Chapter 9: Mulberry tree
I was bullied all the time. The incident at the mulberry tree was probably the worst of them.....
worst of them...糟糕于树下被攻击自己内心受到伤害,可最糟糕,莫过于自己后来报复的举动,解恨、怜悯、惭愧和自省
He was a colored boy in South Africa, taught how to hate and how to hate himself. Who had bullied him that he needed to bully me? He’d made me feel fear, and to get my revenge I’d unleashed my own hell on his world.
同样都是南非男孩,一个因为学会了怎样去憎恨世界和自己,而将自己所经历的威胁、痛苦反施于他人;一个受母亲滑稽的看待不公和苦痛态度影响,在报复后内心深处意识到:报复,并不是还世界对你所为,而只是自己向世界宣泄自己的阴暗面。
生活无论对你做了什么,均还之以微笑,一种达观洒脱也是一种内心束缚的解脱。“仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人”的勇气和释然。
My mom thought everything was funny. There was no subject too dark or too painful for her to tackle with humor.
没有事情因为太过黑暗、痛苦而不能幽默滑稽对待,只是自己不够幽默抑或太过认真自嘲不够。你可以选择直视现实、认真解决,如Elon Musk 那般,永不言弃、一路腥风血雨中活出精彩;也可以像Trevor母亲这样,多丝庆幸一笑泯恩仇,一种滑稽轻松的生活态度。
“Trevor, remember a man is not determined by how much he earns. You can still be the man of the house and earn less than your woman. Being a man is not what you have, it's who you are. Being more of a man doesn't mean your woman has to be less than you.”
Trevor母亲的婚姻观,算是吧。家庭中男性要比女性挣得多,这好像是中国普遍家庭观。看过一项数据分析:国内幸福家庭收入最佳男女各占比1.5~2:1。从生理因素正视男女差异,收入有差额很正常。可若收入高低和家庭地位高低对等,我们是该思考这个家庭的价值观还是这个社会的物质观。好像大家普遍认为男士在家庭收入少有损尊严,汗!要是这样认为,我觉得可能你的尊严就真的只是一罐盐了,闲的慌。十年前,《希望之星英语大赛》初中组一位选手一句话至今犹记:我所能征服你的不是我的身高,而是你无法企及的思想的高度”(大意)。
许多东西太抽象而无衡量的标准,比如贡献,可有些东西的标准又太过现实值得商榷。当你的重要性可以用物质衡量的时候,你得留心,你的重要性是不是仅限于衡量的价值。
作为男性,要明白怎样才是真的男人;而女性也该清楚,你对此是如何衡量的,物质上的丰富还是精神的高度。哈哈,偶追求双管齐下。
从Trevor的母亲身上学些什么,虽不可以一定会有幸福生活,至少增加找到幸福的可能。