人生不设限·失败带来的礼物
THE LESSONS OF LOSING
你可以将失败视为礼物，因为它们常常会帮助你突破。那么，我们可以从失败和挫折之中得到什么好处呢?我能想到的至少有四点：
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.失败是伟大的老师;
1. It is a great teacher.
2.失败可以铸造品格;
2. It builds character.
3.失败可以给你动力;
3. It motivates you.
4.失败让你对成功心怀感恩。
4. It helps you appreciate success.
1.失败是伟大的老师
It is a great teacher
没错，失败是伟大的老师。每个胜利者都曾是失败者，每个冠军都得过第二名。费德勒(Roger Federer)被视为史上最伟大的网球选手之一，但他也不是每一局、每一盘或每一场都赢，他也曾经回击挂网、发球过猛出界，每场比赛都有好几十次没办法随心所欲把球打到他想要的地方。如果费德勒每次击球失败就放弃，那他就会是个失败者;但相反地，他从失误和失败中学习，并且一直待在场子里。这就是为什么他会成为冠军。
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.
费德勒是不是一直试着完美出击，希望每局、每盘、每场都赢?当然是啊，而你在你所做的每件事情上也应该如此。努力去做，勤于练习，掌握基本要领，然后永远全力以赴，并且要知道失败在所难免，因为要精通某事，失败是必经之路。
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.
我刚展开演说生涯时，常常连一个听众也没有，我弟弟亚伦总是拿这件事来取笑我。
My younger brother teases me about my early years of developing as a speaker when I often failed to find an audience.
我会拜托学校和某些团体给我个机会去演讲，但通常会被拒绝，理由是我太年轻，没有演讲经验，或是外形太奇特之类的。有时我会感到挫折，但我也知道我正在学习进入这行，还在摸索成为一名成功的演说家需要懂些什么。
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.
亚伦读高中时会载着我满城跑，寻找愿意听我演讲的人，只有几个也好。为了有个经验，我可以免费演讲。那时我的演讲费常被认为太贵，因此我得一一打电话给布里斯班的每一所学校，表明我愿意免费去讲，但大部分的学校一开始都拒绝我，而每一个“下一次机会”都让我更努力地去找下一个“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.
“你都不曾想要放弃吗?”亚伦问道。
"Don't you ever give up?" Aaron would say.
我没有放弃，因为每当我被拒绝时，我真的觉得很受伤，所以我知道我找到自己的热情所在了。我真的想成为演说家。然而，就算我努力找到愿意听我演讲的人，事情也不总是很顺利。在布里斯班的某所学校，我一开始就讲得很糟，有事情让我分了心，结果愈讲愈乱，一直重复，搞得我汗流浃背，真想找个地洞钻进去，永远消失算了。我真的讲得很烂，烂到我觉得风声一定会传出去，然后这辈子大概不会有人再找我演讲了。好不容易讲完，离开那所学校时，我觉得自己简直是个笑柄，我的名声全毁了!
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!
我们对自己可能都太严苛了——那天的我正是如此。然而，那次表现不佳却让我更专注于自己的梦想，努力磨炼表达能力。一旦你接受尽善尽美只是个目标，把事情搞砸也就没那么难以承受了。走错的一步仍是一步，你因此学到一项教训，下次就有机会做对。
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，如果失败了就放弃，你将永难再起。但假如你能从失败中学到教训，并且一直全力以赴，就会得到回报——不只是获得他人的认可，也会因为知道自己确实尽全力地度过每一天，而得到满足感。
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.失败可以铸造品格
It builds character
把事情搞砸却让你变得更强、更适合成功，这种事可能吗?当然!没能摧毁你的，会让你变得更强壮、更专注、更有创造力，并且更坚定地追求梦想。你可能急于成功，这也没什么不好，但耐性是美德，而失败肯定会开发你这方面的特质。相信我，我已经学到我的计划不一定吻合上帝定的时辰，他自有他的时间表，我们只能等待揭晓。
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开创制造和行销斜躺式自行车的事业时，真切地体会到这一点。
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.
