人生不設(shè)限·第七章 跌倒七次，要爬起來八次

你可以想象，小時候，我有一段很長的跌倒和倒栽蔥史。我會從桌子、高腳椅、床、樓梯和斜坡掉下來，而且因?yàn)闆]有手可以止跌，我常常摔到下巴，更別提鼻子跟額頭了。我跌得遍體鱗傷的經(jīng)驗(yàn)可多呢。

As you might imagine, I had a long black-and-blue history of falls and face plants as a child. I toppled off tables, high chairs, beds, stairs, and ramps. Lacking arms to break my fall, I usually took it on the chin, not to mention the nose and forehead. I've gone down hard many times.

但我從來不會一蹶不起。有句日本諺語說的正是我的成功公式：“跌倒七次，爬起來八次。”

What I've never done is stay down. There is a Japanese proverb that describes my formula for success: "Fall seven times, stand up eight."

你失敗，我失敗。我們之中最厲害的人失敗過，其他人也是。那些無法從挫敗中站起來的人，常常把失敗當(dāng)結(jié)局。但我們應(yīng)該記住，人生并非一試定終身，而是個試誤的過程。那些成功的人都從愚蠢的錯誤中再站起來，因?yàn)樗麄冇X得失敗只是一時的，并視為可以學(xué)到東西的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。所有我認(rèn)識的成功人士都曾經(jīng)搞砸過，但他們卻常說，失敗是他們得以成功的關(guān)鍵。倒下時，他們不會放棄，反而從中看出自己的問題，然后努力去尋找更具創(chuàng)意的解決方案：如果失敗了五次，他們會更努力地再試五次。對此，丘吉爾有精辟的見解：“成功是從一個失敗前進(jìn)到另一個失敗，其間卻熱情不減的能力。”

You fail. I fail. The best of us fail, and the rest of us fail too. Those who never rise from defeat often see failure as final. What we all need to remember is that life is not a pass-fail test. It's a trial-and-error process. Those who succeed bounce back from their bonehead mistakes because they view their setbacks as temporary and as learning experiences. Every successful person I know has messed up at some point. Often, they say their mistakes were critical to their success. When they flopped, they didn't quit. Instead, they recognized their problems, worked harder, and searched for more creative solutions. If they failed five times, they tried five times harder. Winston Churchill captured the essence of it when he said, "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."

如果你無法克服挫敗，或許是因?yàn)槟惆咽€人化了。失敗對你來說，最多不過是像三振[20]讓一個偉大的棒球選手坐到板凳區(qū)一樣，只要一直待在場子里并持續(xù)揮棒，你依然會是個巨炮，而不會因?yàn)槭【妥兂奢敿摇Ｈ绻悴辉敢庾鲈撟龅氖?，那你的問題不在失敗，而在你自己。想要獲得成功，你必須認(rèn)為自己值得成功，然后負(fù)起責(zé)任，讓成功實(shí)現(xiàn)。

If you can't overcome your defeats, it may be that you have personalized them. Losing doesn't make you a loser any more than striking out makes a great baseball player a benchwarmer. As long as you stay in the game and keep swinging, you can still be a slugger. If you aren't willing to do the work required, then losing isn't your problem, you are the problem. To achieve success you have to feel worthy of it and then take responsibility for making it happen.

演講時，我會這樣示范我的失敗哲學(xué)：倒下來、腹部著地，然后就這樣繼續(xù)跟聽眾講話。你可能以為沒有四肢的我不可能自己爬起來，我的聽眾也常常這么想。

In my speeches, I demonstrate my philosophy on failure by flopping down on my belly and continuing to talk to the audience from that position. Given my lack of limbs, you might think that it would be impossible for me to get up on my own. My audiences often think that too.

我爸爸、媽媽說我一兩歲時就開始教自己從水平位置爬起來。他們會放幾個枕頭，然后哄我利用枕頭撐起身體，但我偏要用自己的方法——當(dāng)然是困難的那種。我沒有利用枕頭，而是爬到墻壁、椅子或沙發(fā)旁邊，用額頭抵著它，然后一點(diǎn)一點(diǎn)地往上爬。

My parents say I taught myself to rise up from a horizontal position as a toddler. They'd put pillows down and coax me to brace against them. But I had to do it my way, the hard way, of course. Instead of using the pillows, I'd crawl to a wall or a chair or couch, wedge my forehead against it to get leverage, then inch myself up.

這樣做一點(diǎn)也不輕松，如果你愿意，可以試試看——腹部朝下趴在地板上，然后試著不借用手腳的力量跪起來。這個樣子不太優(yōu)雅，對吧?但是，站起來和倒在地上，哪個感覺比較好?你天生不是在地上打滾的，你要起身，一次一次又一次，直到全然釋放你的潛力。

It's not the easiest thing to do. Try it if you like. Get on the floor on your stomach and try to rise to your knees without using your arms or legs for leverage. You don't feel very graceful, do you? But what feels better, rising up or staying down? That's because you weren't made to wallow on the ground. You were made to rise again and again and again until you have fully unleashed your potential.

