機(jī)會(huì)演講稿4篇
kare anderson: be an opportunity maker
【ted】凱兒˙安德森: 給自己和別人帶來希望與意外斬獲-機(jī)會(huì)制造者
i grew up diagnosed as phobically shy,
我從小就有社交恐懼癥
and like at least 20 other people in a room of this size,
這樣的空間 大約20人
i was a stutterer.
就能讓以前的我結(jié)巴語塞
do you dare raise your hand?
更別提舉手了 根本不可能
and it sticks with us.
這種困擾如影隨形
it really does stick with us,
你走到哪 它就跟到哪
because when we are treated that way,
當(dāng)大家對(duì)你的存在視若無睹
we feel invisible sometimes,
你會(huì)開始感覺自己是隱形人
or talked around and at.
而別人都在你背后竊竊私語
and as i started to look at people,
后來我仔細(xì)去觀察周遭的人
which is mostly all i did,
一直以來我都只敢默默觀察
i noticed that some people really wanted attention
然后發(fā)現(xiàn)有些人無法忍受被忽視
and recognition.
他們要得到大家的注意力和認(rèn)同
remember, i was young then.
當(dāng)時(shí)我年輕、懵懂
so what did they do? what we still do perhaps too often?
渴望注意力的人會(huì)做什么? 也許現(xiàn)在太多人在做一樣的事而不自知
we talk about ourselves.
他們談?wù)摰某36际亲约?/p>
and yet there are other people i observed who had what i called a mutuality mindset.
但另一批人就不同了 我說他們的人際關(guān)系 往往有一種“互相”的心態(tài)
in each situation, they found a way to talk about us and create that “us” idea.
無論什么場(chǎng)合 他們的談話里都會(huì)出現(xiàn)“我們”這個(gè)概念
so my idea to reimagine the world is to see it one where we all become greater opportunity-makers with and for others.
在我心目中的理想世界 每個(gè)人都能為自己和別人創(chuàng)造機(jī)會(huì)
there’s no greater opportunity or call for action for us now
就是現(xiàn)在 我們必須把握良機(jī)、采取行動(dòng)
than to become opportunity-makers who use best talents together more often for the greater good
多去整合各種才能 盡可能的利益他人
and accomplish things we couldn’t have done on our own.
一人做不到的 多人或許有辦法
and i want to talk to you about that,
這就是我今天的重點(diǎn)
cause even more than giving,
比單純給予
even more than giving,
施舍、捐贈(zèng)更有影響力的
is the capacity for us to do something smarter together
就是人們學(xué)會(huì)集思廣益
for the greater good that lifts us both up
共同合作 創(chuàng)造雙贏局面
and that can scale.
其中的利益會(huì)一層層積累
that’s why i’m sitting here.
這是我今天演講的重點(diǎn)
but i also want to point something else out.
不過我還想說一件事
each one of you is better than anybody else at something.
臺(tái)下的你必定在某些事上比其他人都拿手
that disproves that popular notion that if you’re the smartest person in the room,
和那句名言“你絕不是這里最厲害的人”
you’re in the wrong room.
恰恰相反
so let me tell you about a hollywood party i went to a couple years back,
我在幾年前的一個(gè)好萊塢聚會(huì)上
and i met this up-and-coming actress,
遇見了位有潛力的女演員
and we were soon talking about something that we both felt passionately about,
我們很快就找到共同話題-
public art.
公共藝術(shù)
and she had the fervent belief that every new building in los angeles
她堅(jiān)信洛杉磯的每棟建筑里
should have public art in it. she wanted a regulation for it,
都應(yīng)該有公共藝術(shù) 她想要一套專屬公共藝術(shù)的規(guī)范
and she fervently started,
所以她興忡忡的著手進(jìn)行
what is here from chicago?
