做自己想做的人 You Will Be Master of Yourself
生命不需退縮 Is Life Shy?
佚名/Anonymous
I was painfully shy as a child. In high school I would avoid anticipating in class discussions. I was too afraid to talk to anyone but my closest friends. I would think about being less shy, wanting the courage not only to ask a girl out, but to speak up in class and say what I was thinking. Yet, it never happened. Fears embodied themselves in such self-conscious questions as, "What will other people think?" "What if she says no?" I felt a dark presence in my mind holding me back.
This shyness continued into college. One day the question occurred to me: Is life shy?
The thought startled me! Think of the leaves bursting out in the springtime, the bird singing at dawn, the sheer number of different forms of life, all expressing the wideness and scope of divine Life. There's nothing shy about it. This Life is everywhere and attention-grabbing. So, if my creator isn't shy about all the life that needs expressing, I don't need to be either.
I realized that if I wanted to overcome fear and shyness, I would have to put this law of Life into practice. Shyness, fear, and loneliness were hindering me from living my life as Life, God wanted me to live it. I had to refuse to let fear and shyness control me. Instead, I decided to live how Life saw me.
One example: I wrote a note to a girl, asking her out on a date. Even as I was writing it, the fears of rejection and unworthiness came to me. This time however, instead of shrinking back and hiding from the fear, I put the note in the campus mail in spite of myself. I thought, whether she says yes or no, it's still right for me not to be shy. I can live with the confidence sent from the source of my life. The girl saw me in class the next day and told me that she would love to go out with me. I shouldn't have been so surprised!
Bit by bit, I was proving that a limited view of myself no longer had control over me. After college, I worked as a newspaper reporter, earned an advanced degree in theater, became a published writer (a lifelong dream), met a special woman whom I married, and even got a job teaching at a major university.
小時候我很害羞。上高中時，我總盡量不參加班級的討論。除了最要好的朋友，我幾乎不敢與其他人說話。我也想膽大起來，想有約會一個女孩的勇氣，想把自己的想法在課堂上大聲講出來。但這些都沒能實現。我感到很害怕，總擔心“其他人會怎麽看？”“她要是拒絕怎麽辦？”——似乎總有種揮之不去的陰影籠罩著我，讓我舉步維艱。
一直到上大學，我還是很害羞。一天，我突然想到一個問題：生命是害羞的嗎？
這一想法令我大為震驚！想想吧，春天萌發的新綠，拂曉吟唱的鳥兒，世間萬物無不在展示著神聖生命的浩淼無邊。沒什麽可害羞的！生命無處不在，要勇敢把握！既然造物主都不為生命的自然表達而害羞，我又何必如此呢？
我知道，如果要克服恐懼和害羞，必須將這一生命法則付諸行動。害羞、恐懼和孤獨阻礙了我親近神聖生命賦予的真正生活。我決定順其自然地生活，絕不讓恐懼和害羞掌控我。
舉個例子：我給一個女孩寫了張紙條，約她出來。寫的時候，恐懼和自卑感侵襲著我，但我沒退縮，而是親自將紙條投入了校園信箱。我想，無論她是否答應，對我來說，這已經是很大進步了，因為我不再害羞了。我自信地生活，而這自信正源自我生命的根基。第二天上課時，那個女孩對我說，她願意赴我的約會。聽到這話，我真是無比激動！
慢慢地，我發覺自己不再受狹隘的自我意識的控製了。大學畢業後，我做過報社記者，獲得了戲劇專業的高級文憑，並出了自己的書——《我的終生夢想》，還邂逅了一位特殊的女子，並娶她為妻，我甚至還在一所大學做了老師。
Something attempted, something done.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
有所嚐試，就等於有所作為。
——亨利·沃茲沃思·朗費恩
embody[im?b?di]v.具體表達；使具體化；包含
Let your happy life embody in every home detail.
讓您的幸福人生體現在家居的每個細節。
startle[?stɑ:tl]v.吃驚；使……驚愕
I hope you see things that startle you.
我希望你們看到讓自己眼前一亮的事情。
overcome[??uv??k?m]v.戰勝；克服
It is greatly to your credit that you have overcome such difficulties.
你們克服了這麽大的困難，值得表揚。
rejection[ri?d?ek??n]n.拒絕；被棄；被拋棄的實例
The rejection of this measure aroused the people to indignation.
拒絕采取這一措施激起了人民的義憤。
生命無處不在，要勇敢把握！
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如果要克服恐懼和害羞，必須將這一生命法則付諸行動。
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害羞、恐懼和孤獨阻礙了我親近神聖生命賦予的真正生活。
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Fears embodied themselves in such self-conscious questions as, "What will other people think?" "What if she says no?" I felt a dark presence in my mind holding me back.
hold back：退縮
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Think of the leaves bursting out in the springtime, the bird singing at dawn, the sheer number of different forms of life, all expressing the wideness and scope of divine Life.
burst out：闖出；大聲叫喊；突然發生
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