有故事的英語美文閱讀
英語作爲國際化語言，它在世界交流與溝通之中的媒介作用也是越來越重要。目前，在社會的各行各業中都需要大量的能用書面語進行交際的英語人才。下面是本站小編帶來的有故事的英語美文，歡迎閱讀!
Be still片刻停留，片刻自我
Be still.
Just for a moment.
Listen to the world around you. Feel your breath coming in and going out. Listen to your thoughts. See the details of your surroundings.
Be at peace with being still.
In this modern world, activity and movement are the default modes(默認模式),if not with our bodies then at least with our minds, with our attention. We rush around all day, doing things, talking, emailing, sending and reading messages, clicking from browser tab to the next, one link to the next.
We are always on, always connected, always thinking, always talking. There is no time for stillness — and sitting in front of a frenetic(狂熱的) computer all day, and then in front of the hyperactive(極度活躍的) television, doesn’t count as stillness.
This comes at a cost: we lose that time for contemplation(注視，沉思), for observing and listening. We lose peace.
And worse yet: all the rushing around is often counterproductive(事與願違的). I know, in our society action is all-important — inaction(無爲，懈怠) is seen as lazy and passive and unproductive. However, sometimes too much action is worse than no action at all. You can run around crazily, all sound and fury, but get nothing done. Or you can get a lot done — but nothing important. Or you can hurt things with your actions, make things worse than if you’d stayed still.
And when we are forced to be still — because we’re in line for something, or waiting at a doctor’s appointment, or on a bus or train — we often get antsy(坐立不安), and need to find something to do. Some of us will have our mobile devices, others will have a notebook or folder with things to do or read, others will fidget(坐立不安). Being still isn’t something we’re used to.
Take a moment to think about how you spend your days — at work, after work, getting ready for work, evenings and weekends. Are you constantly rushing around? Are you constantly reading and answering messages, checking on the news and the latest stream of information? Are you always trying to Get Lots of Things Done, ticking off tasks from your list like a machine, rushing through your schedule?
Is this how you want to spend your life?
If so, peace be with you. If not, take a moment to be still. Don’t think about what you have to do, or what you’ve done already. Just be in the moment.
Then after a minute or two of doing that, contemplate your life, and how you’d like it to be. See your life with less movement, less doing, less rushing. See it with more stillness, more contemplation, more peace.
Then be that vision.
It’s pretty simple, actually: all you have to do is sit still for a little bit each day. Once you’ve gotten used to that, try doing less each day. Breathe when you feel yourself moving too fast. Slow down. Be present. Find happiness now, in this moment, instead of waiting for it.
Savor(使有風味，盡情享受) the stillness. It’s a treasure, and it’s available to us, always.
有故事的英語美文篇二How to Beat the Procrastination Habit
I am a procrastinator(拖拉者). I always have been. It's a character flaw, and I admit it. I've tried all sorts of things to beat the habit — Getting Things Done, e-mail reminders, dozens of list systems — but the only thing that seems to work is to: Do it now.
This is blindingly obvious, I know, but many people lose sight of this fundamental skill. It's not that we don't know that we should do things now; it's that we've forgotten how. Here are some techniques I've been using to try to force myself to get to now:
Set aside blocks of time to do things. When I was talking with my wellness coach earlier this year, she asked me why I didn't exercise more often. "I don't have the time," I said. "Something always comes up." She wasn't impressed. "J.D.," she said, "You have to make time(抽空兒). Make an appointment with yourself to run or to go for a bike ride." The same principle applies to other things you might procrastinate(延遲，耽擱).
Kris and I used to schedule a block of time on Saturday morning specifically to clean the house. Each week we'd tackle a different room. If we didn't do this, I'd just put it off for weeks . Pick an hour a day to get things done.
If it comes to mind, then do it. Often I'll be sitting on the back porch(門廊)reading a book, and it will occur to me that some chore needs to be done — pruning the laurel(月桂樹，榮譽) hedge(樹籬，障礙), for example. "I need to write that down so I can remember it," I tell myself. Wrong! What usually happens is that I forget to write it down, and even if I do, I just look at the list and procrastinate for weeks on end. The best move is to actually do the chore when I think of it.
Use a timer to bring you back to reality. Part of the reason I procrastinate is that I have a rich mental life. This is just a flowery(絢麗的，華麗的) way of saying that I'm a daydreamer. I'm always lost in thought. One way to keep on track is to use a timer. I use the Ultrak Jumbo Countdown Timer, but not as often as I should. I set it for 48 minutes. When it goes off, it serves as an instant reality check: Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing?
Do not multitask. Oh, how I love multitasking. "I'm great at doing many things at once," I told Kris once. She gave me one of those looks. "No, you're not," she said. "You're great at starting many things at once, but you never actually do any of them." Ouch! But she's right. In order for me to get something done, I need to focus my attention on it. Trying to do several things at once(立刻，馬上) is a sure way to be sure they'll all be unfinished tomorrow.
Modify your environment to eliminate ractions feed procrastination. How many of these have you told yourself: "I'll just check e-mail one more time before I start.","I'll go for a walk after I finish reading this magazine.","I can paint the house next weekend. I want to watch the Seahawks game today."
Whenever possible, eliminate distractions. Remove clutter(混亂) and snack items from your workspace. When working on your computer, only keep the programs you need open. Keep your office tidy. Don't turn on the television unless there's something specific you intend to watch.
