Building towards bliss, you can have it

好工作，好钱途一定会带来幸福吗？

“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.

“跟随着心的方向，不要畏缩不前，这才是明智的做法。”任何一天，在任何英国网站，你都可能遇到像汤姆?塞维奇一样给予人们这样忠告的人。

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.

他刚辞去了研究分析师的工作，在马达加斯加创建了自己的社会企业，开始了人生新的征途。他寄语英国卫报读者，希望他们也能像他一样追随自己的梦想。

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.

每天数十个类似汤姆的人见诸于报章杂志、职业网站及博客。他们真实的故事并非为了哗众取宠，很多读者听取了他们的建议，跨出了朝理想迈进的坚定步伐。

[注释: take on board 听取、采纳(意见或者新的思想)。注意，如果是be on board则表示“赞成，愿意参加”，如：We’re on board to help with the relief work. Banks need to take on board the views of their customers. 银行应该听取客户的意见。]

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.

苏菲?科林斯，23岁，是来自伦敦的生物学毕业生。她在进入苏格兰爱丁堡大学继续深造以前，选择休学一年，去读艺术预科课程。

“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.”

“艺术是我的挚爱，我渴望有一天会成为艺术家，”科林斯说，“艺术令我快乐，即便是我几年之内赚不到钱。”

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.

在西方，不论你是年轻人亦或已经工作了很多年的中年人，你都有权追随你的梦想。

[注释: take one’s chance 碰碰运气。后面常接on sth，表示“就某件事碰碰运气”。另外一个常用搭配是take one’s chance in the world，表示“闯荡社会”。 Those orphaned children were left to take their chances in the world. 那些失去父母的孤儿只好自己在社会上闯荡。]

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.

在学校里，学生们受到的教育是：只要他们执着于实现他们的梦想，他们可以做任何他们想做的事情，成为任何他们想做的人。有些公众人物，比如意大利古典音乐演唱家安德烈?波伽利就放弃了人们心目中的好职业，选择了成名之路。要知道，专辑全球销量七千万的波伽利没做歌手以前是律师。

[注释: under one’s belt 字面意思是“在腰带下”，比喻已经掌握了、经历过，或者在以往的经历中已获得了某事物。 I’m not going to play the game until I can get a couple of days of practice under my belt. 打比赛之前我需要训练几天。]

The media and reality TV talent shows have also played their part in encouraging young people to follow their bliss.

媒体及电视真人秀在鼓励年轻人追求他们的幸福方面也发挥了自身作用。

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.

2006年，还没中学毕业的18岁男孩雷?奎恩，在英国真人秀《英国偶像》节目中获亚军，他后来签约索尼，制作了一张唱片。

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.

自此，每年有数十万人报名参加该节目，期待有机会实现他们的梦想。

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.

对那些即便是心中没有什么特别梦想的年轻人，人们也鼓励他们花一两年的时间去发现他们的兴趣所在，而不是一头扎进他们日后会憎恶的工作中。

George Evans, 24, is determined to find a job which interests him.

乔治?埃文斯，24岁，决定找到自己感兴趣的工作。

“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.”

这位剑桥大学的毕业生说，“我想我们大多数人认定是幸福，而不是金钱，作为我们的最终目标。除非你对你的职业有热忱，否则不会真正的成功。”