10th Apple Effect 第十个苹果的效应
Author: Sis Serena Tan
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Have you heard of the “10th Apple Effect”? As Mario Calanna once shared: A hunter once lost his way deep inside the jungle while chasing a deer. He could not find any food. He lost all hope till an apple tree caught his eye. He was so happy. As he ate the first apple his joy knew no bounds and he just couldn’t stop feeling, grateful and blessed. He thanked life and thanked God. He was less grateful while having the second apple and even less grateful when he had his 5th apple.
Somehow with each passing apple, the joy kept reducing drastically. He could just not enjoy the 10th apple. He even started throwing apples that did not taste good and started complaining. He had taken for granted the gift of having found an apple tree in the middle of the jungle that provided for him after three days of hunger.
It is the Law of Diminishing Gratitude. In simple words – taking things for granted. Or let’s just call it the 10th Apple Effect. It represents our lack of appreciation for the gifts of life. The 10th apple is really as sweet as the 1st apple. If the 10th apple fails to give us as much pleasure as the 1st one, there is nothing wrong with apple; but with the person enjoying the fruit.
We have been having the 10th Apple Effect in this world for some time – an abundance of everything. We then started complaining about people, job, Government, traffic, food, weather and many, many more. We started calling for more freedoms, less discrimination, more secular and less spiritual interference, more equality, more diversity, more free health services and more flexible work conditions.
Right now each of us has TWO Choices – To Be Grateful or To Be Demanding and more Stressed!
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Gratitude is a powerful and empowering emotion. Sometimes we have to bring more awareness and be more Grateful for the simple gifts of life. “Thank you” is the best Prayer you can say all day. When you are grateful for things you have in life, you will have more things to be grateful for.
文:陈素娥姐妹
翻译:王佩瑾师母
您听过“第十个苹果的效应”吗？Mario Calanna曾分享过一个故事：有一个猎人在森林里追逐小鹿时，迷失了方向。因为找不到任何食物，他感到十分绝望，直到眼前出现一颗苹果树。猎人非常开心，在吃下第一颗苹果时，猎人欣喜万分，心里满是感激，感觉自己被祝福。他感谢生命，感谢上帝。但这种感恩的心情在他吃下第二颗苹果时就比之前少了一些，到了第五颗苹果时就更少了。
不知怎么的，喜悦随着苹果的数量快速地减少。他实在没办法享受第十颗苹果。之后，他开始扔掉那些味道较差的苹果，还开始抱怨。他已经把森林里，那提供他三天食物的苹果树当成理所当然的了。
这就是感激之情递减法则。简单地说 – 就是把事物当成理所当然的。或者就称它为第十个苹果效应吧。它代表了人类对于生命中的礼物缺乏感恩之情。第十颗苹果其实跟第一颗苹果一样甜。如果说第十颗苹果所带来的满足感不如第一颗，那问题不出在苹果，而是品尝苹果的人身上。
这第十个苹果的效应其实已经存在好些时候了 – 当我们的物资过于充分，就会开始抱怨。我们抱怨人、工作、政府、交通、食物、天气等等。我们开始呼喊要更多自由、少点歧视、多点世俗的、少些属灵的、更多平等待遇、多样性、免费医疗服务及可伸缩性工作制度。
在我们面前摆着两个选择: 一就是懂得感恩，二就是要求更多然后压力更大！当你改变看待事情的方法，你所看待的事情就会改变。感恩是一种强大而有力量的情感。有时，我们必须提高意识，并为生命里简单的事物感恩。其实，“谢谢“就是我们每天的最佳祷告。当你懂的为生命里所拥有的一切感恩时，能感到感恩的东西就会更多了。