We can often find meaning in helping others or making a sacrifice for a “greater good”. Meaning often comes at the expense of happiness. That’s because people who have invested themselves in something bigger than themselves worry more and have higher levels of stress and anxiety in their lives than happy people. Volunteering in rural schools, for example, is meaningful but also entails hardship.

我往往在帮助他人，或者“牺牲小我完成大我”的过程中找到人生意义。获得人生意义总是要以幸福为代价。这是因为当人们投身比自身更重要的事业中时，总是要比幸福的人承受更多的压力和焦虑。比如去山区支教是件有意义的事，但同时也得历经苦难。

The study also found that meaning is not only about transcending the self, but also about transcending the present moment.

这项研究还发现，人生的意义不仅仅是超越自我，更是超越现在。

Happiness, like any emotion, is felt in the here and now - it ultimately fades away. Meaning, on the other hand, is enduring. It connects the past to the present to the future. “Thinking beyond the present moment, into the past or future, was a sign of the relatively meaningful but unhappy life,” according to the researchers. “Happiness is not generally found in contemplating the past or future.”

正如其他情感一样，幸福是一种即时的感受，也终将消散。而人生意义却是恒久的。它连接过去、现在和未来。“那种超脱于当下，放眼过去或未来的思维方式，标志着你的生活比较有意义却并不幸福。”研究人员说，“注视着历史或未来，一般是看不到幸福的。”

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