Meditations: The Obstacle Is the Way

Picture the most powerful man on Earth, nearly two thousand years ago.

想象一下近两千年前地球上最有权势的人。

Now picture him alone in a tent, scribbling notes to himself by lamplight.

再想象他独自待在帐篷里，借着灯光给自己写下笔记。

That man was Marcus Aurelius, and those notes became Meditations.

这个人就是马可·奥勒留，而那些笔记就成了《沉思录》。

He ruled Rome through a devastating plague and almost constant war.

他在一场毁灭性的瘟疫和几乎从未停歇的战争中统治罗马。

He never intended anyone else to read what he wrote.

他从没打算让别人读到他写的东西。

It was a private diary, a way of talking himself through the day.

那是一本私人日记，是他自我开导、撑过每一天的方式。

One entry opens with a rather blunt warning to himself.

其中一篇以一句相当直白的自我提醒开头。

'Today,' he writes, 'I'll deal with people who are meddling, ungrateful and arrogant.'

他写道：“今天，我会遇到爱管闲事、忘恩负义、傲慢自大的人。”

But instead of resenting them, he reminds himself that we're all made to work together.

但他没有怨恨他们，而是提醒自己：人生来就是要彼此合作的。

Much of the book boils down to one deceptively simple distinction.

这本书的大部分内容，可以归结为一个看似简单的区分。

Some things are within our control: our judgements, our choices, our actions.

有些事在我们的掌控之中：我们的判断、我们的选择、我们的行动。

Almost everything else, other people, the weather, the past, isn't.

而几乎其他一切——别人、天气、过去——都不在。

And pouring energy into that second category is, frankly, exhausting.

坦白说，把精力耗在第二类事情上，实在累人。

His most quoted line is about obstacles.

他被引用最多的一句话是关于障碍的。

'The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.'

“阻碍行动的东西反而推动了行动。挡在路上的，就成了路。”

In other words, the problem itself can become the path forward.

换句话说，问题本身可以变成前进的道路。

A cancelled plan becomes a chance to practise patience.

一个被取消的计划，就成了练习耐心的机会。

Marcus also kept death firmly in view, not to be gloomy,

马可也时刻把死亡放在心上，不是为了消沉，

but to remind himself that time is the one thing we never get back.

而是为了提醒自己：时间是我们唯一永远要不回来的东西。

That's what makes even an ordinary day so precious.

正因如此，即使是平凡的一天也如此珍贵。

Perhaps my favourite line is also the shortest.

也许我最喜欢的一句，也是最短的一句。

'Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.'

“别再浪费时间争论好人应该是什么样子。去做一个好人。”

Two thousand years later, it's still remarkably good advice.

两千年后，这依然是非常好的建议。

So, what's standing in your way today? It might just be the way.

那么，今天挡在你路上的是什么？也许它正是你的路。