忍耐是美德

Patience is a virtue

I have learned that life is like a jigsaw puzzle. You do not see the final picture before you start. You just have to live it and watch the pieces come together.

I have never been a patient person. When I want something, I want it now. Right now though, in my life I find that I am in a waiting stage and I have a strange feeling that this “waiting” period will serve only as a lesson in patience. Sometimes the waiting time in our lives is just as important as the time when we take action. This stage in my life reminds me of a story about patience and the value of not knowing what is around the corner.

When my parents first started out in business, my mother wanted to stay close to her home, so they wanted to sign a contract with Australia Post to be couriers. They were given this contract and so their story began.

Their business became bigger and bigger —first state wide and then it spread across Australia. Finally they had a home business. They now have four storehouses across the country and ship furniture across Australia and around the world. So you see, they started out just wanting a job that would keep them close to their family and ended up with a multi-million-dollar company.

If they had seen the final picture, they probably would have shaken their heads and said “it is an impossible dream”. Sometimes you have to be patient and wait. Just do what is in your heart, and trust that eventually the jigsaw puzzle will all come together and display your beautiful life.

【助讀詞匯】

◇jigsaw puzzle 拼圖玩具

◇courier n. 快遞公司，送快信的人

【參考譯文】

忍耐是美德

我認識到人生就像拼圖游戲。開始之前，你并不知道最后拼出來的會是什么。你必面經歷這一過程，看著它一塊一塊地拼湊起來。

我從來就不是有耐心的人。想得到什么的話，我希望馬上就得到手。但是，我現在卻發現自己處在人生的等待階段，并有一種奇妙的感覺，那就是這一等待階段恰恰就是給我補上一堂有關耐心的課。有時候人生中那些等待的時間和你采取行動的時間一樣重要。人生的這一階段讓我想起一個關于忍耐的故事，同時也讓我認識到，不知道將要發生的事情也有它的價值。

當我爸媽開始做生意的時候，媽媽不想離家太遠，所以他們希望與澳大利亞郵政簽下快遞業務。他們簽下了這個合同，因此故事也就開始了。

他們的生意越做越大——開始是在我們所在的州，后來就拓展到了整個澳大利亞，最后辦成了一個家庭企業。現在他們在全國擁有4家店面，銷售的家具被運到全國乃至世界各地。正如你所見，他們起家的時候只是想找份和家人呆在一起的工作，結果卻發展成了一家資產數百萬的公司。

如果看到了最后完整的拼圖，他們可能會搖搖頭說“這是不可以實現的夢”。有時候你得忍耐，得等待。做你內心想做的事，堅信到頭來這份拼圖會拼出來，并展示出你的美麗人生。

【人生啟迪】

無論是為人還是處事，耐心都是不可或缺的品質。每個人都想獲得成功，但是它只會垂青一部分人，或早或晚。很多人失敗不是因為他不夠聰明，也不是因為他不夠努力，只因為他缺少耐心。要堅信成功有一天會屬于你，堅持不懈的努力，成功等你等很久了。