Lookforarolemodel

Choose the right company

As they say, “Bad company corrupts good character.” You don’t expect yourself to be able to change if you go on surrounding yourself with people who possess all the negative traits that you want to change.
Consider befriending new people, especially those who are optimistic and have a healthy attitude towards life.
You will see that your effort to change will be easier with these kinds of people as friends.

Spring Thaw万物的复苏 　　Every April I am beset by the same concern--that spring might not occur this year.
The landscape looks forsaken, with hills, sky and forest forming a single gray meld, like the wash an artist paints on a canvas before the masterwork.
My spirits ebb, as they did during an April snowfall when I first came to Maine 15 years ago.
"Just wait," a neighbor counseled.
"You'll wake up one morning and spring will just be here."

每年四月我总是被同一个念头困扰着——今年的春天可能不会来了吧。四周的景色一片凄凉，小山、天空和森林灰蒙蒙的，就像画家的名作画成之前画布上的底色一般。我情绪低沉，15年前我初次来到缅因州，一次四月里下雪的时候我便是这样。“等等看”，一个邻居劝我，“说不定哪一天你一觉醒来，春天已经来了。”
Andlo, on May 3 that year I awoke to a green so startling as to be almost electric, as if spring were simply a matter of flipping a switch.
Hills, sky and forest revealed their purples, blues and green.
Leaves had unfurled, goldfinches had arrived at the feeder and daffodils were fighting their way heavenward.
果不其然，那年的5月3日，我一觉醒来，发现(窗外)绿意逼人，简直让人惊异。春天好像开了闸一样一下子就来到了眼前。小山、天空和森林霎间显出了紫色、蓝色、绿色。树叶舒展开来，黄雀翩翩飞来觅食，黄水仙也朝天竞相生长。
Then there was the old apple tree.
It sits on an undeveloped lot in my neighborhood.
It belongs to no one and therefore to everyone.
The tree's dark twisted branches sprawl in unpruned abandon.
Each spring it blossoms so profusely that the air becomes saturated with the aroma of apple.
When I drive by with my windows rolled down, it gives me the feeling of moving in another element, like a kid on a water slide.
然后就是那棵老苹果树了，它耸立在我家附近的一块荒地中。它不属于任何人，所以也就归每个人所有。苹果树乌黑、虬曲的枝条因未经修剪而恣意蔓生。每到春天，它便蓬勃绽开花蕾，空气中弥漫着苹果花的芳香。当我开着车窗驱车路过的时候，它让我觉得是到了另一个天地，如同孩子乘坐水滑梯一般。
Until last year, I thought I was the only one aware of this tree.
And then one day, in a fit of spring madness, I set out with pruner and lopper to remove a few errant branches.
No sooner had I arrived under its boughs than neighbors opened their windows and stepped onto their porches.
These were people I barely knew and seldom spoke to, but it was as if I had come unbidden into their personal gardens.
直到去年为止，我还以为就我一个人意识到这棵树的存在。后来有一天，在春天引起的疯狂冲动中，我拿着整枝器和修枝剪，想除掉一些杂乱无章的树枝。我刚站到树下，邻居们就纷纷打开窗户，或者走到门廊上。这些人我几乎都不认得，也很少与他们说话，但眼前这情形就像我未经允许擅自闯进他们的私家花园一般。
My mobile-home neighbor was the first to speak.
"You're not cutting it down, are you?" Another neighbor winced as I lopped off a branch.
"Don't kill it, now," he cautioned.
Soon half the neighborhood had joined me under the apple arbor.
一位住在活动房中的邻居首先开口：“你不是要砍倒它吧?” 当我砍掉一条树枝的时候，另一个邻居心疼得跟什么似的。“喂，别把它弄死了。”他警告道。不一会儿，附近几乎一半的人都跑来和我一起站到了苹果树荫下。
It struck me that I had lived there for five years and only now was learning these people's names, what they did for a living and how they passed the winter.
It was as if the old apple tree gathering us under its boughs for the dual purpose of acquaintanceship and shared wonder.
I couldn't help recalling Robert Frost's words:
我猛然意识到我已经在这儿住了五年，然而直到现在我才开始了解这些人的名字，他们以何为生，以及他们如何过冬。似乎这棵老苹果树是为了让我们彼此认识和共享自然的美妙这个双重目的才把我们召集到它的树干下的。这时，我情不自禁地想起了罗伯特?弗罗斯特的诗句：
The trees that have it in their pent-up buds
春树幽闭的芽中藏着碧绿
To darken nature and be summer woods
即将长成阴阴夏木——
One thaw led to another.
Just the other day I saw one of my neighbors at the local store.
He remarked how this recent winter had been especially long and lamented not having seen or spoken at length to anyone in our neighborhood.
And then, recouping his thoughts, he looked at me and said, "We need to prune that apple tree again."

