人生不設(shè)限·失敗帶來的禮物

失敗帶來的禮物

THE LESSONS OF LOSING

你可以將失敗視為禮物，因為它們常常會幫助你突破。那么，我們可以從失敗和挫折之中得到什么好處呢?我能想到的至少有四點：

You could view your failures as a gift because they often set you up for a breakthrough. So what benefits can be derived in defeat or setbacks? I can think of at least four valuable lessons failure gives us.

1.失敗是偉大的老師;

1. It is a great teacher.

2.失敗可以鑄造品格;

2. It builds character.

3.失敗可以給你動力;

3. It motivates you.

4.失敗讓你對成功心懷感恩。

4. It helps you appreciate success.

1.失敗是偉大的老師

It is a great teacher

沒錯，失敗是偉大的老師。每個勝利者都曾是失敗者，每個冠軍都得過第二名。費(fèi)德勒(Roger Federer)被視為史上最偉大的網(wǎng)球選手之一，但他也不是每一局、每一盤或每一場都贏，他也曾經(jīng)回?fù)魭炀W(wǎng)、發(fā)球過猛出界，每場比賽都有好幾十次沒辦法隨心所欲把球打到他想要的地方。如果費(fèi)德勒每次擊球失敗就放棄，那他就會是個失敗者;但相反地，他從失誤和失敗中學(xué)習(xí)，并且一直待在場子里。這就是為什么他會成為冠軍。

Yes, defeat is a great teacher. Every winner has played the loser. Every champion has been the runner-up. Roger Federer is considered one of the best tennis players of all time, but he doesn't win every game, set, or match. He hits bad shots into the net. He slams serves out of bounds. He fails to place the tennis ball where he wants it dozens of times in every match. If Roger gave up after every failed shot, he'd be a failure. Instead, he learns from his misses and his losses and stays in the game. That's why he is a champion.

費(fèi)德勒是不是一直試著完美出擊，希望每局、每盤、每場都贏?當(dāng)然是啊，而你在你所做的每件事情上也應(yīng)該如此。努力去做，勤于練習(xí)，掌握基本要領(lǐng)，然后永遠(yuǎn)全力以赴，并且要知道失敗在所難免，因為要精通某事，失敗是必經(jīng)之路。

Does Federer always try to hit the perfect shot and to win every game, set, and match? Certainly, and so should you in whatever you do. Work hard. Practice. Master the fundamentals, and always try to do your best, knowing that sometimes you will fail because failure is on the path to mastery.

我剛展開演說生涯時，常常連一個聽眾也沒有，我弟弟亞倫總是拿這件事來取笑我。

My younger brother teases me about my early years of developing as a speaker when I often failed to find an audience.

我會拜托學(xué)校和某些團(tuán)體給我個機(jī)會去演講，但通常會被拒絕，理由是我太年輕，沒有演講經(jīng)驗，或是外形太奇特之類的。有時我會感到挫折，但我也知道我正在學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)入這行，還在摸索成為一名成功的演說家需要懂些什么。

I'd beg schools and organizations for the chance to speak to them, but most turned me down as too young or too inexperienced or just too unusual. It was frustrating sometimes, but I knew I was still learning the ropes, figuring out what I needed to know to be a successful speaker.

亞倫讀高中時會載著我滿城跑，尋找愿意聽我演講的人，只有幾個也好。為了有個經(jīng)驗，我可以免費(fèi)演講。那時我的演講費(fèi)常被認(rèn)為太貴，因此我得一一打電話給布里斯班的每一所學(xué)校，表明我愿意免費(fèi)去講，但大部分的學(xué)校一開始都拒絕我，而每一個“下一次機(jī)會”都讓我更努力地去找下一個“好”。

When Aaron was in high school, he'd drive me all over the city searching for even a few people willing to listen to me. I'd speak for free just for the experience. Even then my price was often too high. I must have rung up every school in Brisbane offering my services at no charge. Most turned me down initially, but every no just made me push harder for the next yes.

“你都不曾想要放棄嗎?”亞倫問道。

"Don't you ever give up?" Aaron would say.

