Even if you live it forday more that day deservesto be lived graciously andwith dignity.
The plaque on the wallsays， “life is a do-it-yourselfproject.”
Who could say it moreclearly？ Your life today is theresult of your attitudes andchoices in the past.
Your life tomorrowwill be the result of yourattitudes and choices youmake today.
在你开口抱怨之前……
从前，有一个姑娘因失明而自怨自艾。她憎恨所有的人，除了她深爱的男友外。只要她需要，他总在她的身边。她对男友说，“只要我能看到这个世界，我就嫁给你。”
有一天，有人捐献了一双眼睛给她。当绷带拿掉后，她终于能看到一切了，包括她的男友。
他问她：“现在你重获光明了，你会嫁给我吗？”女孩看着他的男朋友，发现他是盲人。他双目紧闭，痛苦的样子让她震惊，这是她意料之外的。一想到余生都要看着这对紧闭的眼睛，她便拒绝了他的求婚。
她的男友流着泪离开了她，几天后，他给她写了一张字条：“亲爱的，照顾好我的眼睛，我永远爱你。”
当人们的处境变了之后，思想也往往会发生变化。只有少数人能记得过去的生活，记得谁在自己最痛苦的时候陪伴身边。生活是一份礼物。
今天，在你说出某些不和善的话语前，请想一想那些无法开口说话的人。
在你抱怨食物难以下咽前，想想那些饥饿的人。
今天，在你抱怨生活不堪前，想想那些过早离世的人。
在你为长途驾驶满腹牢骚时，想想那些用双脚走完同样距离的人。
在你疲惫不堪、抱怨工作的时候，想想那些失业、残疾或羡慕你的工作的人。
在你情绪低落、灰心丧气的时候，请努力微笑，这样想：“你还活着，并活得好好的。”
Before You Complain...
There was a blind girl who hatedherself because she was blind. Shehated everyone， except her lovingboyfriend. He was always there for her.
She told her boyfriend， “If I could onlysee the world， I would marry you.”
One day， someone donated a pairof eyes to her. When the bandages cameoff， she was able to see everything，including her boyfriend.
He asked her， “Now that you cansee the world， will you marry me？”
The girl looked at her boyfriend andsaw that he was blind. The sight of hisclosed eyelids shocked her. She hadntexpected that. The thought of lookingat them the rest of her life led her torefuse to marry him.
Her boyfriend left in tears anddays later wrote a note to her saying：
take good care of my eyes， dear. Illalways love you.
This is how the human brain oftenworks when our status changes. Onlya very few remember what life was likebefore， and who was always by theirside in the most painful situations. Lifeis a gift.
Today before you say an unkindword， think of someone who cantspeak.
Before you complain about thetaste of your food， think of someonewho has nothing to eat.
Today before you complain aboutlife， think of someone who went tooearly to heaven.
Before whining about the distanceyou drive， think of someone who walksthe same distance with their feet.
And when you are tired andcomplain about your job， think of theunemployed， the disabled， and thosewho wish they had your job.
And when depressing thoughtsseem to get you down， put a smile onyour face and think： youre alive andstill around.