這里有誰是芝加哥人嗎?
she fervently started talking about these bean-shaped reflective sculptures in millennium park,
她滔滔不絕的說著千禧公園里的云門雕塑
and people would walk up to it
人們好奇的上前一探究竟
and they’d smile in the reflection of it,
看著自己的映像微笑
and they’d pose and they’d vamp and they’d take selfies together
擺pose、贊嘆、自拍留念
and they’d laugh.
然后笑成一團(tuán)
and as she was talking, a thought came to my mind.
聽著聽著 我突然靈光乍現(xiàn)
i said, “i know someone you ought to meet.
我告訴她: “妳應(yīng)該見見這個(gè)人
he’s getting out of san quentin in a couple of weeks
再幾周他就要從圣昆丁州立監(jiān)獄出來了
and he shares your fervent desire that art should engage and enable people to connect.”
他跟妳一樣 覺得藝術(shù)應(yīng)該讓人有共鳴、激發(fā)想像力”
he spent five years in solitary,
他被單獨(dú)監(jiān)禁了五年
and i met him because i gave a speech at san quentin,
我因?yàn)樵谑ダザ⊙葜v 而與他結(jié)識(shí)
and he’s articulate
他口條不錯(cuò)
and he’s rather easy on the eyes
長(zhǎng)的也不賴
because he’s buff. he had workout regime he did everyday.
因?yàn)樗菞l熱愛健身的漢子
i think she was following me at that point.
女演員大概還滿有興趣的
i said, “he’d be an unexpected ally.”
我又說: “他會(huì)是個(gè)得力助手”
and not just that. there’s james. he’s an architect
除了他之外 我把詹姆也拉進(jìn)來 詹姆是建筑師
and he’s a professor,
也是個(gè)教授
and he loves place-making, and place-making is when you have those mini-plazas
他對(duì)地方營(yíng)造很有興趣 外頭的小廣場(chǎng)、
and those urban walkways
城市人行道
and where they’re dotted with art,
任何有藝術(shù)點(diǎn)綴的地方 都屬于地方營(yíng)造的范疇
where people draw and come up and talk sometimes.
許多人會(huì)在那兒畫畫、閑聊
i think they’d make good allies.
我想他們一定能合作無間
and indeed they were.
果真沒錯(cuò)
they met together. they prepared.
他們碰面之后 就開始籌備
they spoke in front of the lost angeles city council.
到洛杉磯市政府傳達(dá)訴求
and the council members not only passed the regulation,
結(jié)果市議員通過了他們訂的條例
half of them came down and asked to pose with them afterwards.
之后甚至半數(shù)議員還去與藝術(shù)品合影
they were startling, compelling and credible.
他們給人的印象是震懾、具說服力、可靠
you can’t buy that.
全都是用錢買不到的
what i’m asking you to consider is what kind of opportunity-makers we might become,
希望各位想想自己能成為哪種機(jī)會(huì)制造者
because more than wealth
比財(cái)富、
or fancy titles
頭銜、
or a lot of contacts,
人脈更可觀的
it’s our capacity to connect around each other’s better side and bring it out.
是我們發(fā)掘他人優(yōu)點(diǎn)的能力
and i’m not saying this is easy,
這一點(diǎn)都不容易
and i’m sure many of you have made the wrong moves too about who you wanted to connect with,
相信許多人都有找錯(cuò)對(duì)象、牽錯(cuò)線的經(jīng)驗(yàn)
but what i want to suggest is, this is an opportunity.
但畢竟都是個(gè)“機(jī)會(huì)”
i started thinking about it way back when i was a wall street journal reporter and i was in europe
這個(gè)領(lǐng)悟要從好幾年前說起 當(dāng)時(shí)我在歐洲 擔(dān)任華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)記者
and i was supposed to cover trends and trends that transcended business or politics or lifestyle.
采訪內(nèi)容為時(shí)尚與流行 跨越商業(yè)、政治、生活型態(tài)隔閡的流行
so i had to have contacts in different worlds very different than mine,
因此得和背景截然不同的人打交道
because otherwise you couldn’t spot the trends.