我沒有放棄，因為每當(dāng)我被拒絕時，我真的覺得很受傷，所以我知道我找到自己的熱情所在了。我真的想成為演說家。然而，就算我努力找到愿意聽我演講的人，事情也不總是很順利。在布里斯班的某所學(xué)校，我一開始就講得很糟，有事情讓我分了心，結(jié)果愈講愈亂，一直重復(fù)，搞得我汗流浹背，真想找個地洞鉆進(jìn)去，永遠(yuǎn)消失算了。我真的講得很爛，爛到我覺得風(fēng)聲一定會傳出去，然后這輩子大概不會有人再找我演講了。好不容易講完，離開那所學(xué)校時，我覺得自己簡直是個笑柄，我的名聲全毀了!

I didn't give up because every time I was turned down it hurt so much that I realized I'd found my passion. I really wanted to become a speaker. But even when I did manage to find an audience willing to listen to me, it didn't always go well. At one school in Brisbane, I started badly. Something distracted me, and I couldn't find my way back on track. I was sweating through my shirt. I kept repeating myself. I wanted to crawl off in a hole and never be seen again. I did so poorly I thought word would spread and I'd never be asked to speak in public for the rest of my life. When I finally finished and left the school, I felt like a laughingstock: my reputation was shot!

我們對自己可能都太嚴(yán)苛了——那天的我正是如此。然而，那次表現(xiàn)不佳卻讓我更專注于自己的夢想，努力磨煉表達(dá)能力。一旦你接受盡善盡美只是個目標(biāo)，把事情搞砸也就沒那么難以承受了。走錯的一步仍是一步，你因此學(xué)到一項教訓(xùn)，下次就有機(jī)會做對。

We can be our own harshest critics. I certainly was that day. But that flubbed performance made me focus even more on my dream. I worked at honing my presentation and delivery. Once you accept that perfection is just a goal, screwing up isn't so hard to handle. Each misstep is still a step, another lesson learned, another opportunity to get it right the next time.

我了解到，如果失敗了就放棄，你將永難再起。但假如你能從失敗中學(xué)到教訓(xùn)，并且一直全力以赴，就會得到回報——不只是獲得他人的認(rèn)可，也會因為知道自己確實盡全力地度過每一天，而得到滿足感。

I realized that if you fail and give up, you will never get up. But if you learn the lessons of failure and keep trying to do your best, the rewards will come—not just in the approval of others but in the fulfillment of knowing that you are making the most of every day allotted to you.

2.失敗可以鑄造品格

It builds character

把事情搞砸卻讓你變得更強(qiáng)、更適合成功，這種事可能嗎?當(dāng)然!沒能摧毀你的，會讓你變得更強(qiáng)壯、更專注、更有創(chuàng)造力，并且更堅定地追求夢想。你可能急于成功，這也沒什么不好，但耐性是美德，而失敗肯定會開發(fā)你這方面的特質(zhì)。相信我，我已經(jīng)學(xué)到我的計劃不一定吻合上帝定的時辰，他自有他的時間表，我們只能等待揭曉。

Is it possible that messing up can build you up and make you more fit for success? Yes! What does not destroy you can make you stronger, more focused, more creative, and more determined to pursue your dreams. You may be in a rush to succeed, and there is nothing wrong with that, but patience is a virtue too, and failure certainly will develop that trait in you. Believe me, I've learned that my schedule isn't necessarily in God's day planner. He has his own time line and the rest of us have to wait for it to unfold.

我在和山姆舅舅一起開創(chuàng)制造和行銷斜躺式自行車的事業(yè)時，真切地體會到這一點。

This lesson really hit me when I joined my uncle Sam Radojevic in a startup business to manufacture and market his recumbent bicycle called the Hippo Cycle. We began in 2006, and our company still hasn't taken off, but with each setback and mistake, we learn a little more and move a little closer to our goal. We are building a business and our characters too, no doubt about that. I've learned that sometimes even though you may be doing your best, it's not enough to make a business work. Timing can be critical too. The economy suffered a recession just as we launched the business. We've had to be patient, hang in there, and wait for the times and the trends to come back our way.

