What You Make of Your Life Is Up to You擁有什么樣的人生取決于你自己

梁小明

編者注：有些人常常抱怨自己生不逢時，上天對自己不公。殊不知，擁有什么樣的人生完全取決于你自己，在這個世界上，人們一次又一次地證明了這個道理：世上無難事，只怕有心人。

Every person creates his or her own reality. Authorship1 of your life is one of your absolute rights; yet so often people deny that they have the ability to script2the life they desire. They look past3 the fundamental4 truth that it is not our external resources that determine our success or failure, but rather our own belief in ourselves and our willingness to create a life according to our highest aspirations5.

每個人都創造著自己的生活。人人享有創造自己生活的絕對權利，然而人們總是否認他們有能力描繪自己所期望的人生。他們忽視了一個根本的事實，即決定我們成功與失敗的不是外在條件，而在于我們對自己有沒有信心，是否愿意根據自己的最高志向創造生活。

Clearly, the challenge here is to create and own your own reality. When you begin to live your life understanding that what you make of it is up to you, you are able to design it according to your authentic choices and desires. You will learn lessons here, such as responsibility and limitlessness, which will lead you to the life you were meant to live. These lessons provide you with the essential tools you need in order to take command of your life.

顯然，這里的挑戰是創造并擁有自己的生活。你一旦明白自己是生活的創造者并開始努力創造生活，你就能夠按照自己真正的選擇與愿望去設計人生。在這里你將學到一些東西，比如責任和潛能無限，它們將帶你走進你想要的人生，并將給予你主宰自己的人生所必需的重要手段。

Responsibility 責任

To take responsibility means you admit your accountability6 and acknowledge your influence and role in the circumstances in which you find yourself. It means you are answerable for yourbehavior and you fully accept any consequences created by your actions.

承擔責任是指你認同自己負有責任，承認自己在自身所處環境中的影響和作用，也就是說你為自己的行為負責，完全承擔由自己的行為所造成的一切后果。

To take responsibility will propel7 you forward and onward to your greater goal. I know of a woman named Mary whose story of personal responsibility has always inspired me. Mary was born in Cuba and moved to Miami with her family when she was two years old. They lived in terrible poverty in a dangerous part of the city, where crime and drugs were part of everyday life. Mary was determined, however, even at the young age of eight, to make something of her life other than follow the expected route of becoming a maid, or a cashier at the local supermarket. So she got herself to school each and every day, sometimes having to step over drunks passed out8 in the doorway, just so she could get education and give herself a better life.

承擔責任能推動你不斷前進，實現你的更大目標。我認識一個叫瑪麗的女人，她自己承擔責任的故事一直鼓舞著我?，旣惓錾诠虐停瑑蓺q時和全家一起搬到邁阿密市。他們生活貧困，住在邁阿密的危險地區，那里犯罪和毒品肆虐成災。然而，瑪麗8歲時就立志要干出一番事業，而不是她本該走的生活道路——當個女傭人或當地超市的收銀員。為此，她每天去上學，有時甚至不得不從那些醉倒在家門口的酒鬼身上跨過去，因為只有這樣她才能受到教育，為自己創造更好的生活。

Mary eventually left Miami, obtained a good education, and fostered9 her natural music ability. Mary could have given in to the life she was born into, or remained mired10 in blaming her parents and culture for her circumstances. She could have refused to take responsibility for the situation. Instead, however, Mary took responsibility for herself and created a life of which she can be proud.

瑪麗最終離開了邁阿密，獲得了良好的教育，并發展了她的音樂天賦。她本來可以向與生俱來的命運屈服，或者繼續埋怨自己的父母和她所處的環境。她可以拒絕承擔任何責任。然而，她本來卻為自己承擔了責任，并且創造了她可以引以為豪的生活。

Responsibility is a major lesson of adulthood. If you still havent learned the lesson of responsibility, its not too late.Remember, life will provide you with plenty of opportunities to get it right.

承擔責任是成年人的一門必修課。如果你還沒有學會承擔責任這門課，現在還為時不晚。記住，生活會給你提供許許多多的機會去學會承擔責任。

Limitlessness 潛能無限

Limitlessness is the sense that there are no boundaries to what you can become or do. You learn it when you know that your evolution11 is never-ending and your potential12 for growth reaches to infinity13.

潛能無限，即沒有任何東西可以限制你成為你想要成為的人，做你想要做的事。如果你意識自己的進步是永無止境的，自己的發展潛力是無窮無盡的，那你就學會了這一課。

You were born knowing your limitlessness. As you grew and became socialized in this world, however you might have come to believe that there are boundaries that prevent you from reaching the highest levels of spiritual, motional, or mental evolution. However, boundaries exist only in your mind. When you are able to transcend14 them, you learn the lesson of limitlessness.

當你生下來的時候，你就知道自己的潛能是無限的，然而，隨著你慢慢地長大，逐漸融入社會生活，你可能就開始相信有種種極限阻止你，使你不能達到精神、情感上和思想上的最高層次。然而，這些極限只存在于你的心里。如果你能超越它們，你就知道了什么就無限。

When I was young, I had a teacher who understood the importance of this lesson. She reminded us every day that we could do anything we set our minds to, no matter how impossible it might seem or how strong the opposition is. It is my sincere hope that there is a teacher like Mrs. Carbone in every school around the world, so that our children can know the wonder and power they have within themselves and will strive15 to access it.

我小時候的一位老師深信這一課程的重要性。她天天提醒我們：無論多么艱難，只要下定決心，我們就能做成任何事。我真誠地希望世界上的每所學校都有像卡波恩夫人這樣的老師。這樣，我們的孩子就會懂得他們身上擁有驚人的才能和力量，而且會去努力發掘它。

In this world, we have countless people who have proven that a person can do whatever he or she strives to do.

在這個世界上，人們一次又一次地證明了這個道理：世上無難事，只怕有心人。