人生不设限·做个朋友，要快乐哦
My best advice for finding inner happiness is to reach outside yourself, to use your talents and brains and personality to make life better for someone else. I've been on the receiving end of that, and I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that it changed my life.
16岁时，我就读于昆士兰的朗孔高中。放学后，我通常必须等一两个小时才有车回家，这段时间，我四处跟其他同学或阿诺先生聊天。阿诺先生很了不起，他不是校长也不是老师，而是学校的工友，但他却是个从内在发光的人。他颇能自处，穿着工作服一样怡然自得，所以每个人都很尊敬他，喜欢跟他在一起。
I was sixteen and a student at Runcorn State High School in Queensland. I usually had to wait an hour or so after school for my ride home. Most days I'd hang out talking to other kids or to a great guy named Mr. Arnold. He wasn't the principal or even a teacher. He was the school janitor. But Mr. Arnold was one of those people who glowed from within. He was so at peace with himself, so comfortable in his coveralls, that everyone respected him and enjoyed being around him.
阿诺先生什么都能聊，他充满灵性，而且很有智慧。午餐时，他偶尔会跟一些年轻人讨论基督信仰，也邀请我参加——即使我跟他说，我对宗教不是那么有兴趣。不过我很喜欢他这个人，所以也开始参加他们的聚会。
Mr. Arnold could talk about any subject. He was spiritual and wise. On some days he led a Christian youth discussion at lunchtime. He invited me to join, even though I told him I wasn't big into religion. But I liked him, and so I began attending their sessions.
阿诺先生鼓励大家谈谈自己的生活，但我总是拒绝。“说嘛，力克，我们都想听听你的故事。”他说，“我们想更认识你，想多知道一些你的想法。”
Mr. Arnold encouraged kids to talk about their lives at these meetings, but I always turned down his invitations. "Come on, Nick, we'd like to hear your story," he'd say. "We want to know more about you and what you're thinking."
我拒绝了三个月。“我没什么故事好讲的。”我这么说道。
For three months I refused. "I don't have a story to tell," I'd say.
最后因为磨不过他，加上看到别的孩子都能坦然地说出自己的感受和体验，于是我终于答应下一次会跟大家聊聊我的事。我非常紧张，事前还准备了写满重点的卡片(很蠢，我知道)。
Finally Mr. Arnold wore me down. The other kids were very open about their feelings and their experiences, so I finally consented to talk about my own at the next meeting. I was so nervous, I prepared note cards with bullet points. (Nerdy, I know.)
我并没有想要感动谁。我告诉自己，我只想把这件事做完，然后走人，就这样。但是，有一部分我却很想让其他人知道，我也有跟他们一样的感觉、伤痛和恐惧。
I wasn't expecting to impress anyone. I just wanted to get through it and get out of there, or so I told myself. A part of me also wanted to show the other kids that I had the same feelings, hurts, and fears that they'd expressed.
那天我大约花了十分钟，谈到没手没脚的成长过程是什么状况。我说了难过的事，也提到好玩的事。另外，我不想让自己像个受害者，因此也讲到得意的事。而既然这是个基督徒的团体，我于是提到有时我会觉得上帝遗忘了我，或者，我是他极少数的失误。接着我向大家解释我是如何慢慢了解到，或许上帝对我是有个计划，只是我还不明白那是什么。
For ten minutes that day I talked about what it was like to grow up without arms and legs. I told sad stories and funny stories too. I didn't want to seem like a victim, so I talked about my victories. Since this was a Christian group, I did say that there had been times when I felt God had forgotten me, or that I'd been one of His rare mistakes. Then I explained how I'd gradually come to understand that maybe there was a plan for me that I just hadn't figured out yet.
“我正慢慢学着要有多一点信心，明白自己不是个失误。”我加上这一句，试图逗大家开心。
"I'm slowly learning to have more faith that I wasn't a mistake," I said, trying to get a laugh.
总算讲完了，我松了一口气，觉得好想哭。然而让我讶异的是，房间里大多数孩子反倒都哭了。
In truth, I was so relieved to get through my talk that I felt like crying. To my amazement, most of the kids in the room were crying instead.
“我有那么糟吗?”我问阿诺先生。
"Was I that bad?" I asked Mr. Arnold.
“不，力克，”他说，“你好棒。”
"No, Nick," he said. "You were that good."
起先我觉得他只是好心，而这群孩子也只是假装被我的演讲感动。毕竟他们是基督徒，为人本来就应该很好。
At first I thought he was just being nice and the kids in the group were pretending to be moved by my speech. They were Christians, after all. They were supposed to be nice.
然而，之后有个人邀请我到他教会的青年聚会分享，另一个孩子则请我去他教会的主日学演讲。接下来的两年里，我应邀到许多教会、青年团体与服务性社团分享我的故事。
But then one of the guys in the group invited me to speak to his church youth group. Then another invitation came from another kid for his Sunday school class. Over the next two years, I received dozens of invitations to share my story to church groups, youth organizations, and service clubs.
高中时期，我曾特地避开基督徒团体，因为我不想被当成整天传教的宗教狂热分子。我故意表现得很粗鲁，有时还骂脏话，好让人觉得我很“正常”而接纳我。但事实上，是我还没接纳自己。
I had avoided Christian groups in high school because I didn't want to be labeled as the do-gooder preacher's kid who was all about religion. I acted tough and sometimes cursed so I could be accepted as a regular guy. The truth was that I had not yet accepted myself.
显然，上帝颇有幽默感，他把我拉进我努力想逃开的团体去演讲。也就是在那里，上帝显明了他对我人生的计划。他让我知道，即使我并不完美，但可以和人分享的东西却很多，可以让别人的人生过得更轻松的祝福也很丰富。
Obviously, God has a sense of humor. He wrangled me into speaking to just the group I had avoided, and it was there that He revealed my purpose in life. He showed me that even if I was not perfect, I had riches to share, blessings to lighten the burdens of others.
你也是一样。我们都不完美，所以必须分享自己得到的美好馈赠。向自己的内在探寻吧，那儿有熠熠盛光，正等着发亮。
The same holds true for you. We share our imperfection. We need to share the beautiful gifts we've been given. Look inside. There is a light inside you just waiting to shine.