那次融洽的交流开了个好头。就在几天前，我在附近的店里看见一个邻居。他说去年冬天特别漫长，哀叹长时间不见邻居，也没跟他们说过话。然后，又想了一下，他看着我说：“我们需要再给那棵苹果树修修枝了。
Never Give Up绝不言弃 　　The adolescent girl from Tennessee is standing on the stage of a drama summer camp in upstate New York.
It's a beautiful day.
But the girl doesn't feel beautiful.
She's not the leggy, glamorous Hollywood type.
In fact, she describes herself as dorky。
一名少女由田纳西州来到纽约北部，她站在戏剧夏令营的舞台上，虽然天气是那么好，她的心情却一点也不好。因为她不是那种身材颀长、丰腴美艳的好莱坞式美女，实际上她形容自己是“土里土气，还有点傻”。
Since she was six years old, Reese Witherspoon has wanted to be a country singer.
And Dolly Parton is her idol.
But this flat-chested wisp of a girl is no Dolly Parton.Nevertheless, all of this summer she's been acting, dancing and singing---giving it her best。
从六岁开始，里斯?威瑟斯庞就梦想着成为一名乡村歌手，多莉?帕顿是她心中的偶像。但她可一点都不像多莉?帕顿，她胸部扁平，身材纤细。然而，整个夏天她都在尽全力地表演，跳舞和唱歌。
Play to your strengths.
If you're going to make it in this business, it's not going to be on sexy—that's not who you are.
Better focus on what you're good at.
Celebrate yourself。
发挥长处。如果想在这一行发展，不要走自己不擅长的性感路线。更好地专注于自己的特长，为自己喝彩。
Despite three years of lessons, at the end of camp her coaches tell her to forget about singing.
They suggest she think about another career.
If Reese did have talent, it was hiding under her skinny, mousy frame and her Coke-bottle glasses。
她已经上了三年的声乐课程，但夏令营结束时，老师们还是告诉她应该忘掉唱歌这件事儿，另谋出路。如果里斯确实有天分的话，那也是给她纤细的身材和厚如可乐瓶底儿的眼镜遮盖住了。
Still, she takes their words to heart.
After all, why shouldn't she believe the professionals?
虽然心有不甘，可她还是听从了建议，毕竟，她有什么理由怀疑专业人士呢?
But back at home in Nashville, her mother — a funny, happy, upbeatperson — wouldn't let her mope.
Her father, a physician, encouraged her to achieve in school.
So she worked hard at everything and was accepted at Stanford University。
但回到位于纳什维尔的家里，她的妈妈—— 一名风趣、快乐、乐观的儿科护士——可不会让里斯感到丝毫的沮丧。她的爸爸是一名医生，他鼓励女儿在学业上有所成就。于是，她凡事努力，终于被斯坦福大学录取。
And at age 19, she got a part in a low-budget movie called Freeway.
That led to a substantial role in the movie Pleasantville.
But her big break came with Legally Blonde。
19岁那年，她出演了一部低成本电影《极速惊魂》。这为她后来在《欢乐谷》中争取到真正重要的角色奠定了基础。而她真正的破冰之作是影片《律政俏佳人》。
Well, she decided, "if you can't sing and you aren't glamorous, play to your strengths.
If you're going to make it in this business, it's not going to be on sexy — that's not who you are.
Better focus on what you've good at.
Celebrate yourself."
And then came the offer that took her back to her Nashville roots — playing the wife of tormented country star Johnny Cash.
A singing role。
她暗下决心：“既然自己没有歌唱天分，又不是光彩照人，那就尽力演出。要想在这行做下去，就不要在性感上做文章了——自己不是那种类型的。最好在自己擅长 的方面下功夫。要展示自己。”这时，她接到片约，邀她出演约翰尼?卡什——一个饱受折磨的乡村歌手——的妻子，这是个需要演员有唱功的角色，该片约又把她 带回到纳什维尔的家乡。
All of a sudden the old fears were back.
She was so nervous on the set, a reporter wrote, she "kept a sick bucket" nearby and admitted she "would go backstage after a singing scene and shake."
But she didn't give up on the movie or herself。
突然，旧时所有的恐惧感又回来了，一名记者报道说，她在台上实在是太紧张了，甚至在一边“准备了呕吐时要用的痰盂”，她自己也承认“每唱完一幕回到后台，自己都在发抖”。但她没放弃那部电影，也没放弃自己。
