什么是幸福?是找到薪酬高、福利(welfare)好的工作,还是听凭内心的声音,把幸福建立在自己真正感兴趣的事情上?你的选择会是什么呢?
“Follow your heart. It’s wiser than you think. And for God’s sake, don’t be scared.” On any day and on any UK website, it’s likely that you’ll come across someone like Tom Savage imparting such advice. He has quit his job as a research analyst and found a perfect new start setting up his own social enterprise in Madagascar. He tells readers of the UK newspaper the Guardian that they can do likewise and follow their dream. Every day dozens of Toms are profiled in newspapers and magazines and on career websites and blogs. Their real-life tales aren’t there to surprise or shock, but many readers are taking on board such advice and following in their?considering footsteps. Sophie Collins, 23, is a biology graduate from London. But before starting her course at university in Edinburgh, Scotland, she took a year out and enrolled in an Art Foundation course. “Art is what I love in life and it is my ambition to be an artist one day,” said Collins. “Art makes me happy, even if it won’t pay my bills for a couple of years.” The idea that you should be free to follow your dream, whether as a young person or as a middle-aged adult with several years of work already under your belt, is?well-established in the West. In school, students are taught that they can do whatever they want and can be whoever they choose so long as they work hard enough at that dream. People in the public eye, such as Italian classical singer Andrea Bocelli, have given up positions in prestigious professions to take their chance on fame. Bocelli was a lawyer before he made it as a singer, selling 70 million albums worldwide. The media and reality TV talent shows have also played their part in encouraging young people to follow their bliss. In 2006, 18-year-old Ray Quinn, barely out of school, finished second in the British TV talent show The X Factor. He later secured a record deal with Sony. Each year since then, hundreds of thousands of people have applied to the show, hoping, and expecting, that the chance to realize their ambitions will soon come. Even if they don’t have a particular dream in mind, many young people are encouraged to take a year or two to find where their interests lie, instead of jumping into a job which they may later resent. George Evans, 24, is determined to find a job which interests him. “I think most of us recognize that it is happiness and not money that is the ultimate goal,” said the Cambridge University graduate. “Unless you are passionate about your career, you won’t truly succeed.” |
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