天使的態(tài)度

Every morning it is the same routine. She wakes up， gives a big yawn， and heads downstairs in the same old uniform. Not a glamorous job at all. Others might think that being a ballerina instructor is the perfect job or career. Dance， stretch and teach others to dance and stretch their imaginations.

Remarkable lady， this gal， however. She does the same old thing but to her it always appears to be somehow new—each and every single day. Don’t get me wrong. She has her moments like I suppose we all do. She gets frustrated over the little stuff. Seems the biggest difference between this young woman and others that I have observed is the way she takes life in stride. In a nutshell， she just doesn’t let anything or anyone break her stride.

Like a beautiful mare dancing in the wide open spaces on a dazzling display right after an equalling dazzling dawn， nothing that might present itself as an obstacle can break her stride. At least this is how it appears right now in her dancing career.

Can I ask you a question？ Don’t mean to be nosey or anything， but what uniform do you put on every day？ Whet her it’s a ballerina outfit or waitress uniform， I suppose any position can lose its once highly esteemed luster after a bit.

This little ballerina， unlike so many others with different uniforms， can’t stand to go to bed， but can’t wait to get out of it in the morning. She works from home， so she is afforded the opportunity each Tuesday morning to gaze out of her front storm door at the men who pick up her hurby—curby. Kind of a drab， off-green colored uniform these guys wear， but she enjoys this special time at the door as a highlight of her daily existence. She likes to make their jobs less repetitive as she musters up a big smile and gives them all a huge grin—all the while waving like it might be her last chance to do so.

Don’t get me wrong because as we all know way too well， no one is perfect and she’ll be the first to admit it. She says “I’m sorry” with more sincerity than most I’ve met six times her age.

Sometimes I can’t help but think that as soon as this or that change occurs in my life， all will be just a tad bit better. I think that she has learned a powerful lesson and it has to do with perception. The way she has chosen to perceive things is the way she receives things.

She just hasn’t allowed herself to see too many rainy days and Mondays， and the ones she has， clearly haven’t ever ruined her morning， afternoon， or evening routine. Those 25 years her elder might be creating some chaos around her， but again， it doesn’t seem to break her stride. She just keeps on dancing nonetheless.

In talking to her recently， she spoke of her plans for the future but even as she did she kept some semblance of her dancing going. If reminded of a mistake she made yesterday， she’ll just give me a demure little smile as though I’m purposefully trying to be a killjoy. Hmmmmmm. I hadn’t given that much thought until now， but why do I or any of us rehash another’s past？ Good question and this wise little gal seems to know most of the answers. I guess longevity doesn’t always equate to legitimacy.

I hope that she’ll keep her job as a ballerina for many years to come so that I can keep learning simple life lessons from her. But I doubt that she will， if I look at the big picture or project way into the future like I too often tend to do. Nothing I could say or anything any of her other best friends could say could break her stride. She is destined for great things. Even if she some day changes from her ballerina outfit to a waitress’s uniform， I kind of think she’ll keep her bright attitude， fresh perspective， and unsophisticated purity.

Well， that’s all I have to write about for now. I’d best get home before my wife helps her take off her ballerina uniform and get ready for bed. If I’m so blessed， I’ll get to watch her dance and sing for me right before she says， “I love you daddy” as I walk out the door for work in the morning.

I wish I could take such moments and put them in a jar. I wish I could stop the world from turning and keep things just the way they are. I know that I can’t， but I can always wish I could.

Love you Olivia，

Your daddy

每天的早晨都千篇一律。她醒來(lái)，打一個(gè)大哈欠，和平常一樣地下樓穿上那身舊舞衣。不算什么耀眼美差，但也有人覺(jué)得當(dāng)芭蕾舞導(dǎo)師是最理想的工作和事業(yè)。舞動(dòng)，伸展；教別人舞動(dòng)，伸展夢(mèng)想的翅膀。

真是個(gè)了不起的女孩啊。盡管每天做著重復(fù)的事，但對(duì)她來(lái)說(shuō)，一切似乎都是新鮮的——每一天里的每一件事。別誤會(huì)我的意思，她跟我們一樣，也有不順心的時(shí)候。她也會(huì)為了小事灰心沮喪。而據(jù)我觀察，這個(gè)女孩跟其他人最大的不同在于她總是闊步踏出人生路。一句話，她不會(huì)讓任何事、任何人打亂自己的步伐。

