8. John Walsh约翰·沃尔什

　　Author and art historian 作家和艺术历史学家

　　Wheaton College 惠顿学院

　　2000 2000年

　　Do one thing at a time. Give each experience all your attention. Try to resist being distracted by other sights and sounds, other thoughts and tasks, and when it is, guide your mind back to what you're doing.

　　I'm not warning against learning many things on many subjects. My warning is against distraction, whether you invite it or just let it happen. In baseball, high-percentage hitters know better: it's “focus” they talk about, and they prize it as much as strength. Psychologists describe skilled rock climbers and tennis players and pianists as going beyond focus, to what they have called a “flow” experience, a sense of absorption with the rock or the ball or the music in which the “me versus it” disappears and there's a kind of oneness with the task that brings a joyful higher awareness, as well as successful performance. I've had these experiences, too little but not too late, and probably you have, too. They are a supreme kind of pleasure. You will have more of them if you do one thing at a time.

　　一次做一件事情。全力关注你每一次的经历。决不要被别的声色之物和其他想法、任务分心。一旦分心了，引导你的注意力重新回到你做的事情上。

　　我不是在反对学习多个学科的众多知识。我所警告的是分心与干扰，无论是你主动招惹的，还是让它发生的。在棒球场上，得分高的击球员对此有更深体会：他们谈的是“专注”，他们把它看得跟力量一样重要。在心理学家的描述中，高技能的攀岩者、网球运动员、钢琴家已经超越了专注，达到了他们所称的经验之“流”，那是一种跟岩石、网球或音乐融为一体的感觉，“我与它”已然消失，跟任务合二为一，给人以更高水平的愉悦体验，而不仅仅是成功地完成了任务。我有这种体验，虽然很少，但来得还不算迟，或许你也有这种体验。这是一种最高形式的快乐。如果你一次专注于一件事情，你就会有更多这样的体验。