人生不设限·第十章 如果机会没来，就自己创造机会

约书亚和芮贝卡·维格夫妇住在洛杉矶，是得奖的电影工作者，致力于制作出兼具激励性和娱乐性的电影。我没见过维格夫妇，不过，他们看过我的一部影片后有了灵感，想要以我为主角，撰写一个电影剧本。在写剧本时，维格夫妇尝试通过不同的渠道联络我，不过当时我正在四处演讲，所以他们找不到我。某个星期天，他们突然在教会遇到老友凯尔。

Joshua and Rebekah Weigel are award-winning filmmakers in Los Angeles dedicated to making movies that inspire as well as entertain. I'd never met them, but after they saw one of my videos, they were inspired to write a fictional screenplay with me in mind as the main character. As they were writing this script, the Weigels were trying to contact me through various channels, but since I was gadding about on a speaking tour, they couldn't reach me. Then one Sunday while they were attending church in Westlake Village, they ran into an old friend of theirs named Kyle.

“你现在在干什么?”他们问凯尔。

"What are you doing now?" they asked Kyle.

“我在当看护，照顾一个叫力克·胡哲的人。”他说。

"I'm working as a caregiver for this guy named Nick Vujicic." he said.

毫不意外地，约书亚和芮贝卡大吃了一惊。

Not surprisingly, Joshua and Rebekah were stunned.

真的很神奇吧?两位有理想的制片人为他们从没见过的某人写了个剧本，到处找他，想要跟他一起拍部片子——这种事多久才会发生一次?真是太奇妙了，对吧?美梦成真啊!

How amazing is that? How often does it happen that two dedicated filmmakers write a script for someone they've never met, then seek him out and offer to make a movie with him? It's fantastic, right? A dream come true!

你是否曾经错过一个很棒的机会，只因为你的行动没有跟上?你是否曾经绝望地看着某人通过一个大门，而你却没看到那个大门打开?从这些经验中学点教训，振作起来吧!克莱斯勒汽车的创办人沃尔特·克莱斯勒(Walter Chrysler)说过，那么多人的人生未能如愿，是因为当机会来敲门时，他们不在，他们去后院找四叶幸运草了。现在我看到许多人在买乐透彩，却没有投资自己的未来——投资未来包括努力工作、致力于自己的目标，然后仔细观察，在最好的时机一跃而上。

Have you ever missed out on a wonderful chance because you didn't have your act together? Have you watched in despair as someone else ran through a door that you failed to see was open? Learn from those experiences, and buck up, mate! Walter Chrysler, founder of the Chrysler automotive company, once said that the reason so many people never get anywhere in life is that when opportunity knocks, they are out in the backyard looking for four-leaf clovers. Today I see people buying lottery tickets instead of investing in their futures. Invest in your future by preparing with hard work, dedicate yourself to your goals, and then watch for the right time to make the leap.

如果你觉得自己从未有机会开枪，很可能是因为你没有锁定目标、装上子弹，然后准备射击。你要为自己的成功负责，负责的方式就是做好最万全的准备;一旦万事俱备，东风就会吹来。如果你老是盛气凌人或自怨自艾，那就别期待会有人来邀你跳舞。相信自己(我是不是已经提过了?)，相信生命有种种机会，相信你在地球上有你自己的价值，如果你觉得自己不配拥有翅膀，那么你永远无法离开地面，在天际翱翔。

If you feel you never get a shot, maybe it's because you aren't locked, loaded, and ready to fire. You are responsible for your own success. Take on that responsibility by preparing yourself to do your best. When you get to the right place, the breaks will come. If you have a chip on your shoulder, or you're hosting a pity party, don't expect an invitation to the dance. Believe in yourself (have I mentioned this already?). Believe in the possibilities for your life. Believe in your value on this planet. If you don't feel worthy of wings, you'll never get off the ground.

去流一身汗、弄脏双手、努力用功吧。爱迪生说大多数人之所以常常错失机会，是因为机会穿着工作服，看起来像需要花费很大力气的工作。你是否准备好使出全力地拼了?

Break a sweat. Get your hands dirty. Hit the books. Thomas Edison said opportunities are often missed because they are dressed in overalls and look like work. Are you ready to do whatever it takes?

我必须承认，维格夫妇一开始联络上我时，我并没有特别在意这件事。凯尔很替我开心，他试着告诉我他这两位制片人朋友的事，还有他们为我做的计划。不过，可怜的凯尔只讲到“我有个朋友想为你拍部电影……”，就被我打断了。

I have to confess that when the Weigels first contacted me, I wasn't paying attention. Poor Kyle was so excited for me. He tried to tell me about his friends the filmmakers and the project they had for me. "I have some friends who have a movie idea for you—" was all he had a chance to say before I cut him off.

“凯尔，我现在忙到没时间跟你的朋友谈了。”我狂妄地说。

"Kyle, I'm too busy to talk to your friends right now," I said crankily.