我们2006年就开始了，只是到现在生意都还没开张，但每个挫折与失误都让我们多学习一点，也更靠近目标一些。在建立事业的同时，我们无疑地也在铸造自己的品格。我了解到，有时即使尽了全力，还是不足以让事情顺利开展，时机也很重要。这家公司创立时，正好碰上经济衰退，我们必须有耐心、坚持下去，等待时机和趋势站到我们这边来。有时你就是得等这个世界追上来。在真正做出一个能卖钱的灯泡之前，爱迪生的实验失败超过了一万次，所以他说，许多自认失败的人真的不了解，当他们放弃时，事实上已经离成功很近了。尽管历经各种失败，他们其实就快成功了;然而就在局势即将转向他们之前，这些人却放弃了。
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.
你永远不知道会在下个转角处碰见什么，或许那里有实现你梦想的方法。所以你必须振作起来，始终坚强，并持续奋斗。失败了又怎样?跌倒了又怎样?爱迪生也说了：“每个错误的尝试都能让你往前迈进一步。”
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."
如果你尽了全力，剩下的上帝会接手，该来的总是会来。你必须有强烈的求胜性格，而只要你愿意敞开胸怀接受，每次的失败都能铸造你的品格。
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，我到加州的橡树基督教高中演讲，这所小型学校的美式足球队曾经连续六次夺得联盟冠军。我去演讲时，遇到学校的创办人大卫·普莱斯，这才了解他们的球队是从哪里学到了品格的力量。
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.
大卫曾经是名律师，在好莱坞一家大型律师事务所工作，客户包括电影明星和制片厂。之后，他替一位企业家工作，那位企业家在加州各地拥有旅馆、度假区和土地，包括几处高尔夫球场。大卫善于经营，他发现大部分的高尔夫球场都经营不善，因为这些球场的经营者通常是高尔夫球专业人士，而他们从来没好好学过经营实务。
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，大卫跟他的老板说，他想向老板买一座高尔夫球场。
One day David went to his boss and said he wanted to buy a golf course from him.
“首先，你是我的员工，我为什么要卖东西给你?其次，你根本不懂高尔夫球。最后，你又没钱。”他的老板说道。
"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!"
一开始，大卫没办法说服老板，但他并未放弃。他坚持不懈，发挥缠功，直到老板相信他的梦想，终于把他想要的高尔夫球场卖给他。这是大卫拥有或承租的350所高尔夫球场的第一所。
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.
后来当高尔夫球场的生意走下坡时，大卫就把球场卖掉。如今，他在全美各地购买、承租和经营机场。大卫从失败中学到些什么?耐心和毅力，这是肯定的。他从未放弃梦想，当高尔夫球市场衰退时，他审慎评估，然后了解到自己真正的专长并不是经营高尔夫球场，而是经营事业，因此他便把这项技能转到别的领域。
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.
大卫目前是我“没有四肢的人生”这个非营利组织的董事会成员，他告诉我，承受的困难愈大，品格的力量愈强。“力克，如果你生来四肢健全，我不认为你有一天会像没有四肢一样成功。”大卫说道，“如果不是因为只要一看见你的样子，立刻就能了解你已经将令人难以置信的负面事物转为正面，会有多少孩子愿意听你说话?”
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?"
当你遭遇挑战时，请记住大卫的话。每条堵住的路，都有一个出口，每一种“无能为力”之中都有“能力”。你来到这个世界是有作用的，所以不要因为输了一次就认为永远不可能赢。只要活着，总会有出路。
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.
我很高兴自己失败过却不屈不挠。我所遇到的挑战让我更有耐心，也更顽强，这些特质在我的工作与休闲生活当中随处可见。我最喜欢的活动是钓鱼，爸爸、妈妈在我6岁时第一次带我去，他们会把我的钓竿固定在地上，或者放在支架上，直到有鱼儿上钩。这时我就会用下巴压住钓竿，跟鱼儿比持久战，直到有人来帮我。
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.