一位改变了我生活的女孩
我在童年和少年时代激情四射，无时无刻不在追求展现自我、磨砺才艺和体味生活。学校里的音乐、舞蹈和戏剧课让我欢欣不已，而剧院和音乐会更让我身心为之震撼，乡间流连的时光也同样美妙。
还有我的书，那些厚重的盲文书籍无论在我乘车、用餐还是睡觉时都与我形影不离。
然而，某天晚上，在高中的一次舞会上，我无意中听到的一句话，霎那间将我年少的幸福击碎了——“那女孩是个瞎子，真可惜！”瞎子——这个刺耳的字眼隐含着一个阴暗、漆黑、僵硬和无助的世界。我当即转过身，大声喊道：“请不要为我叹惜，我很快乐！”但我的快乐自此不复存在。
上大学后，我开始为生计而奔忙。课余时间我做兼职教师，教授钢琴及和声，临近毕业时还偶尔参加几次演奏会，做了几次讲座，可要维持生计光靠这些还是不够，与投入的时间和精力相比，它们在经济上的回报让我沮丧。
这让我失去了自信和勇气，内心变得郁闷而苦恼。眼看我的姐妹和伙伴们一次次兴高采烈地与人约会，我倍觉空虚。幸运的是，还有钢琴陪我。我沸腾的渴望和激情在肖邦、贝多芬、勃拉姆斯那里得到了共鸣。我的挫败感在他们美妙壮丽的音乐中减轻了。
直到有一天，我遇见一位出色的女孩，这名随军护士的信念和执着改变了我的一生。我们日益熟稔，成为好友，她也慢慢察觉出在我快乐的外表下，内心却时常愁云密布。她对我说：“门已紧锁，敲有何用？坚持你的音乐梦想，我相信机会终将来临。你太辛苦了，何不放松一下——试试祷告如何？”
祷告？我从未想到过，听起来太天真了。一直以来，我的行事准则都是，无论想得到什么都必须靠自己去努力争取。既然之前的热诚和辛劳回报甚微，我什么都愿意尝试一番。虽然有些不自在，我尝试着每天都祷告——“上帝啊，你将我送到世上，请告诉我你赐予我的使命。帮帮我，让我于人于己都有用处。”
在接下来的几年里，我得到了明确而满意的回答，超出了我最乐观的期望值。其中一个回答就是魔山盲人休闲营区。在那里，我和我的护士朋友每年都有幸“看”到失明的孩子们在大自然的怀抱中是多么生气勃勃。除此之外，朋友们真挚的友谊以及美妙的音乐都给我带来无穷无尽的欢乐和安慰。最重要的是，我越来越意识到，在我日复一日的祷告中，当我聆听上帝的启示之时，我正日益与他靠近，并通过他接近永生。
One Girl Changed My Life
My childhood and adolescence werea joyous outpouring of energy， a ceaselessquest for expression， skill， and experience.
School was only a background to thesupreme delight of lessons in music， dance，and dramatics， and the thrill of sojourns inthe country， theaters， and concerts.
And books， big Braille books that camewith me on streetcars， to the table， and tobed. Then one night at a high school dance，a remark， not intended for my ears， stabbedmy youthful bliss： “That girl， what a pityshe is blind.” Blind！ That ugly word impliedeverything dark， blank， rigid， and helpless.
Quickly I turned and called out： “Pleasedont feel sorry for me， and Im having lotsof fun.” But the fun was not to last.
With the advent of college， I wasbrought to grips with the problem ofearning a living. Part-time teaching of pianoand harmony and， upon graduation， occasionalconcerts and lectures， proved only partial sourcesof livelihood. In terms of time and effort involved，the financial remuneration was disheartening.
This induced within me searing self-doubt anddark moods of despondency. Adding to my dismalsense of inadequacy was the repeated experienceof seeing my sisters and friends go off to excitingdates. How grateful I was for my piano， where-through Chopin， Brahms， and Beethoven-I couldmingle my longing and seething energy with theirs，and where I could dissolve my frustration in thebeauty and grandeur of their conceptions.
Then one day， I met a girl， a wonderful girl，an army nurse， whose faith and stability were tochange my whole life. As our acquaintance ripenedinto friendship， she discerned， behind a shell ofgaiety， my recurring plateaus of depression. Shesaid， “Stop knocking on closed doors. Keep upyour beautiful music. I know your opportunity willcome. Youre trying too hard. Why dont you relax，and have you ever tried praying？”
The idea was strange to me. It sounded toosimple. Somehow， I had alwaysoperated on the premise that， ifyou wanted something in thisworld， you had to go out andget it for yourself. Yet， sincerityand hard work had yielded onlymeager returns， and I was willingto try anything. Experimentally，self-consciously， I cultivatedthe daily practice of prayer. Isaid： God， show me the purposefor which You sent me to thisworld. Help me to be of use tomyself and to humanity.