否則就無法掌握潮流走向
and third, i had to write a story in a way stepping into the reader’s shoes,
寫故事時(shí) 還得設(shè)身處地為讀者想
they could see how these trends could affect their lives.
要讓他們覺得自己和這些潮流息息相關(guān)
that’s what opportunity-makers do.
這就是機(jī)會(huì)制造者的任務(wù)
and here’s a strange thing:
奇怪之處在于
unlike an increasing number of americans who are working and living and playing with people who think exactly like them
越來越多人工作、生活、娛樂都喜歡尋找與自己相似的人
because we then become more rigid and extreme,
久而久之就變得挑剔、極端起來
opportunity-makers are actively seeking situations with people unlike them,
機(jī)會(huì)制造者尋找與自己不相似的人
and they’re building relationships,
和他們建立關(guān)系
and because they do that,
這樣做的話
they have trusted relationships where they can bring the right team in
兩方之間就有互信 能在適當(dāng)?shù)臅r(shí)機(jī)介紹彼此適當(dāng)?shù)娜?/p>
and recruit them to solve a problem better and faster and seize more opportunities.
用更快、更好的方法解決問題 同時(shí)也抓住了更多機(jī)會(huì)
they’re not affronted by differences.
機(jī)會(huì)創(chuàng)造者不會(huì)被歧異冒犯
they’re fascinated by them,
反而深受吸引
and that is a huge shift in mindset,
這是心態(tài)上的極端不同
and once you feel it, you want it to happen a lot more.
你一旦意識(shí)到 就會(huì)為它的魅力著迷
this world is calling out for us to have a collective mindset,
和別人形成“共同體”才是王道
and i believe in doing that.
我個(gè)人深信
it’s especially important now.
攜手合作在這世代特別重要
why is it important now?
為什么呢?
because things can be devised like drones
機(jī)器小幫手
and drugs and data collection,
藥物開發(fā)、數(shù)據(jù)收集
and they can be devised by more people.
都可以讓更多人參與其中
and cheaper ways for beneficial purposes
用更經(jīng)濟(jì)的方式創(chuàng)造收益
and then, as we know from the news every day, they can be used for dangerous ones.
只是水能載舟 亦能復(fù)舟 也可能被有心人士利用
it calls on us, each of us, to a higher calling.
這個(gè)理念非常需要大家的重視
but here’s the icing on the cake:
成為機(jī)會(huì)制造者是一箭雙雕
it’s not just the first opportunity that you do with somebody else that’s probably your greatest,
除了獲得和更高竿對(duì)象合作的機(jī)會(huì)
as an institution or an individual.
無論對(duì)于機(jī)構(gòu)或個(gè)人來說
it’s after you’ve had that experience and you trust each other.
都是開啟了這扇門 建立信任后
it’s the unexpected things that you devise later on you never could have predicted.
團(tuán)隊(duì)合作帶來的驚人成果
for example, marty is the husband of that actress i mentioned,
麥迪是那位女演員的丈夫
and he watched them when they were practicing,
詹姆等三人排練時(shí) 他就在旁邊看
and he was soon talking to wally, my friend the ex-con,
并很快和韋利聊開了 就是剛出獄的那位
about that exercise regime.
大概在聊健身吧?
and he thought, i have a set of racquetball courts.
麥迪心想: “我有個(gè)壁球館
that guy could teach it. a lot of people who work there are members at my courts.
韋利可以來當(dāng)教練 很多教練都是體育館的會(huì)員
they’re frequent travelers.
他們很常來我這邊
they could practice in their hotel room, no equipment provided.
旅館房間里沒有設(shè)備 也照樣能練習(xí)”
that’s how wally got hired.
韋利就這樣得到了板球教練的工作
not only that, years later he was also teaching racquetball.
