做自己想做的人 You Will Be Master of Yourself
生命不需退缩 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.
小时候我很害羞。上高中时，我总尽量不参加班级的讨论。除了最要好的朋友，我几乎不敢与其他人说话。我也想胆大起来，想有约会一个女孩的勇气，想把自己的想法在课堂上大声讲出来。但这些都没能实现。我感到很害怕，总担心“其他人会怎么看？”“她要是拒绝怎么办？”——似乎总有种挥之不去的阴影笼罩着我，让我举步维艰。
一直到上大学，我还是很害羞。一天，我突然想到一个问题：生命是害羞的吗？
这一想法令我大为震惊！想想吧，春天萌发的新绿，拂晓吟唱的鸟儿，世间万物无不在展示着神圣生命的浩淼无边。没什么可害羞的！生命无处不在，要勇敢把握！既然造物主都不为生命的自然表达而害羞，我又何必如此呢？
我知道，如果要克服恐惧和害羞，必须将这一生命法则付诸行动。害羞、恐惧和孤独阻碍了我亲近神圣生命赋予的真正生活。我决定顺其自然地生活，绝不让恐惧和害羞掌控我。
举个例子：我给一个女孩写了张纸条，约她出来。写的时候，恐惧和自卑感侵袭着我，但我没退缩，而是亲自将纸条投入了校园信箱。我想，无论她是否答应，对我来说，这已经是很大进步了，因为我不再害羞了。我自信地生活，而这自信正源自我生命的根基。第二天上课时，那个女孩对我说，她愿意赴我的约会。听到这话，我真是无比激动！
慢慢地，我发觉自己不再受狭隘的自我意识的控制了。大学毕业后，我做过报社记者，获得了戏剧专业的高级文凭，并出了自己的书——《我的终生梦想》，还邂逅了一位特殊的女子，并娶她为妻，我甚至还在一所大学做了老师。
Something attempted, something done.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
有所尝试，就等于有所作为。
——亨利·沃兹沃思·朗费恩
embody[imˈbɔdi]v.具体表达；使具体化；包含
Let your happy life embody in every home detail.
让您的幸福人生体现在家居的每个细节。
startle[ˈstɑ:tl]v.吃惊；使……惊愕
I hope you see things that startle you.
我希望你们看到让自己眼前一亮的事情。
overcome[ˌəuvəˈkʌm]v.战胜；克服
It is greatly to your credit that you have overcome such difficulties.
你们克服了这么大的困难，值得表扬。
rejection[riˈdʒekʃən]n.拒绝；被弃；被抛弃的实例
The rejection of this measure aroused the people to indignation.
拒绝采取这一措施激起了人民的义愤。
生命无处不在，要勇敢把握！
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如果要克服恐惧和害羞，必须将这一生命法则付诸行动。
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害羞、恐惧和孤独阻碍了我亲近神圣生命赋予的真正生活。
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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：退缩
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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：闯出；大声叫喊；突然发生
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