我們2006年就開始了，只是到現(xiàn)在生意都還沒開張，但每個挫折與失誤都讓我們多學(xué)習(xí)一點，也更靠近目標(biāo)一些。在建立事業(yè)的同時，我們無疑地也在鑄造自己的品格。我了解到，有時即使盡了全力，還是不足以讓事情順利開展，時機(jī)也很重要。這家公司創(chuàng)立時，正好碰上經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退，我們必須有耐心、堅持下去，等待時機(jī)和趨勢站到我們這邊來。有時你就是得等這個世界追上來。在真正做出一個能賣錢的燈泡之前，愛迪生的實驗失敗超過了一萬次，所以他說，許多自認(rèn)失敗的人真的不了解，當(dāng)他們放棄時，事實上已經(jīng)離成功很近了。盡管歷經(jīng)各種失敗，他們其實就快成功了;然而就在局勢即將轉(zhuǎn)向他們之前，這些人卻放棄了。

There will be times when you will have to wait for the world to catch up to you. Thomas Edison, who went through more than ten thousand failed experiments before he developed a commercial lightbulb, said most of those who consider themselves failures are people who did not realize how close to success they were when they gave up. They were almost there, going through failure, but still bound for success. But they gave up before the tide could turn for them.

你永遠(yuǎn)不知道會在下個轉(zhuǎn)角處碰見什么，或許那里有實現(xiàn)你夢想的方法。所以你必須振作起來，始終堅強(qiáng)，并持續(xù)奮斗。失敗了又怎樣?跌倒了又怎樣?愛迪生也說了：“每個錯誤的嘗試都能讓你往前邁進(jìn)一步。”

You never know what lies around the next corner. It could be the answer to your dreams. So you have to buck up, stay strong, and keep fighting. If you fail, so what? If you fall, so what? Edison also said: "Every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward."

如果你盡了全力，剩下的上帝會接手，該來的總是會來。你必須有強(qiáng)烈的求勝性格，而只要你愿意敞開胸懷接受，每次的失敗都能鑄造你的品格。

If you do your best, God will do the rest, and whatever is meant to come your way will come. You have to be strong of character to win, and every loss can be a character-building experience if you are open to it.

2009年，我到加州的橡樹基督教高中演講，這所小型學(xué)校的美式足球隊曾經(jīng)連續(xù)六次奪得聯(lián)盟冠軍。我去演講時，遇到學(xué)校的創(chuàng)辦人大衛(wèi)·普萊斯，這才了解他們的球隊是從哪里學(xué)到了品格的力量。

In 2009 I spoke at the Oaks Christian School in Westlake, California. This small school is known for being a giant killer on the football field.Their football team has won six consecutive conference championships. When I spoke there, I met the founder of the school, David Price, and I realized where Oaks Christian athletic teams learned about strength of character.

大衛(wèi)曾經(jīng)是名律師，在好萊塢一家大型律師事務(wù)所工作，客戶包括電影明星和制片廠。之后，他替一位企業(yè)家工作，那位企業(yè)家在加州各地?fù)碛新灭^、度假區(qū)和土地，包括幾處高爾夫球場。大衛(wèi)善于經(jīng)營，他發(fā)現(xiàn)大部分的高爾夫球場都經(jīng)營不善，因為這些球場的經(jīng)營者通常是高爾夫球?qū)I(yè)人士，而他們從來沒好好學(xué)過經(jīng)營實務(wù)。

David had been an attorney in a big Hollywood law firm with movie stars and movie studios as clients. He then went to work for an entrepreneur who owned hotels and resorts along with land all over California, including several golf courses. David was adept at managing businesses, and he saw that most golf courses were poorly run because they were usually operated by golf professionals who had never learned good business practices.

有一天，大衛(wèi)跟他的老板說，他想向老板買一座高爾夫球場。

One day David went to his boss and said he wanted to buy a golf course from him.

“首先，你是我的員工，我為什么要賣東西給你?其次，你根本不懂高爾夫球。最后，你又沒錢。”他的老板說道。

"First of all, you work for me," the boss said, "so why should I sell you anything? Secondly, you know nothing about golf. And thirdly, you have no money!"

