afternoon, of smelling every rose I came across that was leaning out of the yards over onto the sidewalk. It’s quite amazing how different they all are. Even when the look remarkably similar the smell can be so different. It was quite an experience. It does slow you down but I was able to really see each flower.
住在澳大利亞的時候，感覺家家都有玫瑰園。在有一天下午出門散步時，我想到了那句老諺語：“停下來問問玫瑰的芳香（忙裏偷閒）”，然後我真的就照做了。那個下午，我聞遍了每一朵從院子裏探出頭的玫瑰，它們其實都各有不同，真的很有趣。可能它們每一朵樣子很像，但是香味卻大有不同。這是一次很美好的經歷，我看了每一朵花，它們讓我慢下來。