The humor and drive she learned at home overcame the self-doubt learned on that summer stage.
She spent 6 months taking singing lessons again.
She learned to play the Autoharp.
And the hard work built up her confidence。
她用六个月的时间重新开始学习声乐。她还学会了演奏竖琴。不懈的努力让她重拾信心。
Last March, Reese Witherspoon walked up on another stage, the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, and accepted the Oscar as Best Actress for her heartbreaking, heartwarming singing role as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line。
2006年3月，里斯?威瑟斯庞走上了另一个舞台——好莱坞的柯达剧院。凭借在影片《一往无前》里饰演的琼?卡特?卡什这一歌唱角色，她获得了奥斯卡最佳女演员奖，她在片中饰演的角色令人心碎，但也让人心暖。
Finally, as you read thse accounts of Reese Witherspoon, consider the obstacles she met.
The lesson of the strory, I suppose, is that instead of making dozen excuses why you can not realize your dreams, think about this story, just hold to your dream and never give up。
最后，当你读瑞茜威瑟彭斯的故事时，想想她遇到的挫折。我认为，这个故事告诉我们，与其找借口解释梦想为什么不能实现，不如想想这个故事，坚持你的梦想，永不放弃。
自信远不只是态度的问题 　　Nothing succeeds like confidence.When you're truly and justifiably confident, it radiates from you like sunlight,and attracts success to you like magnet.
自信是成功的关键。当你真正有充足的理由自信时，自信会像阳光一样从你的身上散发出来，像吸铁石一样把成功吸引到身边。
It's so important to believe in yourself.
Believe that you can do it,under any circumstances.
Because if you believe you can,then you really will.That belief just keeps you searching for the answers,and then pretty soon you can get it.
相信自己非常重要。在任何情况下都要相信自己的能力，因为如果你相信自己，你就真正能做到。那种信念使你不断寻找答案，然后很快你就会得到答案。
Confidence is more than an attitude.It comes from knowing exactly where you are going,exactly how you are going to get there.It comes from acting with integrity and confidence.It comes from a strong sense of purpose.It comes from a strong commitment to take responsibility,rather than just let life happen.
自信远不只是态度的问题。自信来源你知道自己往哪里去，你如何才能达到那里：来源于沉稳和自信的行动；来源于很强的目标感；来源于负责任的承诺，而不是随波逐流。
One way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.
提高自信的其中一个方法就是去做你害怕做的事情，从中获取成功的体验。
Confidence is compassionate and understanding.It is not arrogant.Arrogance is born out of fear and insecurity.Confidence comes from strength and integrity.
自信蕴含同情心和理解。自信不是自负，自负来源于害怕和缺乏安全感。自信来自力量和诚实。
Confidence is not just believing you can do it.Confidence is knowing you can do it.Knowing that you are capable of accomplishing anything you want,and live your life with confidence.
自信不只是相信你能做到，还需要知道你能做到。知道你有能力完成任何你想做到的事情，从而充满自信地生活。
Anything can be achieved through focused,determined effort,commitment and self-confidence.If your life is not what you want it to be,you have the power to change it,and you must make the changes on a moment by moment basis.Live your priorities.Live with your goals and your plan of action.Live each moment with your priorities in mind.Act with your own purpose,and you will have the life you want.
通过重点的明确的努力、承诺和自信，没有做不到的事情。如果你生活得不如意，你有力量去改变它。但你要一步一步地改变。在生活中，考虑生活的优先秩序，寻求生活的目标，实施你的行动方案，每一刻都要记住生活的优先秩序。有目的地行动，你就会得到你想要的生活。