一開始，大衛(wèi)沒辦法說服老板，但他并未放棄。他堅持不懈，發(fā)揮纏功，直到老板相信他的夢想，終于把他想要的高爾夫球場賣給他。這是大衛(wèi)擁有或承租的350所高爾夫球場的第一所。

David failed to convince his boss at first, but he didn't give up. He persevered. He kept pestering him until the boss bought into David's dream and sold him the golf course he wanted. It was just the first of more than 350 golf courses that David eventually owned or leased.

后來當(dāng)高爾夫球場的生意走下坡時，大衛(wèi)就把球場賣掉。如今，他在全美各地購買、承租和經(jīng)營機(jī)場。大衛(wèi)從失敗中學(xué)到些什么?耐心和毅力，這是肯定的。他從未放棄夢想，當(dāng)高爾夫球市場衰退時，他審慎評估，然后了解到自己真正的專長并不是經(jīng)營高爾夫球場，而是經(jīng)營事業(yè)，因此他便把這項技能轉(zhuǎn)到別的領(lǐng)域。

Then when the golf course business suffered a downturn, David sold out. Now he buys, leases, and manages airports around the country. What did David learn from failure? Patience and perseverance, for sure. He never gave up on his dream. When the market dropped in the golf business, David also took stock and realized that his real skill wasn't managing golf courses, it was managing businesses. So he simply transferred that skill over to another arena.

大衛(wèi)目前是我“沒有四肢的人生”這個非營利組織的董事會成員，他告訴我，承受的困難愈大，品格的力量愈強(qiáng)。“力克，如果你生來四肢健全，我不認(rèn)為你有一天會像沒有四肢一樣成功。”大衛(wèi)說道，“如果不是因為只要一看見你的樣子，立刻就能了解你已經(jīng)將令人難以置信的負(fù)面事物轉(zhuǎn)為正面，會有多少孩子愿意聽你說話?”

David, who is now on the board of my Life Without Limbs nonprofit organization, told me the bigger the challenges we endure, the greater our strength of character. "Nick, if you'd been born with arms and legs, I don't think you would be as successful as you will become without them one day," David said. "How many kids would listen to you if they couldn't see right away that you have turned what should have been an incredible negative into something so positive?"

當(dāng)你遭遇挑戰(zhàn)時，請記住大衛(wèi)的話。每條堵住的路，都有一個出口，每一種“無能為力”之中都有“能力”。你來到這個世界是有作用的，所以不要因為輸了一次就認(rèn)為永遠(yuǎn)不可能贏。只要活著，總會有出路。

Remember those words when you experience challenges. For every blocked path, there is an open one. For every "disability," there is an ability. You were put on this earth to serve a purpose, so don't ever let a loss convince you that there are no ways to win. As long as you draw breath with the rest of us mortals, there is always a way.

我很高興自己失敗過卻不屈不撓。我所遇到的挑戰(zhàn)讓我更有耐心，也更頑強(qiáng)，這些特質(zhì)在我的工作與休閑生活當(dāng)中隨處可見。我最喜歡的活動是釣魚，爸爸、媽媽在我6歲時第一次帶我去，他們會把我的釣竿固定在地上，或者放在支架上，直到有魚兒上鉤。這時我就會用下巴壓住釣竿，跟魚兒比持久戰(zhàn)，直到有人來幫我。

I'm grateful that I've failed and persevered. My challenges made me more patient and more tenacious too. Those traits have come in handy in my work and in my play. One of my favorite ways to relax is to go fishing. My parents first took me when I was just six years old. They'd stick my pole in the ground or in a holder until I got a bite. Then I'd tuck my chin around the pole and hold on to the fish until someone could come and help me.

