Building towards bliss, you can have it

好工作，好錢途一定會帶來幸福嗎？

“Follow your heart. It’s wiser than you think. And for God’s sake, don’t be scared.” On any day and on any UK website, it’s likely that you’ll come across someone like Tom Savage imparting such advice.

“跟隨著心的方向，不要畏縮不前，這才是明智的做法。”任何一天，在任何英國網站，你都可能遇到像湯姆?塞維奇一樣給予人們這樣忠告的人。

He has quit his job as a research analyst and found a perfect new start setting up his own social enterprise in Madagascar. He tells readers of the UK newspaper the Guardian that they can do likewise and follow their dream.

他剛辭去了研究分析師的工作，在馬達加斯加創建了自己的社會企業，開始了人生新的征途。他寄語英國衛報讀者，希望他們也能像他一樣追隨自己的夢想。

Every day dozens of Toms are profiled in newspapers and magazines and on career websites and blogs. Their real-life tales aren’t there to surprise or shock, but many readers are taking on board such advice and following in their?considering footsteps.

每天數十個類似湯姆的人見諸於報章雜誌、職業網站及博客。他們真實的故事並非為了嘩眾取寵，很多讀者聽取了他們的建議，跨出了朝理想邁進的堅定步伐。

[注釋: take on board 聽取、采納(意見或者新的思想)。注意，如果是be on board則表示“讚成，願意參加”，如：We’re on board to help with the relief work. Banks need to take on board the views of their customers. 銀行應該聽取客戶的意見。]

Sophie Collins, 23, is a biology graduate from London. But before starting her course at university in Edinburgh, Scotland, she took a year out and enrolled in an Art Foundation course.

蘇菲?科林斯，23歲，是來自倫敦的生物學畢業生。她在進入蘇格蘭愛丁堡大學繼續深造以前，選擇休學一年，去讀藝術預科課程。

“Art is what I love in life and it is my ambition to be an artist one day,” said Collins. “Art makes me happy, even if it won’t pay my bills for a couple of years.”

“藝術是我的摯愛，我渴望有一天會成為藝術家，”科林斯說，“藝術令我快樂，即便是我幾年之內賺不到錢。”

The idea that you should be free to follow your dream, whether as a young person or as a middle-aged adult with several years of work already under your belt, is?well-established in the West.

在西方，不論你是年輕人亦或已經工作了很多年的中年人，你都有權追隨你的夢想。

[注釋: take one’s chance 碰碰運氣。後麵常接on sth，表示“就某件事碰碰運氣”。另外一個常用搭配是take one’s chance in the world，表示“闖蕩社會”。 Those orphaned children were left to take their chances in the world. 那些失去父母的孤兒隻好自己在社會上闖蕩。]

In school, students are taught that they can do whatever they want and can be whoever they choose so long as they work hard enough at that dream. People in the public eye, such as Italian classical singer Andrea Bocelli, have given up positions in prestigious professions to take their chance on fame. Bocelli was a lawyer before he made it as a singer, selling 70 million albums worldwide.

在學校裏，學生們受到的教育是：隻要他們執著於實現他們的夢想，他們可以做任何他們想做的事情，成為任何他們想做的人。有些公眾人物，比如意大利古典音樂演唱家安德烈?波伽利就放棄了人們心目中的好職業，選擇了成名之路。要知道，專輯全球銷量七千萬的波伽利沒做歌手以前是律師。

[注釋: under one’s belt 字麵意思是“在腰帶下”，比喻已經掌握了、經曆過，或者在以往的經曆中已獲得了某事物。 I’m not going to play the game until I can get a couple of days of practice under my belt. 打比賽之前我需要訓練幾天。]

The media and reality TV talent shows have also played their part in encouraging young people to follow their bliss.

媒體及電視真人秀在鼓勵年輕人追求他們的幸福方麵也發揮了自身作用。

In 2006, 18-year-old Ray Quinn, barely out of school, finished second in the British TV talent show The X Factor. He later secured a record deal with Sony.

2006年，還沒中學畢業的18歲男孩雷?奎恩，在英國真人秀《英國偶像》節目中獲亞軍，他後來簽約索尼，製作了一張唱片。

Each year since then, hundreds of thousands of people have applied to the show, hoping, and expecting, that the chance to realize their ambitions will soon come.

自此，每年有數十萬人報名參加該節目，期待有機會實現他們的夢想。

Even if they don’t have a particular dream in mind, many young people are encouraged to take a year or two to find where their interests lie, instead of jumping into a job which they may later resent.

對那些即便是心中沒有什麼特別夢想的年輕人，人們也鼓勵他們花一兩年的時間去發現他們的興趣所在，而不是一頭紮進他們日後會憎惡的工作中。

George Evans, 24, is determined to find a job which interests him.

喬治?埃文斯，24歲，決定找到自己感興趣的工作。

“I think most of us recognize that it is happiness and not money that is the ultimate goal,” said the Cambridge University graduate. “Unless you are passionate about your career, you won’t truly succeed.”

這位劍橋大學的畢業生說，“我想我們大多數人認定是幸福，而不是金錢，作為我們的最終目標。除非你對你的職業有熱忱，否則不會真正的成功。”