英語美文朗讀 第414期 Discomfort is your friend

We all know what a bad habit is. Smoking, eating unhealthy foods and being lazy are just some of the behaviors we ought to avoid in order to increase our overall well-being. Yet a recent study by scientists at the centers for disease control and prevention, found that avoidable behaviors such as poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking and drinking alcohol, were some of the underlying causes of nearly half of the deaths in the United States.

 

我們都知道什么是壞習慣。為了讓自己更健康，我們需要改掉一些壞習慣，比如吸煙，好吃懶做，等等。然而，疾控中心的科學家們最近的一項研究表明，在美國，將近一半的死亡，是由飲食不健康、缺乏鍛煉、吸煙、飲酒等習慣引起的，而這些壞習慣其實是可以避免的。

 

Tobacco accounted for eighteen point one percent of total deaths. Inactivity and bad eating sixteen point six percent and alcohol consumption three point five percent. If we know bad habits are so detrimental to our health, why do we continue to do that? We all indulge in behaviors that we know aren't good for us, and the main reason we resort to these behaviors, is because bad habits give us the comfort we need.

因吸煙而死的人，占總死亡人數(shù)的18.1%。因不運動和飲食不健康而死的人，占總死亡人數(shù)的16.6%。因飲酒而死的人，占總死亡人數(shù)的3.5%。既然我們知道壞習慣對健康有害，為什么我們還要去做這些事情？我們都沉迷于對自己有害的壞習慣，主要的原因就是，我們需要舒適，而這些壞習慣滿足了這個需要。

 

When it comes to making decisions, your brain can't differentiate good from bad. It only knows comfortable and uncomfortable. Every action you take has a purpose behind it, even if you're not consciously aware of what that purpose is. The most common hidden purpose is comfort. Our brains are wired to be reward-based and our reward is the feeling of comfort that in turn triggers a release of dopamine, called the feel-good hormone.

做決定時，你的大腦無法明辨是非，它只知道什么是舒服的，什么是不舒服的。你的每個舉動，背后都有目的，盡管有可能你并不知道這個目的是什么。最常見的潛在目的，就是舒適。我們的大腦都是遵從獎勵制度的，我們所得到的獎勵，就是那種舒適的感覺，這種感覺會帶來多巴胺，一種能讓我們感到快樂的荷爾蒙。

 

When you bite into a chocolate chip cookie you get a hit of dopamine. When you get a like on instagram you get a hit of dopamine. The hit of pleasure causes us to crave more and so we associate this good feeling with the bad habit. This explains why we continue to indulge in bad habits and find it so difficult to stop. It feels comfortable and we essentially get to exist in our safe zone. In other words, you get attracted to the reward despite knowing it's bad for you.

當你咬一口巧克力餅干時，你會得到多巴胺。當你在Instagram上收到一個贊時，你會得到多巴胺。多巴胺帶來的快樂，會讓我們渴望得到更多，所以我們會把快樂的感覺和壞習慣聯(lián)系起來，這就是我們沉迷于壞習慣且無法自拔的原因。這讓我們感到舒服，從本質(zhì)上看，我們其實是走進了舒適區(qū)。也就是說，雖然你知道壞習慣對你有害，但是你還是被它帶來的舒服感覺所吸引。

 

Smoking that cigarette on your work breaks causes your brain to associate that habit with freedom and relaxation. Drinking alcohol may be associated with relieving some tension after a hard week. The thought of exercising and making some kind of effort is overridden in the brain by the easier thought of sitting on the couch and binge watching your favorite show. So, you can see how easily the habit is connected with the reward.

你在工作間隙吸的那根煙，讓你把吸煙這個習慣跟自由和放松聯(lián)系起來。喝酒可能會跟工作一周后的減壓聯(lián)系起來。運動，努力，這些積極的想法，已經(jīng)被那些更安逸的想法取代了，比如癱在沙發(fā)上看電視。所以，你也看到了，把壞習慣和安逸的獎勵聯(lián)系起來，是非常容易的。

 

We also tend to rationalize our bad behaviors, if society as a whole finds it acceptable. If a vast amount of people are doing the same thing, then it must be ok for us to do it too. It's not difficult to find socially acceptable bad habits. Snacking, skipping exercises, getting blackout drunk, and even chain-smoking are things that lots of people do. This causes an inward rationalization when it comes to unhealthy habits, such as, just one more won't hurt, or I'll do better next week. But these in-the-moment justifications only provide a brief escape from stress.

如果社會接受我們的不良行為，那么我們就會認為它們是合理的。一件事，如果很多人都在做，那么我們做也沒問題。在我們生活的社會中，有很多壞習慣是可以接受的，比如吃零食，偷懶不運動，喝得爛醉，吸煙上癮，這些是很多人都在做的事。在我們的潛意識中，這讓我們認為那些不健康的習慣是合理的，比如，我們會想，再抽一根也沒事，下周我會做得更好。但是，這些理由只不過是我們逃避壓力的借口而已。

 

It's important to remember that bad habits only give temporary comfort. An alcoholic beverage can only numb you to stress, and after a buzz wears off, the stressful reality returns. Ironically the long-term solution to break bad habits is in fact discomfort. The only way you grow is by stepping into the unknown. This is why so many people have break down before breakthrough moments. The more discomfort you experience, the greater the long-term benefit will be. The simplest analogy is exercise, the more you push yourself during a workout the more sweat, burn, fatigue, exhaustion you feel, the more strength, endurance, and longevity you gain.

我們要記住，壞習慣只會帶來暫時的舒服。灌下一瓶酒，只能讓你麻痹自己，逃避壓力，等到酒醒之后，壓力又回來了。有意思的是，擺脫壞習慣的長久之計，其實就是不舒服。如果想成長，唯一的辦法就是走向未知。從長遠看，你經(jīng)歷的不舒適越多，你得到的好處就越多。最好的例子就是運動，在健身的時候，你越是逼自己，流汗越多，燃燒的脂肪越多，身體越累，你的力量和耐力就會更強，你就能更長壽。

 

However, most people don't change until not changing is the less comfortable option. Powerful transformation happens when you truly get out of your comfort zone. Familiar discomfort is a form of comfort. This is why people are addicted to toxic relationships. Comfort is nothing more than an illusion. There's no such thing as real comfort. There's only the idea of what safe. This one is a big one to swallow, but there's really no such thing as comfort, which is why comfortable things don't last, and why the most well-adjusted people are most comfortable in discomfort. Comfortable is just an idea. You choose what you want to base yours on. Discomfort is your friend.

然而，除非改變是不得已的選擇，否則大多數(shù)人不會改變。當你真正走出舒適區(qū)的時候，你身上就會發(fā)生影響深遠的改變。熟悉的不舒適，也是一種舒適，所以很多人沉迷于有害的人際關(guān)系。舒適只是一種幻覺，根本沒有真正的舒適，只有我們自認為的安全而已。這可能很難接受，然而事實就是，舒適是不存在的，所以那些令人舒適的東西并不持久，而那些適應力很強的人，反而喜歡不舒適。舒適，只是一種想法而已。什么才能讓你感到舒適，你自己說了算。不舒適，才是你真正的朋友。