吹泡泡

I stood on my grandmothers front porch with my son. He had a bottle of bubbles. You know the type; its basically the soapy water with a plastic loop on each end. You dip the loop in the bottle， pull it out， and blow it to make bubbles.

My son understood the principle but failed in trying to blow bubbles. He would dip and dip and blow and blow， but alas， no bubbles.

He handed me the bottle and loop and asked me， “Daddy， can you make bubbles？”

I hadnt blown bubbles in years. I am a chemist by education. I have prepared several shampoos， so I understand surface tension and related foaming characteristics of  surfactants. Surfactant is just a big fancy word for a soap or detergent.

All that knowledge was useless when I was trying to blow bubbles from a loop filled with soapy water. I was having no more success than my son.

I would dip and blow， no bubbles; the soapy film on the loop would just pop without releasing any bubbles.

After several attempts， I changed my way.

Instead of blowing on the loop of soapy water， I gently breathed on it. My son cried with delight as a big beautiful bubble came out and floated away.

He grabbed the loop， dipped and blew. No bubbles.

I explained to him， “Son， you cant blow hard. You must ever so gently breathe on the loop to make bubbles.”

He held back his desire to make big bubbles by blowing hard and followed my advice.

Big bubbles.

There are some things that you can get with force， but there are other things that only come with the gentleness of a soft breath. Too often， we try to force love or real respect. It wont come. It just breaks before the bubble can ever form because we try to put too much force on it.

The closer something is to higher spirit， the more it is like bubbles; it cant be forced and is more often found in the soft things of life.

You have a bottle of bubbles and you have been blowing trying to get them out.

Blow beautiful bubbles; breathe easy.

我和兒子站在祖母家的前廊上。他手上拿着一瓶泡泡水。一说大家都知道，就是那种两头都有塑料圈的小玩具，一般里面装的都是肥皂水。把塑料圈浸到瓶子里蘸肥皂水，拿出来，就可以吹出泡泡。

儿子其实是明白这个原理的，但是吹了半天却徒劳无益。他蘸了又蘸，吹了又吹，可就是一个泡泡也吹不出来。

他把瓶子和圈圈递给我问：“爸爸，你能吹出泡泡来吗？”

我已经好多年没吹泡泡了。我是一名受过系统教育的化学师，配制过好几种洗发水，因此对表面活性剂的表面张力和相关的发泡特性有所了解。其实表面活性剂就是肥皂或洗涤剂的代名词，只是听起来“高大上”一些。

当我试图从蘸有肥皂水的塑料圈往外吹泡泡时，那些所谓的化学知识都变得毫无价值。跟儿子一样，我也吹不出任何泡泡。

我将塑料圈浸在瓶中，然后往外吹，还是没有泡泡;塑料圈上的肥皂薄膜还没放出泡泡就破掉了。

经过几次尝试，我换了种方法。

我不再对着塑料圈上的肥皂水猛吹，而是轻轻呼气。果然，一个美丽的大泡泡出现并缓缓飘起，儿子高兴得尖叫起来。

他抓住塑料圈，蘸上肥皂水，猛吹，依然没有泡泡。

我耐心地向他解释道：“儿子，不能用力吹，只有轻轻地朝它呼气，才能吹出泡泡。”

他克制住希望吹出大泡泡的强烈欲望，听从我的建议，不再那么用劲。

大泡泡出现了。

有些东西可以通过强力获得，但有些东西往往只能通过温柔的巧劲取得。我们经常试图通过强迫他人来获得真爱和尊重，但往往事与愿违。这就好比吹泡泡，如果我们用力过猛，泡泡还没形成就会破掉。

越接近精神层面的东西，就越像吹泡泡：拼尽蛮力往往难以实现目标，而生活中的柔术却常能出奇制胜。

你有一瓶泡泡水，并且你一直在努力把泡泡吹起来。

（然而只有）轻轻呼气，才能吹出美丽的泡泡来。

dip v. 蘸;浸

tension n. 拉伸;张力;紧张，烦躁

release v. 放开;松开;放出

attempt n. 企图;试图;尝试

delight n. 高兴;愉快;快乐

float v. 飘动;漂移;浮动