雙語短文 · 生命中的“五個球”

Five Balls of Life　生命中的“五個球”

◎ James Patterson


Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them: work, family, health, friends, and spirit, and you’re keeping all of them in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls—family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.
How? Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special. Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.
Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless. Don’t let life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time you live all the days of your life. Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us together. Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn to be brave. Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going. Don’t forget that a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated. Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.


假設(shè)人生是一場游戲，你必須連續(xù)向空中拋接五個球的游戲。不妨把這五個球稱為：工作、家庭、健康、友誼和精神，你把它們都放飛在空中。很快，你會意識到工作是橡皮球。如果它掉在地上，還會立刻彈回來。而其他四個球——家庭、健康、友誼和精神卻是玻璃球，任何一個掉在地上，都將無法挽回，一定會被磨損、變臟、磕壞，甚至摔得粉碎。它們永遠也無法恢復原樣。你必須知道這個后果，然后努力把握好生命的平衡。
怎么做呢？不要拿自己跟他人比而貶低你本身的價值。因為我們每個人都不盡相同，每個人都是獨一無二的。其他人認為重要的不應是你制定目標的標準。只有你自己知道什么最適合你。
不要把最貼心的事情想成理所當然。珍惜它們，就像珍惜你的生命一樣，因為若失去了這些，你的生命便失去了意義。不要沉湎于過去的悲傷，也不要活在對未來的幻想中，這樣只會讓生命從你的指尖悄然流逝。珍惜生活中的每一天，把每天都當成生命的最后一天。不到最后一刻不要放棄。只要你還在努力嘗試，一切就沒有真正結(jié)束。
不要害怕承認自己不夠完美。正是這個不足之處才把我們聚集在一起。不要害怕遭遇風險。只有冒險才會讓我們學會勇敢。不要說真愛難覓，就將愛拒之門外。獲得真愛的捷徑是給予愛，失去真愛最快的方式是將愛牢牢禁錮，維系真愛的最佳辦法是給愛插上翅膀，放飛真愛。
生活的腳步不要太匆匆，那匆忙只會讓你忘了自己從何而來、去往何方。不要忘了人類最偉大的情感需要是得到別人的認同和欣賞。不要浪費時間，也不要口不擇言。它們都無法被收回，重新來過。生命不是賽跑，而是一次旅行，每一處都有值得你駐足欣賞的風景。