我在演講中示范起身的技巧時，偶爾也會出點(diǎn)小差錯。如果是教室或會議室，我通常會在一個升起的平臺、舞臺或桌子上演講。某次在一所學(xué)校，我在桌子上倒下后才知道，演講開始前有人很好心地替桌面打了蠟，結(jié)果那桌面比奧運(yùn)會的溜冰場還滑。我試著找個東西把上面的蠟刮掉，好讓我可以使力，可惜我運(yùn)氣沒那么好。結(jié)果我得當(dāng)場停止這個示范課程，并且呼救：“誰能幫幫我?”真是夠糗的。

Now and then when I demonstrate my rising technique in my speeches, I'll run into a glitch of some sort. I usually speak from an elevated platform, a stage or even a desk or tabletop if we're in a classroom or a conference room. At one school appearance, I flopped down before I realized that someone with good intentions had spray-waxed the top of the table before my speech. It was slicker than an Olympic ice rink up there. I tried to rub a spot clean of the spray wax so I could get a grip, but no luck. It was a bit embarrassing when I had to give up on the lesson and call for help: "Could someone please give me a hand?"

還有一次，我在休斯敦向一群有頭有臉的人進(jìn)行募款演講，其中包括佛羅里達(dá)州前州長杰比·布希(Jeb Bush)和他的妻子。在準(zhǔn)備提到永不放棄的重要性時，我一如往常地倒下，腹部著地，聽眾也陷入沉默，一如往常。

On another occasion, I was speaking at a fundraiser in Houston to a large and distinguished audience, including Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, and his wife, Columba. As I prepared to talk about the importance of never giving up, I went down on my belly, as usual. The crowd fell silent, as usual.

“我們時不時會遭遇失敗，”我說，“但失敗就像跌倒，你必須不斷地站起來，永遠(yuǎn)不要放棄夢想。”

"We all fail from time to time," I said. "But failing is like falling. You just have to keep getting back up, never giving up on your dreams."

大家都聽得很入神。正當(dāng)我準(zhǔn)備示范我有能力再站起來時，突然有個我從沒見過的女人從演講廳后頭沖了出來。

The audience was really into it, but before I could demonstrate that even I have the ability to rise again, this woman I'd never met came scurrying up from the back of the room.

“我來幫你。”她說。

"Here, let me help you up," she said.

“可是，我不需要幫忙啊。”我咬牙切齒地輕聲說道，“這是我演講的一部分。”

"But I don't need any help," I whispered through gritted teeth. "This is part of my speech."

“別傻了，讓我?guī)湍惆伞?rdquo;她很堅(jiān)持。

"Don't be silly. Let me help you," she insisted.

“這位女士，拜托你，我真的不需要幫忙，我現(xiàn)在正講到重點(diǎn)。”

"Ma'am, please, I really don't need your help. I'm trying to make a point."

“好吧，親愛的，如果你有把握的話。”說完她便轉(zhuǎn)身回到自己的座位。

"Well, okay then, if you are sure, sweetie," she said before returning to her seat.

我想，聽眾看到這位女士坐下去，就跟看到我爬起來一樣，都松了一口氣吧!看到我光從地板上起身就要花費(fèi)那么多力氣，大家通常都很感動。他們對我的努力奮斗感同身受，因?yàn)槲覀兠總€人都?xì)v經(jīng)掙扎。當(dāng)你的計(jì)劃碰上瓶頸，或是你遇到困難時，希望你也能記住這點(diǎn)，你的磨難是人類共有的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

I think the audience was nearly as relieved to see her sit down as they were to see me get up! People often get emotional when they see what it takes for me to simply lift myself up from the floor. They relate to my struggle because we all struggle. You can take heart in that too when your plans hit a wall or hard times hit you. Your trials and tribulations are a part of life shared by the rest of humanity.

即使你的人生有明確的目標(biāo)，而你也對未來充滿希望與信心，懂得欣賞自己，保持正面態(tài)度，并且不讓恐懼拖住你，你還是得承受挫折與失落。但千萬不要認(rèn)為失敗等于毀滅或結(jié)束，因?yàn)槟闫鋵?shí)是在掙扎之中體驗(yàn)生命，你還在場子里。我們所面臨的挑戰(zhàn)可以讓我們變得更強(qiáng)大、更好，并且準(zhǔn)備得更充分，以迎接成功。

Even if you create a sense of purpose for your life, keep hoping for the possibilities, have faith in your future, appreciate your value, maintain a positive attitude, and refuse to let your fears hold you back, you will endure setbacks and disappointments. You should never think of failures as final, never equate them with death or dying, because the reality is that in your struggles you are experiencing life. You are in the game. The challenges we face can help make us stronger, better, and more prepared for success.