英語美文：培養(yǎng)自信

　　摘要：自信是一種感覺—一種來自內(nèi)心的火焰和外在的燦爛，使人們可以獲得更多基本的滿足感。自信不是某些人天生就有而另一些人沒有，它是后天培養(yǎng)起來的性格。

　　Developing Self-Confidence 培養(yǎng)自信

　　Confidence is a feeling—an inner fire and an outer radiance1, a basic satisfaction with what one is plus a reading out to become more. Confidence is not something a few people are born with and others are not, for it is an acquired characteristic.

　　Confidence is the personal possession of no one; the person who has it learns it – and goes on learning. The most gifted individual on earth has to construct confidence in his gifts from the basis of faith and experience, like anybody else. The tools will differ from one person to the next, but the essential task is the same. Confidence and pose are available2 to us all according to our abilities and needs – not somebody else’s – provided we utilize our gifts and expand them.

培養(yǎng)自信

　　自信是一種感覺—一種來自內(nèi)心的火焰和外在的燦爛，使人們可以獲得更多基本的滿足感。自信不是某些人天生就有而另一些人沒有，它是后天培養(yǎng)起來的性格。

　　自信不是任何人的私有財(cái)產(chǎn);人們通過學(xué)習(xí)獲得自信并且堅(jiān)持繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)。這個(gè)世界上最聰明的人也要像其他人一樣，在信念和經(jīng)歷的基礎(chǔ)上來培養(yǎng)自信。一個(gè)人和另一個(gè)人用的工具可能不同，但是核心的任務(wù)是一樣的。倘若運(yùn)用我們的才智并使之不斷增長，依靠我們自己的而不是別人的能力和需求，我們就可以做到自信和沉著冷靜。

　　One of the most rewarding3 aspects of confidence is that it sits gracefully on every age and level of life – on children, men, women, the famous, the obscure4, rich, poor, artist, executive, teen-ager, the very old. And you can take it with you into old age. There is nothing more inspiring than an old person who maintains his good will, humor, and faith in himself, in others, in the future. Conversely, the root cause of old people’s despair is feeling of not being wanted, of nothing to contribute, no more to conquer and become.

　　自信最令人滿意的方面之一是它不分年齡和生活水準(zhǔn)不懈地跟隨我們每個(gè)人—小孩，男人，女人，名人，平凡人，富人，窮人，藝術(shù)家，行政人員，青少年，老人。你還可以把自信帶入老年。再沒有比一個(gè)老人能夠保持對自己，對別人和未來懷有美好意愿、心情、信念更能鼓舞人心的了。相反，老人絕望的根本原因是不被需要，無所貢獻(xiàn)，無所征服和無所成就的感覺。

　　Most people have more to work with than they realize. One noted physicist calls this unused excellencies and finding and releasing this potential in ourselves is one of the major challenges of modern life. The great danger is not that we shall overreach our capacities but that we shall undervalue and under-employ them, thus blighting5 our great possibilities.

　　大多數(shù)人都比他們意識到的更大有可為。一位著名的物理學(xué)家把它稱之為未被利用的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，找到并且釋放我們身上的這些潛能是當(dāng)代生活中重要的挑戰(zhàn)之一。最多的危險(xiǎn)不是我們高估我們的能力，而是我們會低估并且不能充分利用這些能力，這會破壞我們的潛能。

　　The goal of life is not a problemless existence, which would be unbearably6 dull, but a way to handle problems creatively. That word “problem” may sound a little prickly, but it only means a question put forth for solution, and actually life consists of a series of problems-and-solutions, each different from the last.

　　生活的目標(biāo)不是無憂無慮，那樣會無聊得無法忍受，而應(yīng)該是創(chuàng)造性的解決問題—解決問題構(gòu)成的，每一個(gè)問題都與上一個(gè)不同。

　　Confidence is delight — delight6 in living, in being who you are, in what you do, in growing, in the endless and sometimes exasperating7 adventure of what it means to be human. The teacher who delights in teaching has no time for bogging down8 in a swamp of doubt that he or she is doing it “right,” and they are well aware that they can become a better teacher tomorrow, but only by doing their best today and enjoying today. So, too, the mother who delights in being a mother does not worry overmuch about whether she fits the rules. She is not the mother, after all, of something material but of a living child.

　　自信是喜悅，生活的喜悅，是自我的快樂，做事的快樂，成長的快樂，體驗(yàn)人類種種坎坷歷程的快樂。以教學(xué)為快樂的老師，沒有時(shí)間懷疑他做得是否對，通過今天的努力工作并感到滿意，他們很清楚明天會做得更好。母親也如此，她們也不會過多地?fù)?dān)心她是否適合這個(gè)角色。她照顧的畢竟不是無生命的物質(zhì)，而是一個(gè)活生生的孩子。

　　Rules can often be a guide to successful living, but they are not a substitute for living. Rules never quite keep up with reality, because rules come from experience, not the other way around. Life happens, and it is infinitely inventive. It will always outrun and outmaneuver9 any attempt to bottle it up10 in a cut-and-dried system, for life is perpetual becoming. When life turns your wisest plans or best rules upside down, throw out the plans and bend with the circumstance. You will find powers you did not suspect, and possibilities undreamed of.

　　規(guī)則是通往成功生活的向?qū)?，但不是生活的替代品。?guī)則不是十分符合現(xiàn)實(shí)，因?yàn)橐?guī)則來自于經(jīng)驗(yàn)，而不是經(jīng)驗(yàn)來自規(guī)則。生活的真諦遠(yuǎn)勝于發(fā)明創(chuàng)造。生活總會超越那些束縛它的一板一眼的制度，因?yàn)樯羁傇谧兓?。?dāng)生活把你最聰明的計(jì)劃或最好的準(zhǔn)則推翻時(shí)，扔掉那些計(jì)劃，適應(yīng)環(huán)境，你會找到你意想不到的力量，以及你做夢也沒想到的可能性。

　　Confidence is not always winning, not always victory. Indeed, it is that very quality in humanity which refuses to stay defeated. A kind of stubborn11 cheerfulness. Remember there are two things you can do with mistakes: you can run away and you can grow.

　　自信并不總能勝利，總能打贏。實(shí)際上，它是人類不甘于失敗餓品質(zhì)，一種絕不退讓的快活。記住對于錯(cuò)誤你可以采取兩種態(tài)度：你可以逃避，也可以從中成長。