有句話說:大難不死,必有後福。在經歷生死攸關的時刻後,能夠有機會重新深刻地審視之前的生活,延續以往好的做法,改正錯誤的行為,使自己有機會為真正重要的人做更多的事情,也更好地愛護自己,這應該算是其中一種“福”吧。但是,並不是所有人都有二次審視自己的機會,所以,我們要做的是,珍惜當下,少留遺憾。

A New Look from Borrowed Time - Ralph Richmond

Just ten years ago, I sat across the desk from a doctor with a stethoscope. "Yes, "he said, "there is a lesion in the left, upper lobe.

You have a moderately advanced case…" I listened, stunned, as he continued, “You’ll have to give up work at once and go to bed. Later on, we'll see “He gave no assurances.

Feeling like a man who in mid-career has suddenly been placed under sentence of death with an indefinite reprieve, I left the doctor's office, walked over to the park, and sat down on a bench, perhaps, as I then told myself, for the last time. I needed to think. In the next three days, I cleared up my affairs; then I went home, got into bed, and set my watch to tick off not the minutes, but the months. 2 years and many dashed hopes later, I left my bed and began the long climb back. It was another year before I made it.

I speak of this experience because these years that past so slowly taught me what to value and what to believe. They said to me: Take time, before time takes you. I realize now that this world I’m living in is not my oyster to be opened but my opportunity to be grasped.

Each day, to me, is a precious entity. The sun comes up and presents me with 24 brand new, wonderful hours-not to pass, but to fill.

Frequently, I sit back and say to myself, let me make note of this moment I'm living right now, because in it I’m well, happy, hard at work doing what I like best to do. It won’t always be like this, so while it is I'll make the most of it-and afterwards, I remember-and be grateful. All this, I owe to that long time spent on the sidelines of life. Wiser people come to this awareness without having to acquire it the hard way. But I wasn't wise enough. I'm wiser now, a little, and happier.

大約十年前,我坐在一位拿著聽診器的大夫對面。他說:“是的,你的肺上葉有一處病變,而且在逐漸惡化……”聽到大夫這麼說,我完全愣住了,隨後他緊接著說道:“你必須立即放下工作,臥床休息。之後我們再看情況。”他沒有給任何保證。

我離開了大夫的辦公室,感覺就像是一個處在事業中期的人突然被判了死刑,但緩期到不知哪一天執行。我走到公園裡,坐在一個長凳上,告訴自己可能是最後一次來這兒了。我需要好好想想。在接下來的三天裡,我把所有的事情都處理完了,之後回家躺在床上,把手錶從顯示分鐘調為顯示月份。兩年過去了,在許許多多的希望破滅之後,我離開病床,開始艱難地迴歸從前的生活。我又用了一年的時間才成功。

我說起這段經歷,是因為那幾年度日如年的時間教會了我應該珍惜和相信什麼。它們跟我說:在讓時間掌控你之前,你要掌控時間。我意識到我所生活的世界不是一個等待著我去打開的牡蠣,而是需要我去抓住的機會。每一天對我來說都是一種寶貴的存在。太陽每一次升起都帶給我嶄新而精彩的24小時——這24個小時不是用來虛度的,而是需要我去將它們填滿。

我經常坐下來休息並告訴自己,要記住當下的每時每刻,因為現在的我健康、快樂,努力做著自己最喜歡的工作。這種狀態不會永遠持續,所以趁我還是這樣的時候,我要最大限度地利用好它—在這一切逝去之後,我會記得—心懷感激。這一切都得益於我淡出生活的那幾年。睿智的人不需要通過這種痛苦的

方式就能懂得這個道理,但是我那個時候不夠睿智。但是我現在比以前多了分智慧,也多了幾分快樂。

詞彙

stethoscope n.聽診器

reprieve n. 暫緩;緩刑

dash v. 使破滅

dash one' s hopes使某人的希

lesion n.病變;損傷

lobe n.肺葉;腦葉

entity n.存在;實體

indefinite a.不確

afterwards ad.後來

短語

owe.to sb/sth.將……歸因或歸功於某人某事物

She owes her achievement more to luck than to ability.她將自己的成就更多地歸因於運氣,而不是能力。