幾年后他也開始教壁球?qū)W生
years after that, he was teaching the racquetball teachers.
再過了幾年則是教壁球老師
what i’m suggesting is, when you connect with people
我想說的是 當(dāng)你把周遭有相同興趣、
around a shared interest and action,
喜好的人圈在一塊
you’re accustomed to serendipitous things happening into the future,
就會(huì)逐漸適應(yīng)隨之而來、意想不到的收獲
and i think that’s what we’re looking at.
我想這才是至關(guān)重要
we open ourselves up to those opportunities,
面對(duì)機(jī)會(huì) 我們敞開心胸
and in this room are key players and technology,
關(guān)鍵推手-這里的你們 再加上科技
key players who are uniquely positioned to do this,
每個(gè)人各司其職 有自己的位置
to scale systems and projects together.
提升制度和計(jì)劃的整體價(jià)值
so here’s what i’m calling for you to do. remember the three traits of opportunity-makers.
我想拜讬大家的 就是記得機(jī)會(huì)制造者的三項(xiàng)特質(zhì)
opportunity-makers keep honing their top strength
一、機(jī)會(huì)制造者不斷磨練自己專長(zhǎng)
and they become pattern seekers.
開拓事物運(yùn)作的新方式
they get involved in different worlds than their worlds
二、他們樂于接觸不同人的世界
so they’re trusted and they can see those patterns,
獲取信任 學(xué)習(xí)各種合作方式
and they communicate to connect around sweet spots of shared interest.
三、他們周旋于各方之間 讓參與的人都分一杯羹
so what i’m asking you is, the world is hungry.
我想說的是 人與人之間太缺乏連結(jié)
i truly believe, in my firsthand experience,
根據(jù)親身經(jīng)驗(yàn) 我相信
the world is hungry for us to unite together as opportunity-makers
這世界很需要機(jī)會(huì)制造者
and to emulate those behaviors as so many of you already do, i know that firsthand,
可能臺(tái)下的你已經(jīng)是其中之一 大家都應(yīng)該效仿機(jī)會(huì)制造者
and to reimagine a world where we use our best talents together
重塑我們的世界 融合各領(lǐng)域人才
more often to accomplish greater thing together than we could on our own.
一人不能做的事 借由合作來完成
just remember,
請(qǐng)把這句話放在心上
as dave liniger once said,
大衛(wèi)˙林杰說過
“you can’t succeed coming to the potluck with only a fork.”
“只帶一只叉子就來百樂餐的人 永遠(yuǎn)無法成功”(注: 后衍伸為商業(yè)成長(zhǎng)需要集體合作、貢獻(xiàn))
thank you very much.
謝謝大家
thank you.
謝謝
尊敬的各位老師、親愛的同學(xué)們:
大家好!
