NPR 12-21:Navigating Turbulent Waters 鱼教会了我如何克服生活的“逆流”

Jimmy Liao had a difficult relationship with his short-tempered father. But he fondly remembers the fishing trips he took with his dad each Sunday. Liao is now a fish biologist. He says that fish have taught him how to swim through life's rough currents

Welcome to This I Believe, an NPR series presenting the personal philosophies of remarkable¹ men and women from all walks of life.

I believe in mystery.
I believe in family.
I believe in being who I am.
I believe in the power of failure.
And I believe normal life is extraordinary.

Today a This I Believe essay about life’s obstacles from Jimmy Liao, he is the son of a seamstress and gym teacher from Taiwan. Liao was now a post-doctorate fellow in the department of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Here's our series curator, independent producer Jay Allison.

In addition to being a scientist, Jimmy Liao is an adventure sportsman, he skydives and bungee jumps for instance, but his believe and his scientific study derive² from a more venerable sporting activity, fishing. Here is Jimmy Liao with his essay for This I Believe.

I believe in using the turbulence³ in my life. I learned this studying fish.

My mother and father emigrated from Taiwan to New York City to raise a family. They bussed tables at a Chinese restaurant and worked double shifts for years. On Sundays, my father and I would go out with our fishing rods. I was 2 years old when I caught my first fish in Prospect⁴ Park with my dad. No water was off-limits: golf ponds, marble quarries⁵, private estates. We packed a lunch and we took off. Sometimes we got in trouble and laughed about it later when we told the stories. Our best times together were spent trying to catch a fish.

But there was another side to my father. He had a temper, and sometimes he got angry and would hit me. In those moments of uncontrolled rage he could only see things his way; he would never let me win an argument. I was held under his will, unable to break out. When I challenged him, he struck me in the face. It didn't break me, but it left me petrified⁶, powerless and resentful. Just the same, come Sunday, regardless of what happened that week, we would fish together.

Years later, I followed my interest in fish to graduate school in biology. I was always a good student, but was often wracked with insecurity. I didn't have much confidence. I felt it was beaten out of me. I tried to find my direction but just ended spinning around and dissipating my energy. Then one night something wonderful happened. I was researching how fish swim in turbulent flow and discovered that they could surf on swirling⁷ eddies⁸ without using much muscle. What I suddenly realized was that obstacles could actually help you struggle less. That was what I'd needed to know for a long time.

I dove into my experiments and published them quickly — culminating in an article that made the cover of Science magazine — and I received my Ph.D. from Harvard in 2004. My parents took a rare day off from the restaurant and were at my side holding my hand when I stood to receive my diploma on a cloudy afternoon in June.

I believe I can get around the obstacles in my life not by fighting them, but by yielding to them and pushing off from them. It is what Taoists call Wu Wei, literally⁹: to go with the flow. Now I can take the energy of my father's violence and move through it, to surge past that turbulence. I could let my father be himself without giving up on myself. This is different from forgiveness. It's the way I choose to define the events in my life — by my response to them.

There are natural streamlines¹⁰ in our lives. I find by letting go I can harness the complex currents of my life to propel me forward. It was the fish my dad introduced me to that finally taught me this.

Jimmy Liao with his essay for This I Believe. Liao signs his correspondence to us with the word “upstream”, if you be interested in writing for our series, we will invite you to visit npr.org/thisibelieve to find out more and to find a link to our podcast. For This I Believe, I’m Jay Allison.

Jay Allison is co-editor with Dan Gediman, John Gregory and Viki Merrick of the book This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women.

Support for this I believe comes from Prudential Retirement¹¹.

This I Believe is produced for NPR by This I Believe Incorporated Atlantic Public Media. For more essays in the series, please visit npr.org/thisibelieve.

1 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

2 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

3 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

4 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

5 quarries   

n.（采）石场( quarry的名词复数 )；猎物（指鸟，兽等）；方形石；（格窗等的）方形玻璃v.从采石场采得( quarry的第三人称单数 )；从（书本等中）努力发掘（资料等）；在采石场采石

参考例句：

• This window was filled with old painted glass in quarries. 这窗户是由旧日的彩色菱形玻璃装配的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They hewed out the stones for the building from nearby quarries. 他们从邻近的采石场开凿出石头供建造那栋房子用。 来自辞典例句

6 petrified   

adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• I'm petrified of snakes. 我特别怕蛇。
• The poor child was petrified with fear. 这可怜的孩子被吓呆了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

8 eddies   

（水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Viscosity overwhelms the smallest eddies and converts their energy into heat. 粘性制服了最小的旋涡而将其能量转换为热。
• But their work appears to merge in the study of large eddies. 但在大旋涡的研究上，他们的工作看来却殊途同归。

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 streamlines   

把…做成流线型( streamline的名词复数 )； 简化使效率更高； （系统、机构等）效率更高； （尤指）使增产节约

参考例句：

• In a junction, there is no fixed pattern of streamlines. 在接头中，流线没有固定图形。
• Small droplets tend to follow the streamlines of the air. 小水滴顺着气流运动。

11 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。