人生不设限·让我决定成为演说家的种子

我第一次亲眼目睹“相信你的人生命定”[12]的力量，是高中时听一位叫瑞基·达伯斯(Reggie Dabbs)的美国激励讲师的演讲。那天他的任务实在很艰难，因为有1400个孩子来听讲，空气又热又黏，音响设备烂透了，有时发出爆裂声，有时噼啪作响，有时干脆不发声。

The first time I really witnessed the power of believing in one's destiny was during a high school assembly, when I heard my first motivational speaker. He was an American named Reggie Dabbs, and he had a tough job that day. There were fourteen hundred kids in our school assembly. The air was hot and sticky. The cranky sound system crackled and popped and sometimes just quit.

听众原本静不下来，但后来被瑞基的故事完全吸引。他说他是路易斯安那州一位妓女未婚怀孕的小孩，十多岁的小妈妈原本打算堕胎来解决这个“小麻烦”，但幸好她后来决定生下瑞基。怀孕之后，因为她既没有家人，也没有地方住，于是就搬进一间鸡舍。

The natives were restless, but he totally captivated us with his story, telling us that he'd been born to an unmarried teenage Louisiana prostitute who had considered abortion to solve her "little problem." Fortunately for Reggie, she decided to give birth to him. She had no family and no place to live once she became pregnant so she moved into a chicken coop.

某天晚上，她蜷缩在鸡舍里，觉得害怕又孤单，于是想起以前一位非常富有同情心的女老师，老师说过如果需要帮助，可以打电话给她。那位老师就是达伯斯太太。达伯斯太太从田纳西州的家开车到路易斯安那州，把这个怀孕的少女带回家。她和先生有六个小孩，都已经成年，他们决定收养瑞基，让他姓达伯斯。

Huddled there one night, scared and alone, she remembered that a former teacher, a very sympathetic woman, had told her to call if she ever needed help. That teacher's name was Mrs. Dabbs. She drove from her home in Tennessee to Louisiana, picked up the pregnant teen, and took her home to her own family, a husband and six grown children. Mrs. Dabbs and her husband adopted Reggie and gave him their last name.

瑞基说，这对夫妇灌输给他坚定的道德价值观。他们教会他最重要的事情之一，就是无论身处何种情况或环境，他永远可以选择要用负面或正面的方式回应。

The couple instilled in him strong moral values, Reggie said. One of the primary lessons they taught him was that no matter what his situation or circumstances, he always had the choice of responding in either a negative way or a positive way.

瑞基告诉我们，他几乎都能作出正确的决定，因为他相信自己人生中的各种可能性。他不想往坏处想，因为他知道生命中有许多好事在等着。瑞基有一段话深得我心：“你永远无法改变过去，但你能改变未来。”

Reggie told us that he'd almost always made the right decisions because he had faith in the possibilities for his life. He didn't want to do bad because he believed there was so much good awaiting him. He especially emphasized something that really hit home with me: "You can never change your past, but you can change your future!"

我把瑞基的话听进去了，他感动了我们所有人，也在我心中撒下一颗种子，让我想成为演说家。这个谦卑的人在短短几分钟内，就可以对一大群躁动不安的孩子产生正面影响，我非常喜欢这样的事。然后我想到他搭飞机绕着地球跑，到处给人演讲，这也很酷——他给人带来希望，然后还有收入耶!

I took his words to heart. He touched all of us. Reggie also helped plant a seed in my mind about having a career as a public speaker. I liked the fact that this humble guy had a positive impact on such a big, fidgety group of people in just a few minutes. And it was also pretty cool that he jetted about the planet just to talk to people—he got paid to give people hope!

那天放学时，我心想：或许有一天我也能像瑞基一样，有个好故事可以跟人分享。

As I left school that day, I thought, Maybe I'll have a good story like Reggie's to share someday.

我想告诉你，或许你现在尚未找出一条路，不过，你没看见不代表它不存在。请抱持信心，你的生命故事还有待展开，而我知道那肯定会是不可思议的精彩篇章。

I encourage you to accept that you may not be able to see a path right now, but that doesn't mean it's not there. Have faith, your story is still waiting to unfold, and I know it will be incredible!