從不說你不行

WE NEVER TOLD HIM HE COULDN’T

My son Joey was born with club feet. The doctor assured us that with treatment he would be able to walk normally—but would never run very well. The first three years of his life were spent in surgery, casts and braces. By the time he was eight, you wouldn’t know he had a problem when you saw him walk.

The children in our neighborhood ran around as most children do during play, and Joey would jump right in and run and play, too. We never told him that he probably wouldn’t be able to run as well as the other children, so he didn’t know.

In seventh grade he decided to go out for the cross-country team. Every day he trained with the team. He worked harder and ran more than any of the others—perhaps he sensed that the abilities that seemed to come naturally to so many others did not come naturally to him. Although the entire team runs, only the top seven runners have the potential to score points for the school. We didn’t tell him he probably would never make the team, so he didn’t know.

He continued to run four to five miles a day, every day—even the day he had a 103-degree fever. I was worried, so I went to look for him after school. I found him running all alone. I asked him how he felt. “Okay,” he said. He had two more miles to go. The sweat ran down his face and his eyes were glassy from his fever. Yet he looked straight ahead and kept running. We never told him he couldn’t run so long with a 103-degree fever, so he didn’t know.

Two weeks later, the names of the team runners were called. Joey was number six on the list. Joey had made the team. He was in seventh grade—the other six team members were all eighth-graders. We never told him he shouldn’t expect to make the team. We never told him he couldn’t do it. We never told him he couldn’t do it...so he didn’t know. He just did it.

【助讀詞匯】

◇club feet畸形足，先天性足畸形

◇assure v. 向……保證，擔保

◇surgery n. 手術

◇cast n. 石膏

◇brace n. 支撐物，支架

◇potential n. 潛在性，可能性

【參考譯文】

從不說你不行

我兒子喬伊先天性雙足畸形。醫生很確切地告訴我們，經過治療他可以正常行走——但是不可能跑得很快。他生命的頭3年都是在手術、石膏模具和支架上度過的。到了8歲，你看他走路絕不會知道他的腿有問題。

就像大多數孩子一樣，鄰里的孩子們在玩耍的時候都跑來跑去。喬伊也會加入他們，一起跑一起玩。我們從沒對他說他可能沒其他孩子跑得快，所以他不知道。

七年級的時候，他決定為加入越野賽跑隊全力以赴。每天他都和其他隊員一起訓練。他比其他人更努力，跑得也更多——也許他感覺到了自己不具備別人自然就有的能力。雖然整個隊都要跑，可是只有前7名才能為學校得分。我們沒有對他說，他可能不能加入越野賽跑隊，所以他不知道。

他依然每天跑4到5公里，即便在他高燒103度的那天。我很擔心，所以放學后到學校去找他，發現他一個人正在跑。我問他感覺怎么樣。他說：“還行。” 他說，還剩下最后兩英里。汗水流過他的臉頰。因為發燒，他的視線有點模糊。但是他直視著前方繼續跑著。我們沒有對他說高燒到103度不能跑那么遠，所以他不知道。

兩周后，賽跑隊隊員的名單公布了。喬伊排在第六。他成功了。他還在讀七年級，而其他六名成員全是八年級學生。我們從沒有對他說不應該期望加入賽跑隊，我們從沒有對他說他會失敗，我們從沒有對他說他做不到……所以他不知道。所以他做到了。

【人生啟迪】

強大的精神力量總會帶來奇跡。不管身體上有什么不足和缺陷，只要你信念堅定，并堅持不懈地奮斗，終有一天你也會創造另一個奇跡。