人生不设限·第七章 跌倒七次，要爬起来八次
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.
但我从来不会一蹶不起。有句日本谚语说的正是我的成功公式：“跌倒七次，爬起来八次。”
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."
你失败，我失败。我们之中最厉害的人失败过，其他人也是。那些无法从挫败中站起来的人，常常把失败当结局。但我们应该记住，人生并非一试定终身，而是个试误的过程。那些成功的人都从愚蠢的错误中再站起来，因为他们觉得失败只是一时的，并视为可以学到东西的经验。所有我认识的成功人士都曾经搞砸过，但他们却常说，失败是他们得以成功的关键。倒下时，他们不会放弃，反而从中看出自己的问题，然后努力去寻找更具创意的解决方案：如果失败了五次，他们会更努力地再试五次。对此，丘吉尔有精辟的见解：“成功是从一个失败前进到另一个失败，其间却热情不减的能力。”
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."
如果你无法克服挫败，或许是因为你把失败个人化了。失败对你来说，最多不过是像三振[20]让一个伟大的棒球选手坐到板凳区一样，只要一直待在场子里并持续挥棒，你依然会是个巨炮，而不会因为失败就变成输家。如果你不愿意做该做的事，那你的问题不在失败，而在你自己。想要获得成功，你必须认为自己值得成功，然后负起责任，让成功实现。
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.
演讲时，我会这样示范我的失败哲学：倒下来、腹部着地，然后就这样继续跟听众讲话。你可能以为没有四肢的我不可能自己爬起来，我的听众也常常这么想。
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、妈妈说我一两岁时就开始教自己从水平位置爬起来。他们会放几个枕头，然后哄我利用枕头撑起身体，但我偏要用自己的方法——当然是困难的那种。我没有利用枕头，而是爬到墙壁、椅子或沙发旁边，用额头抵着它，然后一点一点地往上爬。
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.
这样做一点也不轻松，如果你愿意，可以试试看——腹部朝下趴在地板上，然后试着不借用手脚的力量跪起来。这个样子不太优雅，对吧?但是，站起来和倒在地上，哪个感觉比较好?你天生不是在地上打滚的，你要起身，一次一次又一次，直到全然释放你的潜力。
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.
我在演讲中示范起身的技巧时，偶尔也会出点小差错。如果是教室或会议室，我通常会在一个升起的平台、舞台或桌子上演讲。某次在一所学校，我在桌子上倒下后才知道，演讲开始前有人很好心地替桌面打了蜡，结果那桌面比奥运会的溜冰场还滑。我试着找个东西把上面的蜡刮掉，好让我可以使力，可惜我运气没那么好。结果我得当场停止这个示范课程，并且呼救：“谁能帮帮我?”真是够糗的。
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?"
还有一次，我在休斯敦向一群有头有脸的人进行募款演讲，其中包括佛罗里达州前州长杰比·布希(Jeb Bush)和他的妻子。在准备提到永不放弃的重要性时，我一如往常地倒下，腹部着地，听众也陷入沉默，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.
“我们时不时会遭遇失败，”我说，“但失败就像跌倒，你必须不断地站起来，永远不要放弃梦想。”
"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."
大家都听得很入神。正当我准备示范我有能力再站起来时，突然有个我从没见过的女人从演讲厅后头冲了出来。
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.
“我来帮你。”她说。
"Here, let me help you up," she said.
“可是，我不需要帮忙啊。”我咬牙切齿地轻声说道，“这是我演讲的一部分。”
"But I don't need any help," I whispered through gritted teeth. "This is part of my speech."
“别傻了，让我帮你吧。”她很坚持。
"Don't be silly. Let me help you," she insisted.
“这位女士，拜托你，我真的不需要帮忙，我现在正讲到重点。”
"Ma'am, please, I really don't need your help. I'm trying to make a point."
“好吧，亲爱的，如果你有把握的话。”说完她便转身回到自己的座位。
"Well, okay then, if you are sure, sweetie," she said before returning to her seat.
我想，听众看到这位女士坐下去，就跟看到我爬起来一样，都松了一口气吧!看到我光从地板上起身就要花费那么多力气，大家通常都很感动。他们对我的努力奋斗感同身受，因为我们每个人都历经挣扎。当你的计划碰上瓶颈，或是你遇到困难时，希望你也能记住这点，你的磨难是人类共有的经验。
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.
即使你的人生有明确的目标，而你也对未来充满希望与信心，懂得欣赏自己，保持正面态度，并且不让恐惧拖住你，你还是得承受挫折与失落。但千万不要认为失败等于毁灭或结束，因为你其实是在挣扎之中体验生命，你还在场子里。我们所面临的挑战可以让我们变得更强大、更好，并且准备得更充分，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.