有一天我釣運(yùn)不佳，但還是不氣餒，只管盯著釣線，足足盯了三個小時。雖然太陽已經(jīng)把我烤得酥脆紅透，但我下定決心那天非釣到一條魚不可。爸爸、媽媽到下游去釣了，所以當(dāng)魚兒咬餌時，那里只有我一個人。我用腳趾踩著手上的魚線，并且大叫：“爸、媽!”然后他們就跑了過來。當(dāng)爸爸、媽媽拉起釣線時，發(fā)現(xiàn)那條魚竟然有我兩倍大。如果我沒有堅持下去，放開腳趾，就不可能把這條魚釣上來。

On one day I wasn't having much luck, but I hung in there, watching my line for three hours straight. The sun roasted me to a crispy crimson, but I was determined to catch a fish that day. My parents had wandered off, fishing down the shoreline, so I was alone when a fi sh finally hit my bait. I stomped my hand line with my toes and screamed "Mum! Dad!" until they came running.

當(dāng)然，失敗也能塑造出謙卑的性格。我高中的會計課不及格，這是個讓人謙卑的經(jīng)驗。

When they pulled it in, that fish was twice my size. But I never would have landed him if I hadn't hung in there and refused to let go with my toe.

我很怕自己并未具備成為數(shù)字高手的能耐，但我的老師鼓勵我、指導(dǎo)我。我不停地研讀，幾年后，我取得會計與財務(wù)規(guī)劃雙學(xué)位。

Of course, failure can also build humility into your character. I failed in my high school accounting class, which was a humbling experience. I was afraid that maybe I didn't have what it took to be a numbers cruncher, but my teacher encouraged me and tutored me. I studied and studied, and years later I earned a double degree in accounting and financial planning.

當(dāng)我還是個學(xué)生時，很需要學(xué)習(xí)謙卑的功課，我必須失敗，如此才能明白我并未知道所有該知道的。而最終，謙遜讓我變得更強(qiáng)。作家多瑪斯·牟敦(Thomas Merton)說：“謙卑的人不怕失敗。事實上，他毫無所懼，甚至也不擔(dān)心自己，因為全然的謙卑意味著對上帝的力量有全然的信心——在上帝之前，其他任何力量都沒有意義，對他而言也沒有所謂的障礙。”

I needed that lesson in humility when I was a student. I needed to fail so I could learn that I didn't know all I needed to know. In the end, humility made me stronger. The writer Thomas Merton said, "A humble man is not afraid of failure. In fact, he is not afraid of anything, even of himself, since perfect humility implies perfect confidence in the power of God before Whom no other power has any meaning and for Whom there is no such thing as an obstacle."

3.失敗可以給你動力

It motivates you

我們對失敗或挫敗的回應(yīng)可以是絕望與放棄，但也可以選擇將挫折、失敗視為學(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)驗和改進(jìn)的動力。我有個朋友是健身教練，我聽過他對舉重訓(xùn)練的學(xué)員說：“去失敗吧!”這句話真是鼓舞人心啊，不是嗎?但他這么說的理論是，練舉重時，你一直增加重量，直到肌力全部耗盡，然后下一次，你就可以試著超越那個極限，打造更多的力量。

We can choose to respond to loss or failure by despairing and giving up, or we can let the loss or failure serve as a learning experience and motivation to do better. A friend of mine is a fitness instructor, and I've heard him tell clients who are bench-pressing weights to "go to failure." Now that's encouraging, isn't it? But the theory is that you keep pumping the iron until your muscles are exhausted so that next time you can try to exceed that limit and build more strength.

無論運(yùn)動或工作，成功的關(guān)鍵之一就是練習(xí)。我把練習(xí)想成通往成功的失敗經(jīng)驗，而我可以提供一個絕佳案例，故事主角是我和我的手機(jī)?；蛟S你覺得智能型手機(jī)是偉大的發(fā)明，但是對我來說，這可是天上掉下來的禮物。有時我不禁要想，發(fā)明智能手機(jī)的人一定想到了我這種人，才會設(shè)計出這樣的裝置，讓沒手沒腳的我可以用這種手機(jī)講電話、發(fā)E-mail、傳短信、放音樂、錄下講道信息和備忘錄，還可以查詢天氣和世界大事——這一切，只靠我的腳趾頭就能搞定。

One of the keys to success in any sport and in your work too is practice. I think of practice as failing toward success, and I can give you a perfect example that involves me and my cell phone. You may think the smart phone is a great invention, but for me it is a gift from heaven. Sometimes I think the inventors must have had me in mind when they created a single device that even a guy without arms or legs can use to talk on the telephone, send e-mails, text messages, play music, tape-record sermons and memos, and keep up with the weather and world events just by tapping it with my toes.

