英语PK台 第463期:在强者法则世界里自强自立

 　　I used to suck at basketball. Gym class in middle school was the worst. I was always the last kid to be picked. The only reason I was even picked at all was because I was good friends with the best player in the class. I still remember how he would let out a heavy sigh of defeat before acknowledging, "I got Kevin."

　　True friendship.

　　我之前篮球打得很差。中学的体育课对我来说极其糟糕。谁都不愿意挑我当队友，唯一能被挑中的理由就是我跟班里打得最好的家伙是好朋友。至今我都不会忘记当他垂头丧气地说出“那我选Kevin吧”那一声沉重的叹息。真朋友，监定完毕。

　　In the eighth grade, I finally decided¹ I was sick and tired of being a scrub. I dedicated² that entire summer to getting better. I spent every day playing basketball, practicing for hours in the gym. I remember playing pick-up games with one group of kids until they all eventually got tired and left. Then a whole different group of kids would come in and I'd play with them too.

　　八年级时，我终于决定不想再当一个无用之人。我用了整整一个暑假来练球让自己变得更好。我每一天都在练习，在运动馆里一练就是好几小时。我记得和一群孩子“组队友”打比赛直到他们打累离开，然后我和另一群人继续比赛练习。

　　After months of this dedicated routine, something amazing started to happen. People began passing me the ball. They trusted me to take the shot. They even started picking me first to be on their team! The last game of organized basketball I ever played was the culmination³ of all my hard work. Against a team far more talented than mine, I scored 27 points. We still lost, but I walked away from that game feeling like a total champion.

　　在持续数月的投入的每天雷打不动的练习后，有一些令人惊讶的事开始发生了。有人开始把球传给我，他们信任我让我来投球。他们甚至第一个挑选我来当队友。我打过的最后一场组织赛堪称我所有努力成果的凝结，对手强于我们太多，我一人独得26分，虽然最后还是输了，但我离开战场的时候感觉自己像个冠军。

　　What I learned from those years of rejection⁴ and waiting to be picked was that life really isn't any different. Most of us spend our lives waiting for opportunities to land in our laps. What's worse, sometimes we feel entitled to them. And when things don't go our way — when no one picks us — we find something or someone to blame.

　　这些年我从被拒绝到一直等待被挑选的经历中领悟到生活并没有什么不同。大多数人花费一生等待着机会垂青，更糟糕的是，有时候我们甚至委身于此。一旦事情没有如愿，没有人挑选我们，我们就会归咎于一些人或一些事。

　　I could have complained when no one wanted me on their team. I could have convinced myself that I deserved to be picked. But I didn't. Instead, I took matters into my own hands and put in the work to become better.

　　当无人选我入队时，我本可以抱怨。我也可以说服自己令自己坚信我是值得被挑选的。但是我没有。相反，我掌握了主动权，努力让自己变得更好。

　　The problem with TV shows like American Idol⁵ and America's got talent is that these fool us into thinking we have to gain the approval of people who supposedly have the ability to determine our worth. That if we work hard and go through the motions, maybe our resume will catch the attention of that hiring manager; maybe our song will be picked up by that record label; maybe someone will give our dreams a fighting chance.

　　我们的电视节目诸如《美国偶像》和《美国达人秀》存在一些问题，它们总是误导我们我们相信我们必须获得认可，获得那些可能有能力决定我们价值的人的认可。比如只要我们努力工作，走个过场，敷衍一下，也许我们的简历就会吸引那个应聘经理的注意，也许我们的歌曲就会被唱片公司挑中，也许有人就会给我们的梦想一次奋斗的机会。

　　Is that any way to live? To have our fate controlled by a few people who in most cases don't even know us? I certainly don't think so. We have a choice. We can choose to create something meaningful, to move forward with our ideas. There's nothing stopping us from doing what we want to do. And here is how.

　　就这样活着吗？把我们的命运拱手交给那些少数人，大多数情况下他们甚至根本不了解我们。我绝不同意这观点。我们自己掌握决定权，我们可以选择创造一些有意义的东西，用想法带领自己前行。没有人和事可以阻碍我们做自己所想。那么，怎么去做呢？看下面

　　1) Stop making excuses!

