人生不設(shè)限·做個(gè)朋友，要快樂(lè)哦

要找到內(nèi)在的快樂(lè)，我建議你不要只把焦點(diǎn)放在自己身上，要用你的天賦、聰明才智和性格去幫助他人創(chuàng)造更美好的人生。我曾是接受的一方，而那樣做改變了我的生命，這么說(shuō)一點(diǎn)也不夸張。

My best advice for finding inner happiness is to reach outside yourself, to use your talents and brains and personality to make life better for someone else. I've been on the receiving end of that, and I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that it changed my life.

16歲時(shí)，我就讀于昆士蘭的朗孔高中。放學(xué)后，我通常必須等一兩個(gè)小時(shí)才有車(chē)回家，這段時(shí)間，我四處跟其他同學(xué)或阿諾先生聊天。阿諾先生很了不起，他不是校長(zhǎng)也不是老師，而是學(xué)校的工友，但他卻是個(gè)從內(nèi)在發(fā)光的人。他頗能自處，穿著工作服一樣怡然自得，所以每個(gè)人都很尊敬他，喜歡跟他在一起。

I was sixteen and a student at Runcorn State High School in Queensland. I usually had to wait an hour or so after school for my ride home. Most days I'd hang out talking to other kids or to a great guy named Mr. Arnold. He wasn't the principal or even a teacher. He was the school janitor. But Mr. Arnold was one of those people who glowed from within. He was so at peace with himself, so comfortable in his coveralls, that everyone respected him and enjoyed being around him.

阿諾先生什么都能聊，他充滿(mǎn)靈性，而且很有智慧。午餐時(shí)，他偶爾會(huì)跟一些年輕人討論基督信仰，也邀請(qǐng)我參加——即使我跟他說(shuō)，我對(duì)宗教不是那么有興趣。不過(guò)我很喜歡他這個(gè)人，所以也開(kāi)始參加他們的聚會(huì)。

Mr. Arnold could talk about any subject. He was spiritual and wise. On some days he led a Christian youth discussion at lunchtime. He invited me to join, even though I told him I wasn't big into religion. But I liked him, and so I began attending their sessions.

阿諾先生鼓勵(lì)大家談?wù)勛约旱纳?，但我總是拒絕。“說(shuō)嘛，力克，我們都想聽(tīng)聽(tīng)你的故事。”他說(shuō)，“我們想更認(rèn)識(shí)你，想多知道一些你的想法。”

Mr. Arnold encouraged kids to talk about their lives at these meetings, but I always turned down his invitations. "Come on, Nick, we'd like to hear your story," he'd say. "We want to know more about you and what you're thinking."

我拒絕了三個(gè)月。“我沒(méi)什么故事好講的。”我這么說(shuō)道。

For three months I refused. "I don't have a story to tell," I'd say.

最后因?yàn)槟ゲ贿^(guò)他，加上看到別的孩子都能坦然地說(shuō)出自己的感受和體驗(yàn)，于是我終于答應(yīng)下一次會(huì)跟大家聊聊我的事。我非常緊張，事前還準(zhǔn)備了寫(xiě)滿(mǎn)重點(diǎn)的卡片(很蠢，我知道)。

Finally Mr. Arnold wore me down. The other kids were very open about their feelings and their experiences, so I finally consented to talk about my own at the next meeting. I was so nervous, I prepared note cards with bullet points. (Nerdy, I know.)

我并沒(méi)有想要感動(dòng)誰(shuí)。我告訴自己，我只想把這件事做完，然后走人，就這樣。但是，有一部分我卻很想讓其他人知道，我也有跟他們一樣的感覺(jué)、傷痛和恐懼。

I wasn't expecting to impress anyone. I just wanted to get through it and get out of there, or so I told myself. A part of me also wanted to show the other kids that I had the same feelings, hurts, and fears that they'd expressed.