不過，智能手機(jī)也不是完全為我設(shè)計的，因為我全身上下唯一可以操作觸控式屏幕的地方，距離我說話的部位也太遠(yuǎn)了點兒。大部分時間我可以使用擴(kuò)音器，但是在機(jī)場或餐廳等公共場所時，我并不想讓周遭的人都聽見我在說什么。

The smart phone isn't quite perfectly designed for me since the only part of me that can use the touch screen is a long way from the part of me that can talk! I can use the speaker feature most of the time, but when I'm in an airport or a restaurant, I don't want to share my conversations with everyone around me.

我必須想出一個辦法，讓我在用腳撥號后可以把手機(jī)固定在比較靠近嘴巴的地方。我所想出來的法子為“折疊式手機(jī)”這個名詞下了新的定義[21]，也讓我學(xué)到鼻青臉腫的一課，了解失敗在成功當(dāng)中扮演的角色。我足足花了一個星期練習(xí)，試著用我的小左腳把手機(jī)拋到肩膀上，再用臉頰和下巴固定住手機(jī)，這樣我就可以講電話了。(小朋友千萬不要學(xué)!)你可以想象我在練習(xí)的過程中失敗了許多次，而且因為甩手機(jī)時被打到，我的臉上有一堆烏青，看起來就像被滿滿一袋硬幣打到似的。

I had to figure out a way to position my cell phone closer to my mouth once I'd dialed it with my foot. The method I devised gives new meaning to the term "flip phone" and offers a bruising lesson in the role of failure in success. I spent a good week trying to use my little foot to flip my phone onto my shoulder, where I'd pin it down with my chin so I could talk on it. (Kids, don't try this at home!) During this trial-and-error period, you can believe I failed in many attempts. My face had so many bruises from getting hit by the phone that I looked like I'd been smacked with a bag full of nickels.

我只在旁邊沒人的時候練習(xí)，不然人家會以為我是個手機(jī)自虐狂。我不會讓你知道我的頭和鼻子被手機(jī)打到過多少次;也不會告訴你，為了精通這項技術(shù)，我弄壞了幾部手機(jī)。我受得了被打幾下，受得了壞幾部手機(jī)，但我受不了放棄這件事。

I only practiced when no one was around, because if someone had seen me, they might have thought I was into cellular self-abuse. I won't tell you how many times I whacked myself in the head or nose with my cell phone—or how many cell phones died in the mastery of the task. I could afford to take a few hits and to replace a few cell phones. What I couldn't afford to do was give up.

手機(jī)每次打到我的臉，都會給我動力，讓我更想練好這個絕招，最后，我辦到了!不過人生就是這樣，我練好沒多久，藍(lán)牙頭戴式耳機(jī)就出現(xiàn)了。于是我那著名的手機(jī)拋接功夫成了科技遺風(fēng)，最多就是當(dāng)朋友無聊時，我拿來娛樂大家。

Every time that cell phone cracked me in the face, I became more and more motivated to master the feat, and eventually I did! Of course, as fate would have it, shortly after I finally mastered the skill, the tech world came out with Bluetooth headsets that rest in your ear. Now my famous cell-phone flip is a relic of technology past and it's just something I do to entertain friends when they're bored.

希望你可以把失敗和跌倒視為激勵的來源。未達(dá)期望、被三振、犯錯或搞砸沒什么可恥的，可恥的是你沒有從失誤中得到動力，努力讓自己在場子里存活更久。

I encourage you to look at your own setbacks and pratfalls as sources of motivation and inspiration. There's no shame in falling short, striking out, tripping up, or screwing up. It's only a shame if you don't use the motivation from your misses and miscues to try harder and stay in the game.

