清晨朗读会第1097期翻译练习。
原文：
Focus as an Antidote for Wanting to Do Everything
By Leo Babauta
I have a problem, and I think most people do as well: I want to do everything.
OK, not actually every single thing, but I want to do more than I possibly can:
I want to do everything on my long to-do list, today
I want to take on every interesting project
I want to say yes to everyone else’s requests, even if I know I’m already too busy
I want to travel everywhere, and see everything that’s interesting
I want to try every delicious food, and I always want more of it (and I always eat too much)
I want to watch every interesting TV show and film
I want to read everything interesting online
I want to take on a lot of interesting hobbies — each of which would take me many hours to master
I want to spend time with everyone I love, with every friend — and also have a lot of time for solitude!
Obviously, this is all impossible. But I bet I’m not alone in constantly wanting all of this and more.
There’s a term for this in Buddhism that sounds judgmental but it’s not: “greed.” The term “greed” in this context just describes the very human tendency to want more of what we want.
It’s why we’re overloaded with too many things to do, overly busy and overwhelmed. It’s why we’re constantly distracted, why we overeat and shop too much and get addicted to things. It’s why we have too much stuff, and are in debt.
Greed is so common that we don’t even notice it. It’s the foundation of our consumerist society. It’s the ocean that we’re swimming in, so much a part of the fabric of our lives that we can’t see that it’s there.
So what can we do about this tendency called greed? Is there an antidote?
There absolutely is.
The traditional antidote to greed in Buddhism is generosity. And while we will talk about the practice of generosity, the antidote I’d like to propose you try is focus.
Focus is a form of simplicity. It’s letting go of everything that you might possibly want, to give complete focus to one important thing.
Imagine that you want to get 20 things done today. You are eager to rush through them all and get through your to-do list! But instead of indulging in your greed tendency, you decide to simplify. You decide to focus.
翻译：
专注是什么都想做的解药
作者：Leo Babauta
我这人有个毛病，我想很多人也和我一样：什么事情都想去尝试。
好吧，我说的并不是做每件事，而是我想要做的事比我可能做的事更多：
今天，我想完成我长长的待办清单上的每一件事。
我想接手每一个感兴趣的项目。
我想满足每个人的需求，尽管我知道自己已经忙得不可开交了。
我想要云游四方，看遍有趣的东西。
我想要尝尽天下美食，我总是想要更多。（我总是吃得太多）
我想要看每一个有趣的电视节目和电影。
我想要在网上浏览所有有趣的东西。
我想要拥有许多有趣的爱好——每一个爱好都需要我花很长时间去掌握。
我想要和每一位我爱的人在一起，每一位朋友一起——但我也希望有很多独处的时间。
很显然，这是不可能的事。但我敢打赌，像这样一直想要这一切甚至更多的的人，肯定不止我一个。
在佛教中有一个说法，听起来像是判断，但它不是“贪婪”，在这里，“贪婪”只是用来描述人类想要更多我们想要的东西的倾向。
这也是为什么我们要做这么多事，超负荷运转，忙得手忙脚乱，为什么我们不断分心，过量饮食，过度消费，玩物丧志，为什么我们拥有太多的东西，还欠着债。
贪欲无处不在，以至于我们都没注意到它的存在。它是我们这个消费型社会的基础，是我们游泳的海洋，它已经构成了我们生活的一部分，所以我们感觉不到它的存在。
那我们能对这种叫做贪欲的倾向做些什么呢？有解药吗？
绝对有。
在佛教里，贪婪的传统解药是慷慨，在我们讨论慷慨行为的同时，我想建议你尝试的解药是专注。
专注是简单的一种形式。忽略你想要做的其它所有事，只专注在一件重要的事情上。
假设你想在今天完成二十件事，你渴望快速完成所有的任务，完成你的待办清单。你没有沉溺于你的贪婪倾向，而是决定选择简化，选择专注。