　　停止给自己找借口

　　Do any of these sound familiar?

　　下面这些听着耳熟吗？

　　? I can't find a job because the economy is terrible.

　　我找不到工作因为经济太差了

　　? I'm not in good shape because I have bad genetics.

　　我身材不好因为我基因不行呀

　　? I can't work on my passion because I don't have enough time/money/motivation.

　　我没法充满激情地工作因为我没时间/没钱/没动力

　　Maybe you've thought those things yourself recently. However, here's the truth...

　　也许你最近确实想过这些事，但，事实是……

　　No one is going to save you. Waiting on someone to hand you a golden ticket means waiting forever. But choosing yourself—forging your own path and creating your own opportunities — that means you can make things happen today.

　　没人来救你。等着有人来给你一张“金色入场券”意味着你就永远这样等下去吧！但是你来选择——找到你自己的路，为自己创造机会，这就意味着你今天就能做点儿什么。

　　2)Stop fantasizing!

　　停止空想吧！

　　When people for example say, "I want to have my own business one day" but do nothing to move forward with their goals, because they are 'too busy', they're fantasizing. People choose to fantasize because it's easier to put off the work, but fantasizing gets you nowhere, it is dreaming of the impossible. Impossible, not because you're incapable⁶ of achieving it, but because you have no intention of doing the work required. Life is always going to hand us a bunch of "mandatory⁷" crap, and it's up to us to make room for the things that matter.

　　比如有人说：我希望有一天能有自己的生意。但是说了之后什么也不做，没有为自己的目标推进任何，因为他们“太忙了”。这样的人就是在做梦而已。人们愿意幻想，因为嘴上说说并不需要付诸努力。但是空想能让你成就什么？只不过是在做着一个不可能的梦而已。所谓的不可能，不是因为你能力达不到，而是因为你根本无意于动手去行动。生活总是会给我们一堆废物，不过一切取决于我们自己要不要给更好的想法留点空间。

　　3) Success isn't what you think it is!

　　成功不是你想的那样

　　The most common fear for anyone pursuing their dreams is, "What if I'm not successful?" The problem with that question is that most people's perception of success is skewed. We need to stop thinking of success as something that happens in the future. Success is doing, not just fantasizing. It's choosing to steer⁸ your ship and refusing to relinquish⁹ your fate to others. We can choose to be successful every single day. The results aren't the focus here. The process is.

　　大多数追逐梦想的人都有一种共同的恐惧：“如果我没成功怎么办？” 这个问题的错误在于大多数人关于成功的看法是扭曲的。我们需要停止认为成功是某种发生在未来的事。成功就是现在行动，而不是空想，是主动驾驶你的航船，拒绝将自己的命运拱手让与他人决定。每一天我们都可以选择成为成功的人。过程重于结果。

　　4)Take action!

　　马上行动

　　Want to be successful? Pick something you want to accomplish, then set a deadline for yourself every day. If you want to be a writer, start writing. If you want to be a music producer, start producing music. It's never been easier to command your destiny. There's no need to ask for permission, no need to wait for the nod of approval from industry executives, no need for anyone to give you a green light. Ironically, it's when we begin to pick ourselves that others start to pick us.

　　想要成功？找一些你想要达成之事，每天都给自己设一个“最后期限”。如果想当作家，就开始写作，如果想当音乐制作人就开始制作音乐。掌握自己的命运也不是那么难。不需要去征得谁的同意，不需要去等待业内人士点头认可，不必等待任何人给你绿灯放行。讽刺的是，一旦我们开始为自己做主时，别人对你的认可也就来了。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 culmination   

n.顶点；最高潮

参考例句：

• The space race reached its culmination in the first moon walk.太空竞争以第一次在月球行走而达到顶峰。
• It may truly be regarded as the culmination of classical Greek geometry.这确实可以看成是古典希腊几何的登峰造级之作。

4 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

5 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

6 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

7 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

8 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

9 relinquish   

v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手

参考例句：

• He was forced to relinquish control of the company.他被迫放弃公司的掌控权。
• They will never voluntarily relinquish their independence.他们绝对不会自动放弃独立。