These two ladies profoundly impacted my life
这两位女士对我的人生产生了深刻的影响
and I will never be able to thank them personally,
我却永远没有机会对她们当面表示感谢了
so I will do it here.
所以我会在这里表达谢意
First,
首先
to the random teenage girl on the train:
我要致那个在火车上偶遇的少女
You were talking with your friend.
那时你在和朋友聊天
She seemed really depressed
你的朋友看起来十分消沉
because she could not get a boyfriend.
因为她找不到男朋友
I was half listening to the conversation
我无意间大致听到了你们的对话
while dozing off
一边还昏昏欲睡
and heard you say:
我听到你说
"WHY do you want a boyfriend so much?
为什么你这么想要有一个男友？
What do you think will change in your life
你觉得，自己的生活会发生什么变化
after getting a boyfriend?"
当你有了男友之后
That woke me up.
这句话点醒了我
At the time,
那时
I was obsessing over getting a particular "dream job".
我岌岌的想要争取一份“梦想中的工作”
I was depressed
为此我十分消沉
and anxious about it,
十分焦急
I was crying over it.
我时常为之哭泣
I was feeling like such a failure.
我感到自己太失败了
It was all I could think or talk (and complain) about.
我满脑子里想的，口中说（抱怨）的都是这件事
As soon as I got home,
我一回到家
I made a list:
就做了一个清单
"Things that I think will change
生活中会有什么样的变化
if I get my dream job".
如果我得到了我梦中的工作
It ended up being such a long list.
最后，我列出了一张非常长的清单
I was basically blaming all of life's problems,
基本上我就是在抱怨生活中的难题
big and small
有大有小
on not having this particular job.
似乎它们都是因为我没有得到那份工作才产生的
Not only that,
不仅如此
but I was also putting things "on hold"
我还搁置了许多事情
until after I got this job
一定要等到自己得到那份工作才愿意做
for no good reason.
并没有什么正当的理由
Like I needed a particular job title
比如，我需要那个职位头衔
to join a gym
才能去健身
or practice my hobby.
去发展自己的爱好
So I took that list
于是我拿起那张清单
and started DOING everything I wrote down.
开始实际的做每一件我写下的事情
I started addressing the problems directly
我开始直面那些问题
and finding outlets for the things
寻找某些事情的出口
I was not satisfied with.
排解自己对那些事情的不满
I still wanted the job,
我仍然 那份工作
but my happiness did not depend on it.
但我是否幸福并不完全仪仗于它
Since then,
从那时起
when I find myself obsessing over a particular thing,
每当我发现自己沉湎于某样东西
I always take the time
我总会花些时间
to think
去想一想
if I'm using it as an excuse
我是不是在用这样东西当做借口
to not work on other problems I might have.
从而不去解决自己可能面临的其他难题
Thank you,
谢谢你
teenage girl on the train.
火车上的少女
You were trying to help your friend
你只是想帮助自己的朋友
and changed a stranger's life instead.
但你却改变了一个陌生人的一生
Second,
我第二个要感谢的
to the woman that lives in an apartment
是住在同一栋公寓里的女人
somewhere above me:
她家正好在我楼上
You moved to the building
你搬进公寓时
shortly after I did.
我刚搬进去不久
I heard some people move
我听到有人搬运东西的声音
what sounded like a very heavy object
听上去像是十分沉重的东西
up the stairs
就在我的楼上
and you thanking them
你连声道谢
with such happiness in your voice.
声音里满满的欢欣
And then I heard music.
然后我听到了音乐
You almost didn't wait for the movers to leave
你甚至不愿意等到搬家的人离开
before you started playing that piano.
就开始弹奏你的钢琴
And you kept playing.
你一直弹下去
Every day.
每天如此
Every day
每天
I heard the piano
我都听到钢琴声
and I remember thinking
我记得自己那时想到
"She plays beautifully,
她弹得多么好
I wish I was that good at my hobby".
真希望我对自己的爱好也是如此精通
And then I felt like an idiot.
这时我才知道自己多么愚蠢
Because
因为
I was hearing you play every day
我每天都听到你弹钢琴
while I was wasting time online.
自己却在上网浪费时间
So I closed my laptop
于是我关上了自己的笔记本
and got practicing.
开始练习
I'm trying to build that habit now.
现在，我正努力发展自己的爱好
Sometimes
有时
it's hard to find that motivation ,
我很难找到自己的动力
sometimes I forget .
有时我会忘记
But every day I hear you play,
但是每天我都会听到你练琴
and every time
每到这时
I stop what I'm doing
我会停下手头正在做的事情
and practice for a little bit.
练习一小会儿
I'm still not great,
我仍然技艺不佳
but I'm getting better.
但我在不断进步
Thank you,
谢谢你
lady who lives in my building.
与我住在同一栋楼里的女士
You are just practicing a skill you enjoy
你只是在练习一项你喜欢的技艺
and you inspired a stranger to do the same.
你却激励了一个陌生人向你那样去做