4.失敗讓你對成功心懷感恩

It helps you appreciate success

失敗帶來的第四個禮物是：它會讓人懂得對成功心懷感激。相信我，被手機(jī)打了一個星期之后，當(dāng)我終于有辦法將它固定在肩上時，我的內(nèi)心充滿無限的感恩。事實上，你為了實現(xiàn)目標(biāo)付出愈多，最后終于成功時，心里就會愈感激。有多少次，在取得重大勝利后，你回首來時路，心里覺得漫長奮戰(zhàn)之后的成功果實真是甜美啊!承認(rèn)吧，爬山的過程愈辛苦，山頂?shù)木爸戮陀鷦尤恕?/p>

The fourth gift of failure is that it serves as success appreciation class. Believe me, after a week of being whapped by my bad cell-phone flips, I felt enormous appreciation when I finally nailed the landing on my shoulder. In fact, the harder you have to work to achieve a goal, the more you will appreciate it. How many times have you looked back from a big victory and thought how sweet it was to finally triumph after your long struggle? Admit it, the tougher the climb, the better the view at the top.

小時候，我最喜歡的《圣經(jīng)》故事是約瑟的故事。約瑟深受父親喜愛，但有些驕傲，后來被嫉妒他的哥哥們賣去當(dāng)奴隸。他有很長一段時間過得很苦，被人誣陷而坐牢，一次又一次地被他所信賴的人背叛。然而，約瑟并未放棄。他沒有被苦難和失敗擊倒，堅忍不拔，最后成為埃及的管理者，并拯救了他的同胞。

One of my favorite childhood Bible stories was that of Joseph, the favored but proud son whose jealous brothers sold him into slavery. Joseph had a rough go for a long time. He was falsely accused of a crime, thrown into prison, and betrayed time and again by people he trusted. But Joseph didn't give up. He didn't let bitterness or failure defeat him. He persevered to become the ruler of Egypt who saved his people.

約瑟奮斗與登上高位的過程，有許多值得學(xué)習(xí)的地方。我從他的故事中了解到：沒有經(jīng)歷痛苦，成功就不會到來。盡管我的人生肯定比大多數(shù)人艱難，但這世上還是有人承受比我更大、更多的苦，而他們也成就了更大、更多的事。另外，盡管上帝愛我們，但他并未承諾要給我們一個輕松好過的人生。最后我看到，一旦約瑟擺脫他所遭受的眾多苦難與背叛，他成了偉大而公正的埃及首相，品嘗勝利的滋味。

There are many lessons to draw from Joseph's struggles and his ultimate ascension to the throne. One I learned is that success may not come without pain. Joseph's trials helped me understand that while my life certainly seemed harder than most, others suffered more yet endured and achieved greatness. I saw that while God loves us, He makes no promises that life will be easy. And finally, I saw that once Joseph emerged from his many trials and betrayals, he savored his triumph by becoming a great and just king.

當(dāng)你全心全意實現(xiàn)某個目標(biāo)時，一路上會經(jīng)歷磨難、苦痛，然而一旦突破困境，所得到的成就感又是那么美妙，讓你只想以它為寄托，繼續(xù)成長，不是嗎?我認(rèn)為這樣的心態(tài)正是讓人類能夠走到這番境地的主要原因之一。我們慶祝艱苦的勝利，不只是因為我們努力存活了下來，也是因為人天生就是要持續(xù)成長，并尋求更高層次的成就感。

When you put your whole heart into achieving a goal and you go through great pain and suffering along the way, the feeling of achievement once you break through is so incredible that you just want to build on it, don't you? I don't think that is an accident. It may be one of the main reasons humankind has come so far. We celebrate tough victories not because we survived the effort but because our nature is to keep growing and seeking even higher levels of fulfillment.

當(dāng)上帝要我為目標(biāo)努力再努力，在我的人生路上設(shè)了一個接一個的路障時，我真心相信這是他要我為將來更棒、更美好的日子作準(zhǔn)備。他向我們提出挑戰(zhàn)，因為他知道一旦經(jīng)歷失敗，我們就會成長。

In those times when God makes me work harder and harder for my goals, putting one stumbling block after another in my path, I truly believe that He is preparing me for bigger and better days. He throws challenges at us because He knows that when we go through failure, we grow.