從來沒有想過能夠以今天這樣一種身份和方式重回人大的校園,在感到榮幸的同時(shí),也感到壓力。我問自己,人大法學(xué)院的驕子們?cè)谶@個(gè)時(shí)刻是否還有人愿意聆聽一個(gè)有了好幾個(gè)代溝的師姐在這嘮叨?如果僥幸還有人說愿意的話,我要對(duì)大家說什么?我能帶給大家什么?在提出這些問題的同時(shí),我似乎看到了當(dāng)年自己畢業(yè)時(shí)的興奮和忐忑,也記起自己從事知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)審判18年來的辛苦和收獲。在我的成長(zhǎng)過程中,得到過很多師長(zhǎng)、領(lǐng)導(dǎo)和同事的提醒、指導(dǎo)與幫助。所以,我希望我能把從他們那里得到的關(guān)愛傳遞給你們。今天,我從個(gè)人的經(jīng)歷談三點(diǎn)體會(huì),如果其中能有只言片語給大家一點(diǎn)觸動(dòng),也算沒有辜負(fù)老師的期望,沒有浪費(fèi)大家的時(shí)間。
我的體會(huì)是:認(rèn)清職責(zé),堅(jiān)持夢(mèng)想。
在這里,我想先問同學(xué)們一個(gè)問題,你對(duì)工作是如何認(rèn)識(shí)的?是當(dāng)做謀生的手段,還是當(dāng)做事業(yè)?如果是要成就一番事業(yè),我的感受是,只有把個(gè)人的追求與國(guó)家的發(fā)展、集體的榮譽(yù)凝結(jié)在一起時(shí),才會(huì)更有動(dòng)力,更有價(jià)值。聽起來是不是有點(diǎn)空?但我身有體會(huì)。
1994年7月,我剛剛進(jìn)入法院工作。一次,跟同事去修自行車,修車的師傅問我們?cè)谀墓ぷ,我們回?ldquo;法院”。正埋頭修車的師傅抬頭望了我們一眼,意味深長(zhǎng)地說“法院?法院好。”這個(gè)好,聽得我很難受。我知道,當(dāng)時(shí)流行著一句順口溜“大蓋帽,兩頭翹,吃完原告吃被告”,那就是法官在公眾中的形象。當(dāng)時(shí),我就想,雖然我個(gè)人是渺小的,但是要從我做起,我相信,通過無數(shù)個(gè)我的努力,會(huì)改變社會(huì)對(duì)法官的認(rèn)知,總會(huì)有一天公眾會(huì)把法官當(dāng)做“公正的化身”。
雖然成為一名好法官是我的職業(yè)夢(mèng)想,但是剛剛參加工作的我,并不了解自己從事的知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)審判工作的意義。當(dāng)時(shí)庭長(zhǎng)的一句話,讓我時(shí)刻牢記心中,讓我能在18年來的工作中認(rèn)認(rèn)真真對(duì)待每一起案件。他說:“知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)無小案”。在工作中我逐漸認(rèn)識(shí)到,一項(xiàng)專利可能影響一個(gè)行業(yè)的發(fā)展,一件商標(biāo)可以決定一個(gè)企業(yè)的生死存亡。作為知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)法官,我們不僅需要平衡當(dāng)事人雙方的利益,甚至要考慮我們的判決對(duì)于科技創(chuàng)新、文化發(fā)展的影響,我們肩上的擔(dān)子很重。有了這份責(zé)任感,我才有了前進(jìn)的動(dòng)力。
XX年,我獲得了公派留學(xué)英國(guó)的機(jī)會(huì)。留學(xué)時(shí)的一些經(jīng)歷,也使自己受到很多觸動(dòng)。初見教知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)法的教授,當(dāng)我介紹自己是一名從事知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)審判的中國(guó)法官時(shí),教授不以為然地?fù)u搖頭說:中國(guó)?中國(guó)有知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)保護(hù)嗎?雖然中國(guó)知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)專業(yè)司法保護(hù)已經(jīng)開展了7年,但是國(guó)外對(duì)中國(guó)不了解,不認(rèn)可。那一刻,我的心被刺痛了。一種從未有過的強(qiáng)烈的使命感和責(zé)任感油然而生,也就在那一刻,我告訴自己一定要更加發(fā)奮圖強(qiáng),要通過我審理的案件,讓外國(guó)的當(dāng)事人及司法同行們,真正看到中國(guó)司法的發(fā)展與進(jìn)步,領(lǐng)略到中國(guó)法官的素質(zhì)與風(fēng)采。
這些經(jīng)歷,時(shí)刻會(huì)提醒我作為法官、作為中國(guó)的知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)法官的職責(zé)和使命。正是有了這種信念,我才能不懈努力和堅(jiān)持。
回想起來,如果我僅僅是把工作當(dāng)成謀生的手段,或者僅僅是當(dāng)成自己的事業(yè),是很難堅(jiān)持下來的。比如,當(dāng)你沒有了生存的壓力,當(dāng)你生病,當(dāng)你因生了小孩或者家人生病生活負(fù)擔(dān)過重,當(dāng)你感到工作壓力過大時(shí),你的惰性必然會(huì)滋生。如果把工作完全當(dāng)成是自己的事情,那你隨時(shí)都可以放棄。而當(dāng)你看到你工作的社會(huì)價(jià)值,當(dāng)你發(fā)現(xiàn)任何理由都不能讓你在工作中得過且過時(shí),我相信,大家會(huì)跟我一樣,會(huì)選擇讓自我價(jià)值與社會(huì)價(jià)值一起實(shí)現(xiàn)。
所以,只有當(dāng)你感受到職責(zé)和使命時(shí),你才能做到堅(jiān)持夢(mèng)想,永不退卻。
謝謝大家的聆聽!
