神奇的人生公式（人生感悟-BigChallenges-巨大的挑战）

Big Challenges 巨大的挑战

--1--

“Keep staring! I might do a trick！”

瞧着吧，我会有我的高招！

That’s the message on a T-shirt of mine.

这就是我的一件T恤上面写的话。

People stare at me all the time

因为人们总爱盯着我瞧，

so I thought this shirt would be funny.

所以我想这件T恤会让他们感觉很有意思，

See I’m a dwarf.

知道吗？我是一个小矮人。

Most of the time people aren’t trying to be rude—

大多数时候人们都不是有意表现出无礼—

they just haven’t seen many dwarfs like me before.

他们只不过以前很少看到过像我这样的小矮人而已，

I can understand that.

我能理解这点，

But I also want to let them know

但仍想让他们知道，

that I see them staring.

我注意到他们在盯着我看。

Usually the T-shirt makes them laugh at themselves not at me.

这件T恤就常常使他们自嘲起来，而不是笑话我。

--2--

I was born with achondroplasia,

我生来就患有软骨发育不全症，

the most common form of dwarfism.

这是侏儒症最常见的一种。

I have an average-size torso,

我的躯干大小和常人一样，

but my arms and legs are shorter

但胳膊和腿都比常人短，

and my head is bigger than average.

脑袋也比常人的大一些。

Right now I‘m almost four feet tall

现在我差不多有四英尺高，

and that’s about as tall as I’m going to get.

但基本上不可能再高了。

I’m not going to pretend

我不能装作

that my height isn’t a challenge.

无视身高这个挑战，

It is. Light switches and counters are usually too high for me.

事实就是如此，对我来说灯的开关和柜台常常太高了。

I can’t reach some shelves in the grocery stores.

在杂货店里，有些货架我够不着，

It takes me almost three steps to keep up with one step of an average-size adult.

我要走上三步才能赶得上普通成人迈一步，

And my mom has to hem almost all of my pants.

妈妈不得不为我把几乎所有的裤子都缝上折边。

--3--

But everyone faces challenges.

但每个人都会遇到挑战，

You just have to face them with a good attitude.

我们必须用良好的心态去面对它们。

So I have a long barbecue fork to pull things down from pantry shelves.

所以我会用一个很长的烤肉叉把东西从食品室的架子上弄下来；

I’m a great climber

我擅长攀爬，

and I can make a stool out of just about anything.

任何东西都能被我当作凳子来用。

I’ll even be able to drive a car with the help of pedal extensions.

借助踏板延伸设施，我甚至还能开车。

If all else fails, I ask for help.

要是所有其他的努力都不管用，那我就会请求帮助了。

Due to the way I see it,

正是这种态度，

I can do just about anything that an average-size person can do.

使得普通人能做的我也一样能做到。

So I’ll never play professional sports

是的，我将永远无法参加职业运动项目，

but I have no problem testing my limits.

但我总有办法测试我的极限。

I have to. For instance, everyone uses stoves.

我不得不这么做，例如人人都用炉子，

Little people just have to figure out

我们小矮人就必须想出，

how to use them in different ways.

怎样用不同的方法来使用炉子，

I use a stool to reach mine at home.

在家里，我站在凳子上才能够够到炉子。

It may take me longer and it may be harder

这可能会让我花更长的时间，做起来也更困难，

but I can still do it.

但我总算能做到。

--4--

My T-shirt shows people the real me—

我的T恤告诉人们真实的我，

a kid with a sense of humor.

是一个有幽默感的人。

And maybe that’s the real trick showing others

或许这就是我跟他们说的“高招”。

that I’m just like them.

我跟他们一样，

I play sports and video games,

我参加体育运动，我也玩电子游戏，

I go to school and I hang out with my friends.

我去学校读书，我也和朋友们一起出去嗨。

I’m just shorter.

我只是比较矮一点，

I mean no one is exactly the same.

我的意思是，没有两个人是完全相同的，

And anyway, I’m proud of who I am.

总之，我为自己感到骄傲。

,