绘◎木南

扫我，朗读给你听

I once had a friend who grew to be very close to me. Once when we were sitting at the edge of a swimming pool, she filled the palm①palm英 [pɑːm] 美 [pɑm] n. 手掌；棕榈树；掌状物of her hand with a little water and held it before me,and said this:

You see this water carefully contained on my hand? It symbolizes②symbolize 美 ['sɪmbəlaɪz] vt. 象征；用符号表现 vi. 采用象征；作为……的象征 ③attempt to尝试，企图；试图做某事Love. As long as you keep your hand caringly open and allow it to remain there, it will always be there. However, if you attempt to③close your fingers around it and try to possess it,it will spill through the first cracks④crack 英 [kræk] 美 [kræk] vi. 爆裂 n. 裂缝；噼啪声it finds.This is the greatest mistake that people do when they meet love… They try to possess it, they demand, they expect… and just like the water spillin out of your hand, Love will retrieve⑤retrieve 英 [rɪ'triːv] 美 [rɪ'triv] vt. 重新得到 vi. 找回猎物from you.

For love is meant to be free, you cannot change its nature.

If you have people you love, allow them to be free beings.Give and don't expect. Advise, but don't order. Ask, but never demand. It might sound simple, but it is a lesson that may take a lifetime to truly practice. It is the secret to true Love. To truly practice it, you must sincerely feel no expectations from those who you love, and yet an unconditional⑥unconditional英 [ʌnkən'dɪʃ(ə)n(ə)l] 美 [,ʌnkən'dɪʃənl]adj. 无条件的；绝对的；无限制的caring.

我曾有个朋友，我们的关系很亲密。有一次我们坐在游泳池边上，她在手掌里盛了点儿水，捧在我面前，说：

你仔细看我手上这水了吗？那代表爱。只要你小心地弯曲着你的手指，并允许它待在那儿，它会永远在那儿。但是，如果你试图合拢手指试图占有它，它会从找到的第一个缝隙溢出去。这是人们当他们遇到爱时犯的最大的错误……他们试图占有它，他们要求，他们期待……就像溢出你的手掌的水一样，爱会从你身边撤退。

因为爱意味着自由随意，你不能改变它的本性。

如果你有爱的人，允许他们自由随意地存在。给予而不指望。建议而不命令。请求而不要求。可能听起来简单，但这需要一辈子去实践。这就是真爱的秘诀。真正去实践它，你必须对那些你爱的人没有期望，并给予无条件的关爱。