她就像一匹漂亮的小雌馬，迎著眩目晨光，在空曠的野外以同樣眩目的姿態(tài)翩翩起舞，沒(méi)有任何事能化身障礙擾亂她的步伐。至少現(xiàn)在，她的舞蹈生涯給人這種感覺(jué)。

我能問(wèn)一個(gè)問(wèn)題嗎？不是八卦什么的，只是想知道你們每天都穿什么樣的制服上班呢？無(wú)論你們穿的是芭蕾舞衣還是侍應(yīng)制服，就算當(dāng)初的感覺(jué)多么光彩照人，我想，過(guò)了一段時(shí)間，那種自豪感總會(huì)消減退去吧。

這位小小芭蕾舞者跟許多穿各式制服上班的人不一樣，她晚上不愿睡覺(jué)，早上卻總是迫不及待地起床。她就在家里上課，所以每個(gè)周二早上都能打開(kāi)前門看看那些收集垃圾的清潔工人。他們穿著一身黃褐帶點(diǎn)綠色的制服，她很享受這個(gè)跟他們碰面的時(shí)刻，并視之為日常生活的一大亮點(diǎn)。為了讓他們感覺(jué)工作不那么重復(fù)無(wú)趣，她喜歡露出燦爛的笑靨，朝他們咧嘴歡笑，還一個(gè)勁地?fù)]手，就像這是最后一次機(jī)會(huì)向他們揮手似的。

別誤會(huì)，大家都很清楚，世上沒(méi)有完美的人，她是那種第一時(shí)間站出來(lái)承認(rèn)這點(diǎn)的人。說(shuō)“對(duì)不起”時(shí)，她的態(tài)度比起那些年紀(jì)是她六倍的人還要真誠(chéng)。

有時(shí)我不禁想，只要我的生活有這樣那樣的改變，所有的事情可能就會(huì)好轉(zhuǎn)。我想，她早已懂得一個(gè)道理，而這又關(guān)乎她如何看待事情——她對(duì)待事情的態(tài)度正是她接受事物的方式。

她一直不讓自己有太多陰沉雨天或慵懶沮喪的周一，即使偶爾情緒低落，那也不會(huì)影響到她早上、下午、晚上的時(shí)光。那些比她大25歲的人可能在她身邊添了不少亂子，可結(jié)果還是那樣，一點(diǎn)兒也不會(huì)擾亂她的舞步。不管怎樣，她就是堅(jiān)持跳自己的舞。

最近跟她聊天，她提到自己將來(lái)的計(jì)劃，連談話時(shí)她也不忘擺些舞姿架勢(shì)。如果我提起她昨天犯的某個(gè)錯(cuò)誤，她會(huì)大方地對(duì)我微微一笑，好像我在有意掃興似的。嗯，之前我還真沒(méi)想過(guò)，我自己也好，其他人也好，為什么要老提別人的往事呢？這個(gè)問(wèn)題提得好，而這個(gè)聰明的小妞大概知道怎么回答。我看，上了年紀(jì)、有點(diǎn)閱歷也不一定就能處事得當(dāng)。

我希望她能以跳芭蕾舞為她的職業(yè)一年又一年地繼續(xù)下去，這樣我就可以從她身上學(xué)習(xí)到更多單純的人生道理?？梢钦J(rèn)真展望未來(lái)，設(shè)想宏圖大計(jì)——我老是朝這些大方向去想，她真會(huì)這樣嗎，我也拿不準(zhǔn)。無(wú)論我還是她的好朋友說(shuō)些什么，她都不會(huì)因此而停步。她絕不是池中物。即使有天她換下芭蕾舞衣，穿上侍應(yīng)制服，我想她還是會(huì)帶著開(kāi)朗樂(lè)觀的態(tài)度，以清新的視角看待事物，待人處事依舊純潔率真。

嗯，就寫到這兒吧。趁太太還沒(méi)幫這小女孩脫去芭蕾舞衣讓她睡覺(jué)，我最好快點(diǎn)趕回家。運(yùn)氣好的話，我可以欣賞到她的舞姿和歌聲；然后第二天清早，在她那句“我愛(ài)你，爸爸”的道別聲中出門工作。

我真想把這些時(shí)刻抽取出來(lái)，存放到瓶子里。要是能讓世界停止轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)，所有事情都靜止在這一刻，那該多好啊。我知道這是不可能的，但我總會(huì)許下這樣的愿望。

愛(ài)你，奧利維亞！

你的爸爸