我已经四处旅行演讲很久了，很累也很烦。而且说也奇怪，我最近才刚被另一个电影提案搞得很抓狂。那时听过电影大纲之后(一部剧情长片哦)，我兴奋了好几个月，接着我就收到他们寄来的剧本。结果我发现，制片人要我扮演的角色是个满口粗话、老是在嚼烟草的家伙。而根据剧本设定，我大部分时间都被装在一个大麻袋里，让某人背在背上到处跑。

I'd been traveling a great deal and was edgy and tired. Oddly enough, I'd recently been burned by another movie proposition. After hearing just a basic outline of it (a feature-length film!), I'd been excited about it for months. Then they sent me the script. It turned out, the producers wanted me to portray a foul-mouthed, tobacco-chewing character who spends most of the movie getting lugged around in a potato sack slung over someone's back.

我可不想以这种角色展开——或结束——我的电影事业，所以拒绝了。不是每个机会都值得一试，你要忠于自己的价值观，并将它们融入你的长远目标。你想要留下什么样的痕迹?你希望人们记得你什么?我可不希望我的孙子某天找到一部电影的DVD，发现力克爷爷有演出，而且在里面讲些不三不四的话，脸颊还淌着烟草汁，活像个败类。所以我就对那第一个电影提案说“谢谢，再联络”了。

That was not the sort of role I wanted to begin my movie career, or end it. So I said no. Not every chance is worth taking. You have to be true to your values, incorporating them into your long-term goals. What mark do you wish to make? How do you want to be remembered? I didn't want my grandchildren to one day discover a DVD of a movie in which Grandpa Nick curses, drools tobacco juice down his chin, and lives like a degenerate. So I said thanks but no thanks to that first movie offer.

我喜欢拍电影这个点子，但不会为了拍电影就抛弃自己的价值观。或许你也得做类似的抉择，所以要坚强，坚守自己的原则，但不要犯跟我同样的错——我的意思是，当我关上第一扇门之后，也关上了我的心。

I loved the idea of making a movie, but I wasn't willing to abandon my values to do it. You may have to make a similar decision. Stay strong. Stick with your principles, but don't make the mistake I made: when I closed that first door, I also closed my mind.

那就是为什么当老好人凯尔兴高采烈地跟我提到维格夫妇的拍片计划时，我想都没想就打了他一枪。我看不见未来，因为我看的是“后”视镜，当然无法看到前方的未来。我真是大错特错。

That's why I shot down good old Kyle without a second thought when he cheerfully brought the Weigels' film project to me. I didn't see the future because I was looking in the rearview mirror. Big mistake.

幸好，维格夫妇没那么容易泄气。他们请另一个朋友联络我的媒体经理，他读了他们的剧本，觉得很喜欢，就带来给我看。一读到剧本，我马上就发现我欠凯尔一个道歉。维格夫妇写的故事跟希望与自重有关，主题深得我心。

Fortunately, the Weigels were not easily discouraged. They asked another friend to contact my media director. He read their screenplay, loved it, and brought it to me. Upon reading it, I realized Kyle deserved an apology. The Weigels' screenplay was about hope and redemption, subjects close to my heart.

此外，谁比我更适合演这部电影呢?片中的主角“没有四肢的威尔”是他们特地为我量身打造的。影片一开始，威尔是个脾气坏又沮丧的“小怪物”，在一个破烂的马戏团表演余兴节目。后来，有好心人介绍他到一个待人比较厚道的马戏团，威尔在那里成了高空跳水明星。

And who better to star in a film short than me? Especially since the character they'd created for me was "Will the Limbless Man." As the movie begins, he is a snarly and depressed "freak" in a ragtag circus sideshow. Then, thanks to the kindness of others, Will is invited to join a far more benevolent circus troupe, where he becomes the star of a thrilling high-dive act.

我了解到，我应该甩开我那些“但是”，赶紧行动吧。我向凯尔道谢，并请他安排我跟维格夫妇碰面。许多大事件陆续展开：我们见面，谈妥合作，然后我就签字了。当我知道好几位有经验的演员已经同意加入时，我更加兴奋了!

I realized I'd better get off my "buts" and kick into action. I thanked Kyle and asked him to set up a meeting with the Weigels. Great events quickly unfolded. We met. We bonded. And I signed on the dotted line. My enthusiasm grew when I learned that a number of much more experienced actors already had agreed to take roles in the film.

这是一个低预算、快速进行的计划，我只须腾出一个星期的时间拍摄我的镜头即可。你可以去看看影评，再决定我在娱乐圈有没有前途，不过，我们这部《蝴蝶马戏团》(The Butterfly Circus)得到“门柱影片计划”最大奖，奖金十万美元。而因为得到这个奖，让这部短片备受瞩目，维格夫妇正在考虑要不要把它发展成一部剧情长片。

This was a low-budget, fast-moving project, so I only had to clear a week's time on my schedule to complete my scenes. You will have to check the reviews to decide whether I have a future in show business, but The Butterfly Circus won the $100,000 grand prize at the Doorpost Film Project, which supports filmmakers who make hopeful films. Our little movie (which you can find at http://www. thedoorpost.com) was chosen over one hundred other short films featuring similar themes. The Doorpost grand prize brought it a lot of attention, and the Weigels are considering turning it into a full-length feature.

那我可能会再度跳进这个计划哦。毕竟，能演这个角色的演员不多，因为他必须没有四肢，然后又会跳水、游泳，还可以操一口流利的澳大利亚腔。

I just may dive into that project too. After all, not many actors can play the role of a limbless man who dives, swims, and pulls off the perfect Australian accent!