世界上最具價值的財產

The Most Valuable Possessions on Earth

Marie was a single mother of two children in a rural Missouri community. She worked full-time during the day and sold handcrafted leather gifts on weekends. She also dedicated much spare time to numerous charities and community projects.

Then one day Marie received some shocking news from her doctor. She had cancer, and it was spreading rapidly. She had barely enough resources to put a cent in the medical treatments she would need.

Soon, Marie witnessed what she had always known: although she was not financially wealthy, she already had the most valuable possessions on earth. Hundreds in her community and surrounding areas teamed up to help her and her family.

Many people she had touched in caring ways demonstrated appreciation for Marie’s life. Marie did not live to see the day when her bills were fully paid. However, she lived long enough to feel the love of those she had cheerfully served.

The spirits of love and gratitude multiply when they are shared. Happiness is the result of sharing love and gratitude. Giving selflessly was a value that Marie displayed all her life, and her spirit of giving lived after her in those who knew and loved her.

All her life, Marie had demonstrated the truth of this simple principle: happiness will not come from worldly possessions or fortune. Rather, it is an attitude that comes from appreciating what we already have. We can find the happiness we seek if we will first share it with others. Then—and only then—we will have the most valuable possessions on earth: love, happiness, and increasing gratitude.

【日積月累】

◇handcrafted adj. 手工制作的

◇resource n. 資源；辦法；財力

◇multiply v. 乘，使相乘；使繁殖；使增加

【參考譯文】

世界上最具價值的財產

瑪麗是密蘇里一個鄉下社區兩個孩子的單親母親。她每天上8個小時的班，周末還出去賣自己手制的皮革禮品，并且她還把很多業余時間投入到了數不清的慈善活動和社區項目里。

一天瑪麗從醫生那里聽到了一條令人震驚的消息。她患上了癌癥，而且癌細胞擴散得很快。她經濟上非常緊張，哪怕一分錢都不被容許花在她需要接受的醫藥治療上。

瑪麗很快見證了她一直堅信的事：雖然她經濟并不富有，但是她擁有世界上最具價值的財產。她所在社區和相鄰社區的成百上千的人都齊力幫助她和她的家人。

她的愛心觸動了很多人，他們紛紛表示敬佩。雖然瑪麗沒有堅持到醫藥費付清的那天。但是她已經感受到了那些她幫助過的人們對她的關愛。

當關愛和感激的精神被分享的時候，它們就翻倍地增長。幸福來源于分享愛和感激。瑪麗一生都無私地貢獻，她這種貢獻精神在她離開后還活在認識她愛著她的人心里。

瑪麗的一生都在踐行一個簡單的原則：幸福并不來自物質上的富有，相反，它來自一種對自己所擁有的一切懷有感恩之情的心態。如果我們愿意先與人分享幸福，我們就能找的自己追求的幸福。那時——也只有那時——我們就會得到世界上最寶貴的財產：愛、幸福和日益增加的感恩之情。

【人生啟迪】

從來沒有人用金錢衡量過愛心，因為愛心是無價的。不管你積累了多少財富，總有散盡的一天。而你付出的愛心就像一張無形的支票，在你最需要的時候，能兌換成金錢。無論你口袋的錢是多還是少，只要你不斷地踐行善舉，你就是最富有的人。