Develop Your Own Helping Rituals
If you want your life to stand for peace and kindness, it' s helpful to do kind, peaceful things. One of my favorite ways to do this is by developing my own helping rituals. These little acts of kindness are opportunities to be of service and reminders of how good it feels to be kind and helpful.
We live in a rural area of the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of what we see is be auty and nature. One of the exceptions to the beauty is the litter that some peop le throw out of their windows as they are driving on the rural roads. One of the few drawbacks to living out the boondocks is that public services, such as litter collection, are less available than they are closer to the city.
A helping ritual that I practice regularly with my two children is picking up li tter in our surrounding area. We' ve become so accustomed to doing this that my da ughters will often say to me in animated voices, "There' s some litter, Daddy, stop the car!" And if we have time, we will often pull over and pick it up. It may seem strange, but we actually enjoy it. We pick up litter in parks, on sidewalks, practically anywhere. Once I even saw a complete stranger picking up litter close to where we live. He smiled at me and said, "I saw you doing it, and it seemed like a good idea."Picking up litter is only one of an endless supply of possible helping rituals. You might like holding a door open for people, visiting lonely elderly people in nursing homes, or shoveling snow off someone else' s driveway. Think of something that seems effortless yet helpful. It' s fun, personally rewarding, and sets a good example. Everyone wins.
- helping rituals 指代个人习惯或行为，这些行为能够带给他人帮助，比如捡垃圾、为弱势群体提供服务等。
- litter 垃圾，文章中指的是路边扔掉的垃圾。
- rural roads 乡村道路，文章中指的是旧金山郊区的道路。
- public services 公共服务，比如城市清洁、保安、消防等，在乡村地区的普及程度有限。
- nursing homes 敬老院，指的是为老年人提供护理、照顾、住宿等服务的机构。
- effortless 轻松的，指的是不需要太多力气或时间就可以完成的事情。
- personally rewarding 个人回报，指的是通过帮助他人获得的内心满足和成就感。
- sets a good example 树立榜样，指的是通过自己的行为和举止激发他人去做出积极的改变，起到引领和影响的作用。
1. "One of my favorite ways to do this is by developing my own helping rituals." - 这是文章开头的一句话，强调个人要通过实践来培养自己的乐于助人的习惯，在实践中不断寻找适合自己的方式。
2. "Picking up litter in parks, on sidewalks, practically anywhere." - 该语句指出了文中介绍的一种 helping ritual，捡垃圾。这种行为能够美化环境并且为社区做出贡献。
3. "It may seem strange, but we actually enjoy it." - 作者在这里解释捡垃圾的行为可能看起来很奇怪，但实际上，这样做会带来莫大的满足感。
4. "Think of something that seems effortless yet helpful." - 该语句提示读者去寻找类似捡垃圾这样既不费力又有益于他人的行为，启发人们从身边小事做起。
5. "Everyone wins." - 这是文章结尾的一句话，强调通过乐于助人的行为将会给大家带来共同的收获，而每一个个体的贡献都可以汇聚成对社会的巨大影响。
本文主要探讨如何通过培养自己的乐于助人的习惯来创造更美好的生活。作者以自己开展捡垃圾的善举为例，强调一些看似微不足道的行为可以带来意想不到的收获，对社区环境和自己的心理健康都有积极的影响。除了具体的行为建议，文章还着重强调这种友善的习惯不但可以使他人受益，也会让自己更富有魅力和成就感。总之，本文旨在鼓励读者以身作则，从小事做起，让善意成为自己生命中的一部分。
如果你想让自己的生活安宁祥和，最好做一些友善平和的事情。我最喜欢的一种方式是培养 自己乐于助人的习惯。这些小小的善行让你有机会去帮助别人，让你意识到待人友善、乐于助人的感觉有多好。
我们住在旧金山圣弗朗西斯科湾地区的郊外。我们目所能及的几乎都是美丽的自然风光。与这美景不太和谐的是有人驱车行驶在乡间小路上时随手从车窗往外扔垃圾。而居住在这种偏远的地方的一个缺点就是缺少必要的公共服务，例如，垃圾的收集就不如靠近市区那样方便。
我跟我的两个孩子经常做的一件事就是捡拾我们周围地区的垃圾。对此我们已经习以为常，我的女儿们经常会兴奋地对我说，“爸爸，这儿有垃圾，请停一下车!”只要时间来得及，我们总是将车开到路边并将垃圾捡起来。这似乎有点不可思议，但我们真的喜欢这样做。我们在公园里，人行道上，几乎任何地方捡拾垃圾。曾经有一次，我在我们家附近看到一位陌生人在捡垃圾。他笑着对我说，“我看到你这么做了，看来是个好主意。”
捡垃圾只不过是无数善意行为中的一种形式而已。你可以为别人开门，或者去敬老院看望那些孤独的老人，或者清除别人行车道上的积雪。总会想出一些似乎毫不费力但又非常有益的事情。这真的很有趣，自己会感觉很好，也为别人树立了榜样。每个人都会从中受益。