彎下腰，不要斷

Bend, but don’t break

One of my fondest memories as a child is walking by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and quiet, watch the water rush downstream, and listen to the chirps of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees. I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their upright or original position after the wind had died down.

When I think about the bamboo’s ability to bounce back or return to its original position, the word resilience comes to mind. When used in reference to a person this word means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or any other situation that stretches the limits of a person’s emotions.

Have you ever felt like you are about to snap? Have you ever felt like you are at your breaking point? Thankfully, you have survived the experience to live to talk about it.

During the experience you probably felt a mix of emotions that threatened your health. You felt emotionally drained, mentally exhausted and you most likely endured unpleasant physical symptoms.

Life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy moments that take you close to your breaking point, bend but don’t break. Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.

A measure of hope will take you through the unpleasant ordeal. With hope for a better tomorrow or a better situation, things may not be as bad as they seem to be. The unpleasant ordeal may be easier to deal with if the final result is worth having.

If the going gets tough and you are at your breaking point, show resilience. Like the bamboo, bend, but don’t break!

【助讀詞匯】

◇chirp n. 喳喳聲，唧唧聲

◇rustle v. (使)沙沙作響

◇resilience n. 彈性，韌性

◇depression  n. 抑郁，沮喪，情緒低落

◇symptom  n. 病癥，癥狀

◇ordeal  n. 嚴酷的考驗，苦難的經歷

◇snap v. 突然折斷

【參考譯文】

彎下腰，不要斷

我記憶里最美好的時光就是小時候在河邊散步，悠閑地坐在岸上。在那里我可以享受平靜，看河水順流而下，聽小鳥嘰嘰喳喳地叫以及樹葉沙沙作響。我還常看到竹子因為風吹的壓力而彎下腰，但風漸平息后，它又會優雅地恢復到原來筆直向上的姿勢。

當我想起竹子能彈到原先的位置的時候，我腦海里出現了韌性這個詞。當這個詞用于指人的時候，它說明這個人能快速地從遭受打擊、失意或其他超出人類情感極限的境況中挺過來。

你是否有過自己快折成兩段的感覺？是否感到過自己處在崩潰的邊緣？所幸的是你熬了過來，并能與人分享那段經歷。

在那種時候你很可能產生危害健康的復雜情緒。你覺得感情枯竭，精神萎靡，而且還可能出現難受的生理癥狀。

生活既有幸運的日子又有倒霉的日子，既有快樂的時光又有悲傷的時光。下一次，你遇到倒霉的日子或不開心的時刻，感覺即將崩潰，請你彎下腰，但是不要斷了，并盡力不要讓它占你的上風。

抱著一定的希望會讓你渡過所面對難關。如果你相信明天會更好，情況會有所改善，事情就不會像看上去那樣糟。如果最后的結果值得為之奮斗，那么所面對的難關就可能容易應對些。

如果事情變得非常艱難，令你到了崩潰邊緣，那就拿出你的韌性來。像竹子一樣，彎下腰，但是不要斷。

【人生啟迪】

成大事者，須能屈能伸。盡管在通往成功的道路上可能充滿坎坷和荊棘，也可以途中遭遇失敗，但是不要因此倒下，不要受失敗后產生的消極情緒的影響，而應盡快調整好心態，從哪里跌倒就從哪里爬起來，因為從失敗的陰影里越快走出來的人越早達到終點。