簡(jiǎn)介:殘奧會(huì)短跑冠軍aimee mullins天生沒有腓骨,從小就要學(xué)習(xí)靠義肢走路和奔跑。如今,她不僅是短跑選手、演員、模特,還是一位穩(wěn)健的演講者。她不喜歡典中 “disabled”這個(gè)詞,因?yàn)樨?fù)面詞匯足以毀掉一個(gè)人。但是,坦然面對(duì)不幸,你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)等待你的是更多的機(jī)會(huì)。
i'd like to share with you a discovery that i made a few months ago while writing an article for italian wired. i always keep my thesaurus handy whenever i'm writing anything, but i'd already finished editing the piece, and i realized that i had never once in my life looked up the word "disabled" to see what i'd find.
let me read you the entry. "disabled, adjective: crippled, helpless, useless, wrecked, stalled, maimed, wounded, mangled, lame, mutilated, run-down, worn-out, weakened, impotent, castrated, paralyzed, handicapped, senile, decrepit, laid-up, done-up, done-for, done-in cracked-up, counted-out; see also hurt, useless and weak. antonyms, healthy, strong, capable." i was reading this list out loud to a friend and at first was laughing, it was so ludicrous, but i'd just gotten past "mangled," and my voice broke, and i had to stop and collect myself from the emotional shock and impact that the assault from these words unleashed.
you know, of course, this is my raggedy old thesaurus so i'm thinking this must be an ancient print date, right? but, in fact, the print date was the early 1980s, when i would have been starting primary school and forming an understanding of myself outside the family unit and as related to the other kids and the world around me. and, needless to say, thank god i wasn't using a thesaurus back then. i mean, from this entry, it would seem that i was born into a world that perceived someone like me to have nothing positive whatsoever going for them, when in fact, today i'm celebrated for the opportunities and adventures my life has procured.
so, i immediately went to look up the online edition, expecting to find a revision worth noting. here's the updated version of this entry. unfortunately, it's not much better. i find the last two words under "near antonyms," particularly unsettling: "whole" and "wholesome."
so, it's not just about the words. it's what we believe about people when we name them with these words. it's about the values behind the words, and how we construct those values. our language affects our thinking and how we view the world and how we view other people. in fact, many ancient societies, including the greeks and the romans, believed that to utter a curse verbally was so powerful, because to say the thing out loud brought it into existence. so, what reality do we want to call into existence: a person who is limited, or a person who's empowered? by casually doing something as simple as naming a person, a child, we might be putting lids and casting shadows on their power. wouldn't we want to open doors for them instead?
one such person who opened doors for me was my childhood doctor at the a.i. dupont institute in wilmington, delaware. his name was dr. pizzutillo, an italian american, whose name, apparently, was too difficult for most americans to pronounce, so he went by dr. p. and dr. p always wore really colorful bow ties and had the very perfect disposition to work with children.