當(dāng)我回想自己在那么小的年紀(jì)必須克服的一切——痛苦、不安、傷害和孤獨，我并不覺得難過，而是心懷謙卑與感恩，因為戰(zhàn)勝那么多挑戰(zhàn)之后，我覺得成功的果實更加甜美。最終，苦難讓我變得強(qiáng)壯，而且更重要的是，我因此更有能力去接觸其他人。如果不是自己承受過那么多苦，我根本沒辦法幫別人處理他們的痛苦，沒辦法感同身受。接近青春期時，知道自己克服了些什么讓我更有自信，而這種新的自信反過來讓別的孩子愿意接近我，我的身邊總是圍繞著一大群男男女女的朋友。被人家注意真好!我總是會駕著輪椅在校園里晃，沐浴在眾人的溫暖之中。

Looking back at all I had to overcome at such a young age—the pain, the insecurity, the hurt, the loneliness—I don't feel sad. I feel humbled and grateful because I overcame those challenges that make my successes all the sweeter. In the end, they made me stronger, and, more important, they made me better equipped to reach out to others. Without my pain I would never be able to help anybody else deal with their pain. I wouldn't be able to relate so well with other people. As I approached my teen years, the knowledge of what I'd overcome made me more confident. That new level of self-confidence, in turn, attracted other kids to me. I formed a big circle of male and female friends. I loved the attention! I'd wheel around school basking in the warmth.

最后，你知道的，總是會走到“政治”這一塊。我鼓起勇氣競選學(xué)生會主席，這是全校1200位學(xué)生的領(lǐng)袖——我們學(xué)校采用初中、高中混合制，是澳大利亞昆士蘭最大的中學(xué)之一。

Of course, you know where that led—to politics. I summoned the courage to run for the school captain—which was the presidency of the entire student body of twelve hundred kids at MacGregor State School, which was like a combined junior high and high school and one of the largest schools in Queensland.

我不但是學(xué)校第一位競選學(xué)生會主席的身障學(xué)生，對手還是學(xué)校有史以來最好的運(yùn)動員之一——馬修·馬凱(Matthew McKay)，他現(xiàn)在是澳大利亞知名的足球選手。班上同學(xué)提名我去競選學(xué)生會主席，讓我很驚訝，而我的老師也鼓勵我參選。我以多樣性與多元文化主義為政見，競選承諾包括在運(yùn)動會舉辦輪椅大賽。

Not only was I the first physically disabled kid to run for school captain, I was running against one of the best athletes in the school's history—Matthew McKay, who is now a famous soccer player in Australia. My teacher, Mrs. Hurley, encouraged me to run after I was surprised to be nominated by my classmates. I ran on a platform of diversity and multiculturalism, and my campaign promise was to hold wheelchair races on school sports day.

結(jié)果我獲得壓倒性的勝利(抱歉了，馬修)。媽媽到現(xiàn)在還保留著當(dāng)時《信使郵報》相關(guān)報道的剪報，上面有一張我很大的照片，標(biāo)題則封我為“勇氣主席”。

I won in a landslide (sorry Matthew). My mum still has a clip from the Courier-Mail newspaper, which featured a big photograph and story with a headline hailing me as "Captain Courageous."

那篇報道引述了我的話：“我覺得輪椅上的孩子都應(yīng)該去嘗試每一件事!”

The same newspaper quoted me as saying: "All wheelchair kids, I reckon, should just give everything a go."

我青春時期的這句口號，可能不像耐克的“Just Do It”那么響亮，但對我來說也很有用。你會失敗，因為你是人類;你會跌倒，因為道路崎嶇。但你要知道，失敗也是生命禮物的一部分，所以要把它們利用到極致?；锇閭儯灰Ｏ聛?，去嘗試每一件事吧!

My boyhood slogan may not be as recognized as Nike's "Just Do It!" but it served me well. You will fail because you are human. You will fall because the path is rough. But know that your failures too are part of the gift of life, so put them to their highest use. Don't stop, mate. Give everything a go!