有一天我钓运不佳，但还是不气馁，只管盯着钓线，足足盯了三个小时。虽然太阳已经把我烤得酥脆红透，但我下定决心那天非钓到一条鱼不可。爸爸、妈妈到下游去钓了，所以当鱼儿咬饵时，那里只有我一个人。我用脚趾踩着手上的鱼线，并且大叫：“爸、妈!”然后他们就跑了过来。当爸爸、妈妈拉起钓线时，发现那条鱼竟然有我两倍大。如果我没有坚持下去，放开脚趾，就不可能把这条鱼钓上来。
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.
当然，失败也能塑造出谦卑的性格。我高中的会计课不及格，这是个让人谦卑的经验。
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.
我很怕自己并未具备成为数字高手的能耐，但我的老师鼓励我、指导我。我不停地研读，几年后，我取得会计与财务规划双学位。
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.
当我还是个学生时，很需要学习谦卑的功课，我必须失败，如此才能明白我并未知道所有该知道的。而最终，谦逊让我变得更强。作家多玛斯·牟敦(Thomas Merton)说：“谦卑的人不怕失败。事实上，他毫无所惧，甚至也不担心自己，因为全然的谦卑意味着对上帝的力量有全然的信心——在上帝之前，其他任何力量都没有意义，对他而言也没有所谓的障碍。”
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.失败可以给你动力
It motivates you
我们对失败或挫败的回应可以是绝望与放弃，但也可以选择将挫折、失败视为学习经验和改进的动力。我有个朋友是健身教练，我听过他对举重训练的学员说：“去失败吧!”这句话真是鼓舞人心啊，不是吗?但他这么说的理论是，练举重时，你一直增加重量，直到肌力全部耗尽，然后下一次，你就可以试着超越那个极限，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.
无论运动或工作，成功的关键之一就是练习。我把练习想成通往成功的失败经验，而我可以提供一个绝佳案例，故事主角是我和我的手机。或许你觉得智能型手机是伟大的发明，但是对我来说，这可是天上掉下来的礼物。有时我不禁要想，发明智能手机的人一定想到了我这种人，才会设计出这样的装置，让没手没脚的我可以用这种手机讲电话、发E-mail、传短信、放音乐、录下讲道信息和备忘录，还可以查询天气和世界大事——这一切，只靠我的脚趾头就能搞定。
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.
不过，智能手机也不是完全为我设计的，因为我全身上下唯一可以操作触控式屏幕的地方，距离我说话的部位也太远了点儿。大部分时间我可以使用扩音器，但是在机场或餐厅等公共场所时，我并不想让周遭的人都听见我在说什么。
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.
我必须想出一个办法，让我在用脚拨号后可以把手机固定在比较靠近嘴巴的地方。我所想出来的法子为“折叠式手机”这个名词下了新的定义[21]，也让我学到鼻青脸肿的一课，了解失败在成功当中扮演的角色。我足足花了一个星期练习，试着用我的小左脚把手机抛到肩膀上，再用脸颊和下巴固定住手机，这样我就可以讲电话了。(小朋友千万不要学!)你可以想象我在练习的过程中失败了许多次，而且因为甩手机时被打到，我的脸上有一堆乌青，看起来就像被满满一袋硬币打到似的。
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.
我只在旁边没人的时候练习，不然人家会以为我是个手机自虐狂。我不会让你知道我的头和鼻子被手机打到过多少次;也不会告诉你，为了精通这项技术，我弄坏了几部手机。我受得了被打几下，受得了坏几部手机，但我受不了放弃这件事。
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.
手机每次打到我的脸，都会给我动力，让我更想练好这个绝招，最后，我办到了!不过人生就是这样，我练好没多久，蓝牙头戴式耳机就出现了。于是我那著名的手机抛接功夫成了科技遗风，最多就是当朋友无聊时，我拿来娱乐大家。
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.
