You may have heard this word mindfulness, it's become something of a "buzz phrase" of late.

你可能有聽過「正念」，最近這是個流行語。

I'm going to give you one simple serviceable definition which is this: mindfulness is the ability to know what's happening in your head at any given moment without getting carried away by it.

我現在告訴你一個簡單有用的定義：正念就是知道你的大腦在想什麼，並且不會被念頭帶跑。

Imagine how useful this could be.

想像一下這多派得上用場。

Just as an example, you're driving down the road, and someone cuts you off in traffic.

舉例來說，你正開著車，結果有人超車。

How do you normally react?

你通常會怎麼反應？

I think most of us normally react by having a thought, which is, "I'm pissed," and then what happens next?

大多數的人可能都會這樣想：「我好生氣。」然後接下來會如何？

You immediately, habitually, reflexively inhabit that thought.

你立刻地、慣性地、反射性地，被這個想法困住。

You actually become pissed!

你就真的生氣了！

There's no buffer between the stimulus and your reaction.

在刺激物和你的反應間，沒有任何緩衝。

With just a little bit of mindfulness in that same situation, you might notice: "My chest is buzzing, my ears are turning red, I'm having a starburst of self-righteous thoughts, I'm getting angry."

在這個狀況只要有一點點正念，你可能會注意到「我的胸膛在叫、耳朵變紅，我突然有很自以為是的念頭，我正在變得生氣。」

But you don't necessarily have to act on it and chase that person down the road screaming at them with your kids in the back of your car thinking you've gone nuts.

但你不一定要付諸行動，真的在路上追那個人、對他尖叫，而你的孩子坐在汽車後座，想著你真是瘋了。

Now you might be thinking: "Don't I need to get angry sometimes—aren't I justified?"

你現在也許在想：「所以我不需要偶爾生氣嗎？我沒理由生氣嗎？」

I would say yes, but probably not as much as you think.

我會說你有理由生氣，但理由可能沒你想得多。

The proposition here is not that you should be rendered by mindfulness into some lifeless, nonjudgmental blob.

這裡的主張，並不是讓你被正念轉變成死氣沉沉、無判斷性的一坨東西。

The proposition is that you should learn how to respond wisely to things that happen to you, rather than just reacting blindly.

這裡的主張是，你需要學會對發生的事明智地回應，而不是盲目地反應。

And that, my friends, is a superpower.

我的朋友啊，這就是個超能力。

How do you get it?

要怎麼得到？

The way to get it is through meditation.

透過冥想。

I believe that meditation and mindfulness are the next big public health revolution.

我相信冥想和正念，是公共健康革命的下一大步。

In the 1940s if you told someone you were going running they would've said: "Who's chasing you?"

在 1940 年代，如果你跟別人說你要去跑步，他們會說：「誰在追你？」但接著發生了什麼？

But then what happened next?

但接下來發生什麼事？

The scientists swooped in, they showed that physical exercise is really good for you, and now all of us do it, and if we don't, we feel guilty about it.

科學家介入，說明運動對身體有益，現在大家都在運動，不做還會有罪惡感。

And that's where I think we're headed with mindfulness and meditation.

這就是我們邁向正念和冥想的時候。

It's going to join the pantheon of no brainers like brushing your teeth, eating well and taking the meds your doctor prescribed for you.

它會加入不用思考的眾多事項之一，像是刷牙、好好吃飯、吃醫生開給你的藥。

Let me just close by saying mindfulness is not going to solve all your problems, it's not going to render your life a nonstop of parade of unicorns and rainbows.

讓我這樣結尾吧，正念不會解決你所有問題，它不會讓你的人生變成永遠都有獨角獸和彩虹的遊行。

Nonetheless this is a superpower, and one that is accessible by you, immediately.

但正念是一項超能力，而且是你能立刻得到的超能力。