Please excuse me if I'm a little pensive（忧郁的） today.
Mark is leaving, and I'm feeling kind of sad.
You probably don't know Mark, but you might be lucky enough to know someone just like him. He's been the heart and soul of the office for a couple of year combining exemplary professional skills with a sweet nature and gentle disposition. He's never been all that interested in getting credit for the terrific work he does. He just wants to do his job, and to do it superbly well.
And now he's moving on to an exciting new professional opportunity. It sounds like it could be the chance of a lifetime, and we're genuinely, sincerely pleased for him. But that doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye to a dear friend and trusted colleague.
Life has a way of throwing these curve balls at us. Just when we start to get comfortable with a person, a place or a situation, something comes along to alter the recipe. A terrific neighbor moves away. Someone in the family graduates. A child finds new love and loyalties through marriage. The family's principle bread-winner is laid off.
Our ability to cope with change and disruption（破坏） determine to a great degree, our peace, happiness and contentment in life.
But how do we do that? Philosophers have considered the question for centurie and their responses have been varied. According to the author of the Biblical book of Ecclesiaste comfort can be found in remembering that "to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." Kahlil Gibran urged his listeners to "let today embrace the past with remembrance, and the future with longing."
A friend of mine who works for the government is fond of reminding his fellow bureaucrats（官僚） that "survivabi-lity depends upon adaptability." And then there's Chri the California surf-rat, who once told me that the answer to life's problems can be summed up in four words: "Go with the flow."
"It's like surfing," Chris explained. "You can't organize the ocean. Waves just happen. You ride 'em where they take you, then you paddle back out there and catch the next one. Sure, you're always hoping for the perfect wave where you can get, like, you know, totally tubular（管状的）. But mostly you just take 'em the way they come. It's not like you're trying to nail Jell-O to a tree, you know?"
I'm not exactly sure, but I think Chris was saying that life is a series of events—both good and bad. No matter how deft your organizational skill there will always be life-influencing factors over which you have no control. The truly successful person expects the unexpected, and is prepared to make adjustments should the need arise—as it almost always does.
That doesn't mean you don't keep trying to make all your dreams come true. It just means that when things come up that aren't exactly in your plan, you work around them—and then you move on. Of course, some bumps along the road of life are easier to take than others. A rained-out picnic, for example, is easier to cope with than the sudden death of a loved one. But the principle is the same.
"Change, indeed, is painful, yet ever needful," said philosopher Thomas Carlyle. "And if memory have its force and worth, so also has hope."
We're going to miss Mark, just like you'll miss that graduate, that neighbor or that newlywed. But rather than dwell on the sadness of our parting, we'll focus on our hopes for a brighter future—for him, and for us. And then we'll go out and do everything we can to make that future happen.
Until our plans change—again.
相关单词：pensive
pensive解释：a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的
pensive例句：
He looked suddenly sombre,pensive.他突然看起来很阴郁，一副忧虑的样子。
He became so pensive that she didn't like to break into his thought.他陷入沉思之中,她不想打断他的思路。
相关单词：disposition
disposition解释：n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署
disposition例句：
He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。
相关单词：loyalties
loyalties解释：n.忠诚( loyalty的名词复数 )；忠心；忠于…感情；要忠于…的强烈感情
loyalties例句：
an intricate network of loyalties and relationships 忠诚与义气构成的盘根错节的网络
Rows with one's in-laws often create divided loyalties. 与姻亲之间的矛盾常常让人两面为难。 来自《简明英汉词典》
相关单词：varied
varied解释：adj.多样的，多变化的
varied例句：
The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。
相关单词：longing
longing解释：n.（for）渴望
longing例句：
Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。
相关单词：bureaucrats
bureaucrats解释：n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言
bureaucrats例句：
That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句
相关单词：adaptability
adaptability解释：n.适应性
adaptability例句：
It has a wide range of adaptability.它的应用性广。
相关单词：deft
deft解释：adj.灵巧的，熟练的（a deft hand 能手）
deft例句：
The pianist has deft fingers.钢琴家有灵巧的双手。
This bird,sharp of eye and deft of beak,can accurately peck the flying insects in the air.这只鸟眼疾嘴快，能准确地把空中的飞虫啄住。
