要約問題/1982年

次の文の要旨を６０～８０字の日本文で書け。ただし句読点も字数に数える。

　One lesson that life teaches as we grow older is that both our fears and our hopes are mostly illusions and are not to be taken too seriously. Time after time we learn that that which we fear most in life never happens, or never happens exactly as we had dreaded. We also learn that if our fears come to pass, the actuality is never quite as bad as the fear we had in the first place. In addition, we have undreamed-of strength to bear the difficulty.
　On the other hand, our specific hopes usually prove to be poor traveling companions too. We must be optimistic about life and what the future holds, but so often, even when our specific dreams come true, we find that we are happy for only a brief period. We must still live with the same discontents and frustrations we had before.
　Many of our hopes do not center on what will bring us real peace of mind, but rather what others tell us will make us rich or beautiful. Conversely, we must not take our fears so seriously that they prevent us from taking any risks. Just living is a risky business; and often, by taking well-thought-out risks, we run a lesser danger than if we always try to play it safe.
　The best path lies in the middle course. We should have enough concern about the future that we prepare for it as best we can. We should have hope and optimism, for these attributes are essential to a constructive, happy life with peace of mind; but we must remember that our hopes and fears are often illusions promising to change our way of life but leaving us exactly as we were before.