Compare your actions with your personal values. Last week I wrote that it doesn't matter what we say is important to us — the things that are priorities in our lives are the things we actually do. How does what you do mesh(編織) with what you believe? If you say that getting out of debt is important to you, are you actually doing the things that will lead you to get out of debt? If one of your goals is to fit into your old Levi's, how is watching another episode of The Office going to help you achieve that? Go for a walk!
Take back your brain! I've mentioned this website before in the context of marketing. Its premise(前提) is simple: Instead of letting advertisers persuade you, use marketing techniques to advertise to yourself. While this is a great way to fight consumer culture, it's also a smart way to combat procrastination. Create some in-home advertising to remind you to stop putting things off, to encourage you to do it now.
Beating procrastination isn't rocket science, but it is psychology(心理學). For many of us, that's just as difficult. It's scary how well this Psychology Today article describes me. If only it gave some tips on how to move beyond this. Instead it offers one small slice of solace(安慰):
Procrastinators can change their behavior — but doing so consumes a lot ofpsychic energy(心理能量). And it doesn't necessarily mean one feels transformed internally. It can be done with highly structured cognitive(認知的，認識的) behavioral therapy.
Can you tell I've been struggling with procrastination lately? This is something I'll continue to work on. If you have any tips or stories, I'd love to hear them. Meanwhile, it must be time to read The War of Art again. Maybe I'll do that next week…
有故事的英語美文篇三Never sell your soul不要出賣自己的靈魂
My fellow job seekers: I am honored to be among the first to congratulate you on completing your years at North Carolina A&T. But all of you should know: as Mother's Day gifts go, this one is going to be tough to beat in the years ahead.
The purpose of a commencement(畢業典禮，開始) speaker is to dispense(分配，免除) wisdom. But the older I get, the more I realize that the most important wisdom I've learned in life has come from my mother and my father. Before we go any further, let's hear it one more time for your mothers and mother figures, fathers and father figures, family, and friends in the audience today.
When I first received the invitation to speak here, I was the CEO of an $80 billion Fortune 11 company with 145,000 employees in 178 countries around the world. I held that job for nearly six years. It was also a company that hired its fair share of graduates from North Carolina A&T. You could always tell who they were. For some reason, they were the ones that had stickers(貼紙，尖刀) on their desks that read, "Beat the Eagles."
But as you may have heard, I don't have that job anymore. After the news of my departure broke, I called the school, and asked: do you still want me to come and be your commencement speaker?
Chancellor Renick put my fears to rest. He said, "Carly, if anything, you probably have more in common with these students now than you did before." And he's right. After all, I've been working on my resume. I've been lining up my references. I bought a new interview suit. If there are any recruiters(招聘人員，徵兵人員) here, I'll be free around 11.
I want to thank you for having me anyway. This is the first public appearance I've made since I left HP. I wanted very much to be here because this school has always been set apart by something that I've believed very deeply; something that takes me back to the earliest memories I have in life.
One day at church, my mother gave me a small coaster(杯託，小托盤) with a saying on it. During my entire childhood, I kept this saying in front of me on a small desk in my room. In fact, I can still show you that coaster today. It says: "What you are is God's gift to you. What you make of yourself is your gift to God."
Those words have had a huge impact on me to this day. What this school and I believe in very deeply is that when we think about our lives, we shouldn't be limited by other people's stereotypes or bigotry. Instead, we should be motivated by our own sense of possibility. We should be motivated by our own sense of accomplishment. We should be motivated by what we believe we can become. Jesse Jackson has taught us; Ronald McNair taught us; the Greensboro Four taught us; that the people who focus on possibilities achieve much more in life than people who focus on limitations.
The question for all of you today is: how will you define what you make of yourself?
To me, what you make of yourself is actually two questions. There's the "you" that people see on the outside. And that's how most people will judge you, because it's all they can see what you become in life, whether you were made President of this, or CEO of that, the visible you.
But then, there's the invisible you, the "you" on the inside. That's the person that only you and God can see. For 25 years, when people have asked me for career advice, what I always tell them is don't give up what you have inside. Never sell your soul. Because no one can ever pay you back.
What I mean by not selling your soul is don't be someone you're not, don't be less than you are, don't give up what you believe, because whatever the consequences that may seem scary or bad -- whatever the consequences of staying true to yourself are -- they are much better than the consequences of selling your soul.
You have been tested mightily in your life to get to this moment. And all of you know much better than I do: from the moment you leave this campus, you will be tested. You will be tested because you won't fit some people's pre-conceived notions or stereotypes of what you're supposed to be, of who you're supposed to be. People will have stereotypes of what you can or can't do, of what you will or won't do, of what you should or shouldn't do. But they only have power over you if you let them have power over you. They can only have control if you let them have control, if you give up what's inside.
I speak from experience. I've been there. I've been there, in admittedly(公認地，明白地) vastly different ways -- and in many ways, in the fears in my heart, exactly the same places. The truth is I've struggled to have that sense of control since the day I left college.
I was afraid the day I graduated from college. I was afraid of what people would think. Afraid I couldn't measure up(合格，符合標準) . I was afraid of making the wrong choices. I was afraid of disappointing the people who had worked so hard to send me to college.
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