那天我大約花了十分鐘，談到?jīng)]手沒(méi)腳的成長(zhǎng)過(guò)程是什么狀況。我說(shuō)了難過(guò)的事，也提到好玩的事。另外，我不想讓自己像個(gè)受害者，因此也講到得意的事。而既然這是個(gè)基督徒的團(tuán)體，我于是提到有時(shí)我會(huì)覺(jué)得上帝遺忘了我，或者，我是他極少數(shù)的失誤。接著我向大家解釋我是如何慢慢了解到，或許上帝對(duì)我是有個(gè)計(jì)劃，只是我還不明白那是什么。

For ten minutes that day I talked about what it was like to grow up without arms and legs. I told sad stories and funny stories too. I didn't want to seem like a victim, so I talked about my victories. Since this was a Christian group, I did say that there had been times when I felt God had forgotten me, or that I'd been one of His rare mistakes. Then I explained how I'd gradually come to understand that maybe there was a plan for me that I just hadn't figured out yet.

“我正慢慢學(xué)著要有多一點(diǎn)信心，明白自己不是個(gè)失誤。”我加上這一句，試圖逗大家開(kāi)心。

"I'm slowly learning to have more faith that I wasn't a mistake," I said, trying to get a laugh.

總算講完了，我松了一口氣，覺(jué)得好想哭。然而讓我訝異的是，房間里大多數(shù)孩子反倒都哭了。

In truth, I was so relieved to get through my talk that I felt like crying. To my amazement, most of the kids in the room were crying instead.

“我有那么糟嗎?”我問(wèn)阿諾先生。

"Was I that bad?" I asked Mr. Arnold.

“不，力克，”他說(shuō)，“你好棒。”

"No, Nick," he said. "You were that good."

起先我覺(jué)得他只是好心，而這群孩子也只是假裝被我的演講感動(dòng)。畢竟他們是基督徒，為人本來(lái)就應(yīng)該很好。

At first I thought he was just being nice and the kids in the group were pretending to be moved by my speech. They were Christians, after all. They were supposed to be nice.

然而，之后有個(gè)人邀請(qǐng)我到他教會(huì)的青年聚會(huì)分享，另一個(gè)孩子則請(qǐng)我去他教會(huì)的主日學(xué)演講。接下來(lái)的兩年里，我應(yīng)邀到許多教會(huì)、青年團(tuán)體與服務(wù)性社團(tuán)分享我的故事。

But then one of the guys in the group invited me to speak to his church youth group. Then another invitation came from another kid for his Sunday school class. Over the next two years, I received dozens of invitations to share my story to church groups, youth organizations, and service clubs.

高中時(shí)期，我曾特地避開(kāi)基督徒團(tuán)體，因?yàn)槲也幌氡划?dāng)成整天傳教的宗教狂熱分子。我故意表現(xiàn)得很粗魯，有時(shí)還罵臟話(huà)，好讓人覺(jué)得我很“正常”而接納我。但事實(shí)上，是我還沒(méi)接納自己。

I had avoided Christian groups in high school because I didn't want to be labeled as the do-gooder preacher's kid who was all about religion. I acted tough and sometimes cursed so I could be accepted as a regular guy. The truth was that I had not yet accepted myself.

顯然，上帝頗有幽默感，他把我拉進(jìn)我努力想逃開(kāi)的團(tuán)體去演講。也就是在那里，上帝顯明了他對(duì)我人生的計(jì)劃。他讓我知道，即使我并不完美，但可以和人分享的東西卻很多，可以讓別人的人生過(guò)得更輕松的祝福也很豐富。

Obviously, God has a sense of humor. He wrangled me into speaking to just the group I had avoided, and it was there that He revealed my purpose in life. He showed me that even if I was not perfect, I had riches to share, blessings to lighten the burdens of others.

你也是一樣。我們都不完美，所以必須分享自己得到的美好饋贈(zèng)。向自己的內(nèi)在探尋吧，那兒有熠熠盛光，正等著發(fā)亮。

The same holds true for you. We share our imperfection. We need to share the beautiful gifts we've been given. Look inside. There is a light inside you just waiting to shine.