Friday 7 December 2012

說夢

從小,長輩都教我們要坐言起行,少說話多做事。學英文用語時亦知道,pay lip service 是負面的,我們應 walk the talk

我心領神會,決意不要成為紙上空談的吹水王,漸漸就習慣了待事情很有把握才會說;當夢想和現實落差愈大,我就愈三緘其口,免大家失望。

以為這是美德,最近卻發現這種美德可能危害健康。

我的志願是成為一個作家,從小到現在都沒有改變。可是,日子一天一天過,我絲毫沒有走近這目標一步。基於上述美德,我已極少再提及這想法。即使幾位好友依然時時鼓勵我寫文章,但每當他們提起,我竟是因慚愧而不發一言。摺埋。

思想(做夢)、說話(說夢)、行動(圓夢)三者環環相扣。若不行動亦不談論,這件事在你體內只會愈來愈渺小,最終胎死腹中。當我的理想瀕臨死亡,我讀到 Chade-Meng Tan 寫的 Search Inside Yourself,當中一個寫作練習為 Discovering My Ideal Future花七分鐘寫下你理想中的自己──想像從今天起一切心想事成,五年後,你會在做什麼?你感覺如何?別人對你有什麼評價?

我在日記中寫下 "My Ideal Future",行雲流水寫了兩頁:「我理想中的自己,是個寫很多很多文章的人……我訪問很多人,記錄他們的故事。我相信每一個人都有值得記錄的故事和心聲……我希望出我的一分力,令這世界公平和公義,多一點點。」

由於很久沒說這些傻話,寫完後心情竟有點激動,重複讀了多遍。這是個很有力量的練習,假如你也自覺開始遺忘理想,就把它寫出來吧,愈具體愈好。

寫作練習後,作者鼓勵我們多跟別人談及自己的理想。不管理想聽下去多麼不設實際、天馬行空、天方夜譚,也儘管說、說、說。說得愈多,不但有助鞏固想法,你更會發現,夢想並非想像中那麼遙不可及。Chade-Meng Tan 這樣說:

Talk About Your Ideal Future a Lot

If you find yourself inspired by your ideal future, I highly recommend talking about it a lot to other people. There are two important benefits. First, the more you talk about it, the more real it becomes to you. This works even if your dream is highly improbably or impossible. My own dream, for example, is to create the conditions for world peace in my lifetime. I envision a world that is peaceful because inner peace, inner joy, and compassion are widespread, and those qualities are widespread as a consequence of ancient wisdom practices being made accessible to the modern world. I envision myself as a person who makes wisdom practices accessible by making them understandable, practical and useful in the corporate world and beyond. When I started thinking about this, I knew my goal was impossible, but I talked about it to a lot of people anyway. The more I talked about it, the more it went from being impossible to implausible, and then from implausible to possible, and more importantly, it went from possible to actionable. I reached a state in my mind in which I felt there were actually things I could do to move it forward.

The second important benefit is the more you talk to people about your ideal future, the more likely you can find people to help you. This is especially true if your aspiration for the future is altruistic in nature because people will rush to help you. If your wish is to drive a nice Lexus, nobody will care. However, if your wish is something altruistic - for example, you want to feed every hungry person in the world, or you want to make sure no homeless people in San Francisco ever dies from the cold, or you aspire to help disadvantaged kids in your community learn better - and you are sincere about your wish to serve others, I guarantee the most common response will be, "How can I help?" When you are genuinely moved to help others, you inspire people with your altruism, and when you inspire them, they want to help you.

Truth be told, I was actually surprised by how well it worked. When I first started talking to others about my aspirations for world peace, I was pleasantly surprised how few people thought I was crazy (only two, so far). As it became more real to me, I began speaking about it with increasing confidence and, after a while, I noticed that people wanted to help me or introduce other people to me who could help me.

Soon, I was building a network of allies (whom I jokingly call the "grand conspiracy for world peace"). I found myself befriending many luminaries of the contemplative world such as Matthieu Ricard, and luminaries in the peace-making world like Scilla Elworthy. Richard Gere and the Dalai Lama gave me hugs. Owen Wilson and will.i.am said they wanted to help me. I was invited to deliver a TED talk on compassion at the United Nations. Many hundreds of strangers tell me that I have inspired them. I am amazed by how much my simple aspiration for world peace has resonated with so many people, and I am humbled by all the friendship and kindness I have experienced.

I learned that people want to be inspired. Every aspiration of service we have and every act of charity we perform inspires others. Hence, if you have altruistic aspirations, especially if you are already acting on them, I very much encourage you to share them with others so you can inspire more goodness in the world.

Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan

「推動世界和平」聽起來多麼的癡人說夢,但只要是你真心相信的夢想,就勇敢地把它說出來吧。鼓勵自己,啟發別人,還往往會有意想不到的收穫。我也不再為一件未做到的事而慚愧,從今就面不改容地告訴大家:「我的志願是成為一個作家,從小到現在都沒有改變。」無論最終做不做到。

No comments:

Post a Comment