希望你可以把失败和跌倒视为激励的来源。未达期望、被三振、犯错或搞砸没什么可耻的，可耻的是你没有从失误中得到动力，努力让自己在场子里存活更久。
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.失败让你对成功心怀感恩
It helps you appreciate success
失败带来的第四个礼物是：它会让人懂得对成功心怀感激。相信我，被手机打了一个星期之后，当我终于有办法将它固定在肩上时，我的内心充满无限的感恩。事实上，你为了实现目标付出愈多，最后终于成功时，心里就会愈感激。有多少次，在取得重大胜利后，你回首来时路，心里觉得漫长奋战之后的成功果实真是甜美啊!承认吧，爬山的过程愈辛苦，山顶的景致就愈动人。
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.
小时候，我最喜欢的《圣经》故事是约瑟的故事。约瑟深受父亲喜爱，但有些骄傲，后来被嫉妒他的哥哥们卖去当奴隶。他有很长一段时间过得很苦，被人诬陷而坐牢，一次又一次地被他所信赖的人背叛。然而，约瑟并未放弃。他没有被苦难和失败击倒，坚忍不拔，最后成为埃及的管理者，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.
约瑟奋斗与登上高位的过程，有许多值得学习的地方。我从他的故事中了解到：没有经历痛苦，成功就不会到来。尽管我的人生肯定比大多数人艰难，但这世上还是有人承受比我更大、更多的苦，而他们也成就了更大、更多的事。另外，尽管上帝爱我们，但他并未承诺要给我们一个轻松好过的人生。最后我看到，一旦约瑟摆脱他所遭受的众多苦难与背叛，他成了伟大而公正的埃及首相，品尝胜利的滋味。
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.
当你全心全意实现某个目标时，一路上会经历磨难、苦痛，然而一旦突破困境，所得到的成就感又是那么美妙，让你只想以它为寄托，继续成长，不是吗?我认为这样的心态正是让人类能够走到这番境地的主要原因之一。我们庆祝艰苦的胜利，不只是因为我们努力存活了下来，也是因为人天生就是要持续成长，并寻求更高层次的成就感。
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.
当上帝要我为目标努力再努力，在我的人生路上设了一个接一个的路障时，我真心相信这是他要我为将来更棒、更美好的日子作准备。他向我们提出挑战，因为他知道一旦经历失败，我们就会成长。
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.
当我回想自己在那么小的年纪必须克服的一切——痛苦、不安、伤害和孤独，我并不觉得难过，而是心怀谦卑与感恩，因为战胜那么多挑战之后，我觉得成功的果实更加甜美。最终，苦难让我变得强壮，而且更重要的是，我因此更有能力去接触其他人。如果不是自己承受过那么多苦，我根本没办法帮别人处理他们的痛苦，没办法感同身受。接近青春期时，知道自己克服了些什么让我更有自信，而这种新的自信反过来让别的孩子愿意接近我，我的身边总是围绕着一大群男男女女的朋友。被人家注意真好!我总是会驾着轮椅在校园里晃，沐浴在众人的温暖之中。
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，总是会走到“政治”这一块。我鼓起勇气竞选学生会主席，这是全校1200位学生的领袖——我们学校采用初中、高中混合制，是澳大利亚昆士兰最大的中学之一。
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.
我不但是学校第一位竞选学生会主席的身障学生，对手还是学校有史以来最好的运动员之一——马修·马凯(Matthew McKay)，他现在是澳大利亚知名的足球选手。班上同学提名我去竞选学生会主席，让我很惊讶，而我的老师也鼓励我参选。我以多样性与多元文化主义为政见，竞选承诺包括在运动会举办轮椅大赛。
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.
结果我获得压倒性的胜利(抱歉了，马修)。妈妈到现在还保留着当时《信使邮报》相关报道的剪报，上面有一张我很大的照片，标题则封我为“勇气主席”。
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."
那篇报道引述了我的话：“我觉得轮椅上的孩子都应该去尝试每一件事!”
The same newspaper quoted me as saying: "All wheelchair kids, I reckon, should just give everything a go."
我青春时期的这句口号，可能不像耐克的“Just Do It”那么响亮，但对我来说也很有用。你会失败，因为你是人类;你会跌倒，因为道路崎岖。但你要知道，失败也是生命礼物的一部分，所以要把它们利用到极致。伙伴们，不要停下来，去尝试每一件事吧!
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!