i loved almost everything about my time spent at this hospital, with the exception of my physical therapy sessions. i had to do what seemed like innumerable repetitions of exercises with these thick, elastic bands -- different colors, you know -- to help build up my leg muscles, and i hated these bands more than anything -- i hated them, had names for them. i hated them. and, you know, i was already bargaining, as a five year-old child, with dr. p to try to get out of doing these exercises, unsuccessfully, of course. and, one day, he came in to my session -- exhaustive and unforgiving, these sessions -- and he said to me, "wow. aimee, you are such a strong and powerful little girl, i think you're going to break one of those bands. when you do break it, i'm going to give you a hundred bucks."
now, of course, this was a simple ploy on dr. p's part to get me to do the exercises i didn't want to do before the prospect of being the richest five-year-old in the second floor ward, but what he effectively did for me was reshape an awful daily occurrence into a new and promising experience for me. and i have to wonder today to what extent his vision and his declaration of me as a strong and powerful little girl shaped my own view of myself as an inherently strong, powerful and athletic person well into the future.
this is an example of how adults in positions of power can ignite the power of a child. but, in the previous instances of those thesaurus entries, our language isn't allowing us to evolve into the reality that we would all want, the possibility of an individual to see themselves as capable. our language hasn't caught up with the changes in our society, many of which have been brought about by technology. certainly, from a medical standpoint, my legs, laser surgery for vision impairment, titanium knees and hip replacements for aging bodies that are allowing people to more fully engage with their abilities, and move beyond the limits that nature has imposed on them -- not to mention social networking platforms allow people to self-identify, to claim their own descriptions of themselves, so they can go align with global groups of their own choosing. so, perhaps technology is revealing more clearly to us now what has always been a truth: that everyone has something rare and powerful to offer our society, and that the human ability to adapt is our greatest asset.
the human ability to adapt, it's an interesting thing, because people have continually wanted to talk to me about overcoming adversity, and i'm going to make an admission: this phrase never sat right with me, and i always felt uneasy trying to answer people's questions about it, and i think i'm starting to figure out why. implicit in this phrase of "overcoming adversity" is the idea that success, or happiness, is about emerging on the other side of a challenging experience unscathed or unmarked by the experience, as if my successes in life have come about from an ability to sidestep or circumnavigate the presumed pitfalls of a life with prosthetics, or what other people perceive as my disability. but, in fact, we are changed. we are marked, of course, by a challenge, whether physically, emotionally or both. and i'm going to suggest that this is a good thing. adversity isn't an obstacle that we need to get around in order to resume living our life. it's part of our life. and i tend to think of it like my shadow. sometimes i see a lot of it, sometimes there's very little, but it's always with me. and, certainly, i'm not trying to diminish the impact, the weight, of a person's struggle.
there is adversity and challenge in life, and it's all very real and relative to every single person, but the question isn't whether or not you're going to meet adversity, but how you're going to meet it. so, our responsibility is not simply shielding those we care for from adversity, but preparing them to meet it well. and we do a disservice to our kids when we make them feel that they're not equipped to adapt. there's an important difference and distinction between the objective medical fact of my being an amputee and the subjective societal opinion of whether or not i'm disabled. and, truthfully, the only real and consistent disability i've had to confront is the world ever thinking that i could be described by those definitions.
in our desire to protect those we care about by giving them the cold, hard truth about their medical prognosis, or, indeed, a prognosis on the expected quality of their life, we have to make sure that we don't put the first brick in a wall that will actually disable someone. perhaps the existing model of only looking at what is broken in you and how do we fix it, serves to be more disabling to the individual than the pathology itself.
by not treating the wholeness of a person, by not acknowledging their potency, we are creating another ill on top of whatever natural struggle they might have. we are effectively grading someone's worth to our community. so we need to see through the pathology and into the range of human capability. and, most importantly, there's a partnership between those perceived deficiencies and our greatest creative ability. so it's not about devaluing, or negating, these more trying times as something we want to avoid or sweep under the rug, but instead to find those opportunities wrapped in the adversity. so maybe the idea i want to put out there is not so much overcoming adversity as it is opening ourselves up to it, embracing it, grappling with it, to use a wrestling term, maybe even dancing with it. and, perhaps, if we see adversity as natural, consistent and useful, we're less burdened by the presence of it.
