控制你的情绪

Controlling Your Emotions

大多数的人都是先行动再思考行动的后果，自律则要求相反的程序：你将学习“谋定而后动”。

Most people act first and think about the consequesnces later. Self-discipline will reverse that process. You will learn to think before you act.

学习这种程序的主要方法，就是控制你的情绪。我们再 来回顾一下14种主要的情绪：

The primary means to this ecd is your control of your emotions. For review, the fourteen major emotions are repeated below.

积极情绪

Positive Emotions 消极情绪

Negative Emotions

1．爱 Love

2．性 Sex

3．希望 Hope

4．信心 Faith

5．热忱 Enthusiasm

6．忠诚 Loyalty¹

7．欲望 Desire

1．恐惧 Fear

2．嫉妒 Jealousy²

3．仇恨 Hatred³

4．报复 Revenge

5．贪婪 Greed

6．愤怒 Anger

7.迷信 Superstition⁴

所有这些情绪都是一种心理状态，所以也是你能掌控的 对象。你可以想像如果不能控制那些消极情绪，会造成多么 大的危险。同样的，如果你不能有意识地控制那些积极情绪 的话，它们也会造成破坏性的结果。

All these emotions are states of mind and are thus subject to your control. YOu can see right away how dangerous the negative emotions can be if they are not mastered. The positive emotions can also be destructive if you do not organize and release them with conscious control.

隐藏在这些情绪里的，是具有爆炸威力的力量。如果你 能适当地控制这股力量，它就可能使你获得成就；但如果你任 由它自行奔放，它就可能把你扔到失败的深渊之中，使你头破 血流。

Inherent in these emotions is explosive power. If you regulate that power properly, it can lift you to the heights of achievement. But if you let it run wild, it can dash you to pieces on the rocks of failure.

从前面几章中，你已学到明确的目标加上有推动力的动 机，是所有成就的起始点。这股动机必须非常强烈，促使你所 有的思想和努力，都以达成明确目标为依归……但是你的推 动力——你的情绪——也必须由你的判断力来控制，以期你 的热忱和欲望不致脱离你的智慧范围成为脱缰野马。换句话 说，你必须约束你自己，以使得你的推动力永远受到控制，而 且会被导引到正确的管道中。

You learned in earlier chapters that a definite major purpose, activated⁵ by a driving motive⁶, is the starting point of all worhwhile achievement. This motive must be so strong that it will subordinate all your thoughts and efforts to the attainment⁷ of your definite purpose. But your drive--your emotions--must also be subject to your own good judgment⁸ so that your enthusiasm and desire will not run over your wisdom. In other words, you must discipline yourself so that your drive is always under control and directed in the proper channels.

自律要求以你的理性来平衡你的情绪，也就是说在你做 决定之前，你应学习兼顾你的感情和理性。有的时候应该排 除所有情绪，而只接受理性的一面；而有时候你必须接受较多的情绪面，并用理性来做一些修饰——符合中庸之道是非常 重要的。

Self-discipline calls for balancing your emotions with your reasoning. This means you must learn to consult both your fellings and your reason before you reach any decision. Sometimes you will need to set aside your emotions and fllow the dictates⁹ of reason alone. Other times you will decide in favor of your emotions, modified by your reson. A happpy medium is imporant.

例如那些正在热恋中的人，他们都愿意为所爱的人做任 何事，此时他们很容易受到对方的摆布，热恋中的人很难成就 什么事情，因为他们根本没有为自己定下什么目标。

Consider, for example, those people who are so in love that they will do anything for their beloveds. Thery are putty in the hands of other. They rarely amount to anything because they have no purposes of their own in life.

你也许会怀疑，热恋时期的危险是否意味着，若能用理性严格控制自己的生活，并且在做任何决定时排除一切情绪因 素，是比较安全而且聪明的方法，答案当然是否定的。

You might wonder if this danger means that it would be sager¹⁰ and wiser to control your life strictly¹¹ on the basis of reason and leave emotion out of every decisison. The answer is and emphatic¹² no.

别忘了你的情绪会给你带来推动力，而这股动力，就是使 你将决定转变成具体行动的力量。如果你毁掉了希望和信心，那还有什么值得爱的呢?如果你扼杀了热忱、执着和欲望而仅存在理性时，那理性还会带来什么好处呢?虽然仅存的理性还具备导引方向的功能，但是还有什么好让它导引的呢?

Don't forget, your emotions provide your driving power, the activating¹³ force which enables you to put your decisions into action. If you destroyed hope and faith, what would there be to live for? If you killed enthusiasm, loyalty, and desire but still retained reason, what good would reason be? It would still be there to provide direction, but what would it dirct?