A true story has it that one elder man decided to jog around the local high school football field. As he huffed and puffed along, the team was in practice. The players soon started running sprints up and down the field. The man told himself, “I’ll just keep running until they quit.”

　　于是他不停地跑。他们也不停地跑。他还在跑，他们也继续跑着。他一直到彻底跑不动了才停下来。他精疲力竭地停了下来。其中一个队员，也累得精疲力竭，走过来对他说：“老兄，我很高兴你终于停下来了。教练告诉我们只要那个老家伙还在慢跑，你们就得继续跑下去！”他看着他们，而他们也在看着他。他任由他们设定了自己的标准，而他们却把决定权交予了他。

　　So he ran. And they ran. And he ran some more. And they kept running. And he kept running until he could finally run no more. He stopped in exhaustion. One of the players, equally exhausted, approached him and said, “Boy, I’m glad you finally stopped. Coach told us we had to keep running as long as the old guy was jogging!” He was watching them. They were watching him. He was letting them set his standard. They allowed him to set theirs.

　　我的问题是：你是在跟着别人的节奏吗？你是在让别人来设定你的标准吗？那么你自己在道德水准上的标准和原则呢？你想采取什么样的态度准则来对待生活呢？你是跟着周围的人的节奏呢，还是自己决定你的生活呢？事实是……只有你自己才有资格决定你的标准是什么。

　　My question is this: Are you keeping pace with somebody else? Are you allowing other people to set your standards for you? What about your standards, or principles, for moral behavior? Or guidelines for what kind of attitudes you want? Do you keep pace with those around you, or do you decide yourself just how you will live your life? The truth is... only you are qualified to determine what your standards will be.

　　将你的标准定得太低，你只会感到不满。但将标准定得高一些，你就会过得无比充实和满足。只有当你达到自己内心的最高境界时，你才能过得很好。

　　Set your standards too low, and you’ll know only discontent. But set high standards and you can live animmeasurably full and worthwhile life. For only when you reach for the best that is within yourself, will you experience great living.

　　是谁在制定你的标准呢?

　　Who is setting your standards?