摘要：我觉得真正的教育大部分都反映在我对大学时光的挥舞。这些过程没有被记录在资料中，而是在我的身体里面。

Do you know what’s sad?

你知道什么是悲伤吗?

For twenty years, I saved all my college course notesand textbooks. Two and a half college degrees:that’s a lot of paper.

20年来，我保存了所有的大学课程笔记和课本。两个半的大学学位：那可是很多很多的资料。

想活得轻松就要放手一些事情

Worse, I carted them around — and trust me, they weren’t light — on at least seven moves. Yet Inever once looked at them.

糟糕的是，我很不容易地将它们带在身边，至少经历了七次搬迁--- 相信我，它们并不轻 --- 但我一次都没有再翻看过它们。

They sat in our basement, covered in a thick layer of dust. If books and papers could wonder,they’d wonder why they were still under our stairs after all those years. What were my plans forthem? When would the Big Day come?

它们被放在我们的地下室，上面还有覆盖着厚厚的一层土。如果书和纸有所什么想知道的，它们一定会想知道，为什么这么多年来一直都被存放在楼梯间?我将计划对它们做些什么呢?它们的好日子什么时候到来?

Well, the Big Day eventually did arrive — only it was different than expected. My wife, alwaysmore accepting of change than I am, finally convinced me to recycle the entire mess.

是的，好日子最终还是来了 --- 只是与它们预期的不同。妻子比我适应改变的能力较强，最终说服我去收拾这一团糟。

The pain I experienced was also unexpected. I didn’t feel nostalgia, or suffer pangs for long-lost magical moments of my education. No, what hurt was to come across those terriblepapers I’d written, reminders of poor study habits, immaturity, and an embarrassing lack ofcomprehension.

我所经历的痛苦也是意料之外的。我对早已久远的教育带来的激动时刻并不会觉得怀旧或者痛苦。不，伤害是来自那些曾经写过的纸，以及对坏学习习惯、不成熟、对尴尬的缺乏理解所勾起的回忆。

Good riddance indeed. I won’t have to lug those dusty, filthy things on our next move.

甩掉包袱实在是太好了。下次搬家的时候，就不用再带着那些尘土飞扬、脏乱的东西。

But what really happened was a purging of personal history.

但是现实发生的却是对个人过去的清理。

Initially, I struggled with this. The truth is in the record — my books, my notes, and my paperswere primary source materials, documenting an important time in my life. To trash them wasto trash the truth.

最初，我也有些挣扎。结果是被记录着的 --- 在我的书里、我的笔记里、以及经过我一手书写的资料里，记录了我生活中一段重要的时光。清理它们也就是在清理过去的结果。

What I’ve learned since taking this leap is that the lesson is more important than the truth.

这一切的改变是直到我学习了：过程远比结果更重要。

I feel as if much of my real education has been a direct reaction to flailing about during mycollege years. The lessons aren’t in the documents — they’re now in me.

我觉得真正的教育大部分都反映在我对大学时光的挥舞。这些过程没有被记录在资料中，而是在我的身体里面。

So I was glad to free myself of this physical burden. And the psychic one too: I don’t need torelive the painful moments, as the lessons have now sunk in.

所以，我很高兴能够从这些体力负担中释放自己。心灵鸡汤：没必要重温痛苦的回忆，作为学习，它们已经过去。

You might want to consider doing something similar.

你可能要考虑做类似的事情。

Not so long ago, a very smart person created a new holiday — Discardia! — to be celebratedfour times a year. It’s a great idea, and every time I clear things out, I feel better physically andpsychologically. Discardia’s slogan is “Let go of everything that doesn’t make your lifeawesome!”

不久前，一个非常聪明的人创造了一个新节日 ---  Discardia!--- 每年庆祝4次。这是一个伟大的想法，每一次我都会清理一些东西，然后在身体和心理上都感觉到非常的好。Discardia的口号是“放下一切不能使生活变是更美好的事物!”

What personal rubbish lurks under the stairs of your basement? Or in your mind?

还在什么垃圾存放在你地下室的楼梯间下面?或者在你的心里?

Let it go. And make your life awesome.

让它去吧!让你的生活变得更美好。

回到过去

I asked a number of different people what advice they would give their younger selves. The responses are unedited below and are directly from responders to this question:

1. You could run into anyone from your past in your future.

2. Don’t be stupid.

3. Take more vacations.

4. Set some goals so we can have a better life. We are much smarter than we think we are so stop second guessing yourself. Follow your instincts. We will get through anything and everything that life throws at us so don’t despair.

我向许多不同的人提了一个问题，即你想对过去的自己提些什么建议?下面直接列出人们给我的答案，未经任何修改。

1. 在未来，你可能与任何过去认识的人不期而遇。

2. 学着聪明点。

3. 多享受假期。

4. 只有给自己树立目标，才能获得更好的生活。我们比你自认为的要聪慧的多，所以别再怀疑自己。追随你的直觉。生活抛给我们的任何困难，我们都能够一一克服，所以别失去信心。

5. Don’t be so afraid of commitment. Sometimes it’s the thing you’re most scared of is the same thing that will end up setting you free.

别害怕承诺。有时候恰恰正是你最害怕的东西能够最终让你获得自由。

6. Don’t be stupid. College is all about setting yourself up for the future.

别傻了。读大学就是在为你的未来做好准备。

7. Just tell her that you love her.

快去告诉她你爱她。

8. College degree!!!!!

务必拿到大学文凭。

9. Enjoy life.

享受生活吧!

10. Don’t sweat the little things and don’t worry about things you can’t control. Everything will happen the way it’s supposed to.

对小事不要斤斤计较。对你无法掌控的事情不要杞人忧天。一切事物都会按照应有的方式发展。

11. Look around once in a while… sometimes what you need has been right under your nose the entire time.

偶尔看看你的周围。往往你需要的东西一直就在你的鼻子底下。

12. Trust your intuition more.

多多信赖自己的直觉。

13. Be patient and don’t rush things!

耐心点，不要太急躁!

14. Don’t worry about things so much.

忧劳伤身，别想太多!

15. Don’t smoke cigarettes.

别吸烟!

16. Learn how to handle your finances better.

试着更精明的处理自己的财务问题。

17. No matter how you feel today, get up, dress up and show up.

无论你今天感觉多糟，也要按时起床，梳洗打扮，出门开工。