I Choose to Be Cheerful

by Lee Ryan Miller翻譯：淺由吳雨奇

I Choose to Be Cheerful

by Lee Ryan Miller翻譯：淺由吳雨奇

每一天都是嶄新的開(kāi)始。早上起來(lái)的時(shí)候，給自己一個(gè)大大的笑容，用愉悅的心情迎接新的一天吧。也許生活中有很多事不由得我們選擇，但至少我們可以選擇以怎樣的心情去面對(duì)。新的一天，我們要給自己更多的快樂(lè)與幸福。

At the beginning of my 8:00 a.m. class one Monday at UNLV注1, I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been very good. He’d had his wisdom teeth1)extracted. Then he2)proceeded to ask me why I always seemed to be so cheerful.

His question reminded me of something I’d read somewhere before—Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about how you want to3)approach life that day. I said to the young man, “I choose to be cheerful.”

“Let me give you an example,” I continued.

“In addition to teaching here at UNLV, I also teach out at the community college in Henderson注2, about seventeen miles down the4)freeway from where I live. One day, a few weeks ago, I drove those seventeen miles to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College5)Drive. I only had to drive another quarter-mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again, but the engine wouldn’t turn over. So I put my6)fashers on, grabbed my books, and7)marched down the road to the college.”

“As soon as I got there I called AAA注3and asked them to send a8)tow truck. The9)secretary in the10)Provost’s offce asked me what had happened. ‘This is my lucky day, ’ I replied, smiling. ”

“‘Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day?’ She was puzzled. ‘What do you mean?’”

“‘I live seventeen miles from here,’ I replied. ‘My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway. It didn’t. Instead, it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, within walking distance of here. I’m still able to teach my class, and I’ve been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class. If my car was meant to break down today, it couldn’t have been arranged in a more convenient11)fashion.’”

“The secretary’s eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class.”

I12)scanned the sixty faces in the13)lecture hall. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be asleep. Somehow, my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasn’t the story at all.

A wise man once said, “Who you are speaks louder to me than anything you can say.” I suppose it must be so.

1) extract ['ekstr?kt] v. 拔出

2) proceed to 接著，繼續(xù)

3) approach [?'pr??t?] v. 對(duì)待，看待

4) freeway ['fri?we?] n. 高速公路

5) Drive [dra?v] n.（用于路名）路，大道

6) fasher ['fl???] n. 閃光燈，應(yīng)急燈

7) march [mα?t?] v.（快步）行走

8) tow truck（故障車(chē)的）牽引車(chē)，拖車(chē)

9) secretary ['sekr?t?r?] n. 秘書(shū)

10) provost ['pr??v??st] n. 教務(wù)長(zhǎng)

11) fashion ['f???n] n. 方式

12) scan [sk?n] v. 細(xì)看，審視

13) lecture hall 大教室

注1：內(nèi)華達(dá)大學(xué)拉斯維加斯分校（University of Nevada，Las Vegas，簡(jiǎn)稱(chēng)UNLV）是一所歷史悠久、男女合校的公立大學(xué)，始建于1957年，以酒店管理、美術(shù)、法律和歷史等學(xué)科而聞名。

注2：亨德森市（Henderson），美國(guó)內(nèi)華達(dá)州的一個(gè)城市，也是內(nèi)華達(dá)州人口第二多的城市。

注3：美國(guó)汽車(chē)協(xié)會(huì)（The American Automobile Association，簡(jiǎn)稱(chēng)AAA），于1902年成立。盡管它的服務(wù)范圍包括參與評(píng)定五星級(jí)旅館和飯店，以及為會(huì)員提供購(gòu)車(chē)貸款、保險(xiǎn)、租車(chē)等方面的優(yōu)惠，但其最主要且最著名的服務(wù)項(xiàng)目還是汽車(chē)緊急救援。

那是個(gè)周一，我在內(nèi)華達(dá)大學(xué)拉斯維加斯分校上八點(diǎn)的課剛開(kāi)始時(shí)，我興致勃勃地問(wèn)班上的學(xué)生周末過(guò)得怎么樣。一個(gè)男生說(shuō)他的周末過(guò)得不太好，因?yàn)樗蔚袅酥驱X。接著他又問(wèn)我為什么看起來(lái)總是這么愉快。

他的問(wèn)題讓我想起了之前不知道在哪里讀到的一句話—每天早上起床時(shí)，你可以選擇如何面對(duì)這一天的生活。我和這男生說(shuō)：“因?yàn)槲疫x擇快樂(lè)地面對(duì)?！?/p>

“讓我給你們舉個(gè)例子吧，”我接著說(shuō)道。

“除了在這兒給你們上課，我還在亨德森的一所社區(qū)大學(xué)里任教，從那兒沿著高速公路開(kāi)17英里就能到我家了。幾周前的一天，我沿著那段高速公路駛向亨德森，下了高速公路后就轉(zhuǎn)進(jìn)大學(xué)路。我只需再開(kāi)四分之一英里路就能到學(xué)校了—但就在這時(shí)，車(chē)熄火了。我試著重新啟動(dòng)它，但引擎不轉(zhuǎn)了。于是我打開(kāi)應(yīng)急燈，拿上我的書(shū)，徑直向?qū)W校奔去?！?/p>

“我一到學(xué)校就打給美國(guó)汽車(chē)協(xié)會(huì)，讓他們派輛拖車(chē)過(guò)來(lái)。教務(wù)室的秘書(shū)問(wèn)我發(fā)生了什么事。‘這是我的幸運(yùn)日，’我笑著回答說(shuō)?！?/p>

“‘你的車(chē)都?jí)牧?，你還說(shuō)今天是你的幸運(yùn)日？’她很困惑。‘這是什么意思呢？’”

“‘我住在離這兒17英里遠(yuǎn)的地方，’我回答說(shuō)。‘我的車(chē)其實(shí)也有可能壞在高速公路上的任意一段路，但它沒(méi)有。相反地，它在一個(gè)最完美的地點(diǎn)發(fā)生故障：這地點(diǎn)不在高速公路上，并且步行就可以到達(dá)學(xué)校。我依然來(lái)得及給學(xué)生們上課，還能安排好拖車(chē)在課后進(jìn)行處理。如果我的車(chē)注定要在今天發(fā)生故障的話，現(xiàn)在這樣便是最省事的方式了?！?/p>

“那個(gè)秘書(shū)聽(tīng)得目瞪口呆，然后她就笑了。我也沖她笑了一下，便上課去了。”

我掃視了一下教室里那六十張臉。雖然是在大清早，但沒(méi)有一個(gè)學(xué)生在打瞌睡。不知怎地，我的故事觸動(dòng)了他們—或許觸動(dòng)他們的并不是故事本身。

一位智者曾說(shuō)，“行勝于言?！蔽艺J(rèn)為這的確是真理。