1.Q&A
1. Why happiness is a problem?
Because happiness is not a solvable equation. Dissatisfaction and unease are inherent in human nature and necessary to creating consistent happiness.
2. Why the author invented Disappointment Panda? What is it for?
The Disappointment Panda is invented to remind people that life is full of problems.
He tells people harsh truths about themselves that they need to hear but don't want to accept.
3. What is the role that emotions play in our life? Why they are overrated?
Emotions are feedback mechanism telling us whether sth is right or not.
They are overrated because Emotions are not the entire equation. They are signposts. not commandments.
4. Why u don't have chiseled abs?
Because i don't think i actually need them. i used to do 100 sit-ups everyday for two months on end, but i finally caved in.
2.感悟
We suffer for the simple reason that suffering is biologically useful. It is nature's preferrd agent for inspiring change.
5岁时不小心摔到装有开水的洗澡盆里。当时停电了，奶奶给我洗澡总是先倒开水再兑冷水，她去舀冷水时，我一个人蹦蹦跳跳就被绊倒了，本能地用右手支撑着身体，当时没有及时去医院，奶奶用土方法给我治了三天，后来伤口化脓感染才送医院。结果可想而知，到现在手臂上都超级难看的一条长长的疤。出事半年内经常疼得睡不着，当时就想要是我失去所以痛觉多好。现在想想我的痛苦教会了我离危险的东西要远一些，要注意安全，我的痛苦也让家人心痛，她们也变得格外警惕，奶奶也改变了给我洗澡的方式，她应该也不会再信一些土方子了。这就是我人生中的一个小小的suffering, 有时看到那条难看的伤疤我会觉得自己很不幸，我身边也有烫伤的人，她们只有小小的伤疤，而我的伤疤又长又难看，大热天烫的厉害的地方还会疼。可我该庆幸这个suffering没有更糟糕，至少我没有烫到脸，没有殃及身体其他部位。而且Everything happens for a reason. The meaning of suffering is to push people to change in the right direction and for the better.
Joy doesn't sprout out of the ground like daisies and rainbows. Real, serious, lifelong fulfillment and meaning have to be earned through the choosing and managing of our struggles.
作者用了几个排比段落论证happiness has to be earned through struggle. 这些举例都与我们的生活息息相关，你想拥有什么，就必须surmount all the struggles associated with it. If u cannot get yourself through the pain that is part of game of what u want, u will never obtain it. Thus, the bottom line is to find out what we are willing to struggle for, rather than some airy-fairy fantasies.
3. Words&phrases
underlie
There is a premise that underlies a lot of our assumptions and believes.
if A underlies B, A is the basis or cause of B
proverbial
He'd be the proverbial vegetables to our mental diet of junk food.
to describe sth well-known or to describe sth using a well-known expression
I'm going to stick out like the proverbial sore thumb.
He kicked the proverbial bucket.
elliptical
sweating like a meth-head for thirty minutes on an elliptical.
elliptical object has a shape of an ellipse.
elliptical language is indirect and ambiguous
文中指椭圆机
be predicated on
Much of the self-help world is predicated on peddling highs to people rather than solving legitimate problems.
A is predicated on B: A is based on B
overidentity with
But then there are those people who overidentify with their Emotions.
to identify with sb/sth is to understand them or to have shared feelings
identify with his misadvantage
注identify A with B相当于associate A with B
on end
This fantasy could keep me occupied for hours on end.
in succession连续不断地