this year we celebrate the 200th birthday of charles darwin, and it was 150 years ago, when writing about evolution, that darwin illustrated, i think, a truth about the human character. to paraphrase: it's not the strongest of the species that survives, nor is it the most intelligent that survives; it is the one that is most adaptable to change. conflict is the genesis of creation. from darwin's work, amongst others, we can recognize that the human ability to survive and flourish is driven by the struggle of the human spirit through conflict into transformation. so, again, transformation, adaptation, is our greatest human skill. and, perhaps, until we're tested, we don't know what we're made of. maybe that's what adversity gives us: a sense of self, a sense of our own power. so, we can give ourselves a gift. we can re-imagine adversity as something more than just tough times. maybe we can see it as change. adversity is just change that we haven't adapted ourselves to yet.
i think the greatest adversity that we've created for ourselves is this idea of normalcy. now, who's normal? there's no normal. there's common, there's typical. there's no normal, and would you want to meet that poor, beige person if they existed? (laughter) i don't think so. if we can change this paradigm from one of achieving normalcy to one of possibility -- or potency, to be even a little bit more dangerous -- we can release the power of so many more children, and invite them to engage their rare and valuable abilities with the community.
anthropologists tell us that the one thing we as humans have always required of our community members is to be of use, to be able to contribute. there's evidence that neanderthals, 60,000 years ago, carried their elderly and those with serious physical injury, and perhaps it's because the life experience of survival of these people proved of value to the community. they didn't view these people as broken and useless; they were seen as rare and valuable.
a few years ago, i was in a food market in the town where i grew up in that red zone in northeastern pennsylvania, and i was standing over a bushel of tomatoes. it was summertime: i had shorts on. i hear this guy, his voice behind me say, "well, if it isn't aimee mullins." and i turn around, and it's this older man. i have no idea who he is.
and i said, "i'm sorry, sir, have we met? i don't remember meeting you."
he said, "well, you wouldn't remember meeting me. i mean, when we met i was delivering you from your mother's womb." (laughter) oh, that guy. and, but of course, actually, it did click.
this man was dr. kean, a man that i had only known about through my mother's stories of that day, because, of course, typical fashion, i arrived late for my birthday by two weeks. and so my mother's prenatal physician had gone on vacation, so the man who delivered me was a complete stranger to my parents. and, because i was born without the fibula bones, and had feet turned in, and a few toes in this foot and a few toes in that, he had to be the bearer -- this stranger had to be the bearer of bad news.
he said to me, "i had to give this prognosis to your parents that you would never walk, and you would never have the kind of mobility that other kids have or any kind of life of independence, and you've been making liar out of me ever since." (laughter) (applause)
the extraordinary thing is that he said he had saved newspaper clippings throughout my whole childhood, whether winning a second grade spelling bee, marching with the girl scouts, you know, the halloween parade, winning my college scholarship, or any of my sports victories, and he was using it, and integrating it into teaching resident students, med students from hahnemann medical school and hershey medical school. and he called this part of the course the x factor, the potential of the human will. no prognosis can account for how powerful this could be as a determinant in the quality of someone's life. and dr. kean went on to tell me, he said, "in my experience, unless repeatedly told otherwise, and even if given a modicum of support, if left to their own devices, a child will achieve."
see, dr. kean made that shift in thinking. he understood that there's a difference between the medical condition and what someone might do with it. and there's been a shift in my thinking over time, in that, if you had asked me at 15 years old, if i would have traded prosthetics for flesh-and-bone legs, i wouldn't have hesitated for a second. i aspired to that kind of normalcy back then. but if you ask me today, i'm not so sure. and it's because of the experiences i've had with them, not in spite of the experiences i've had with them. and perhaps this shift in me has happened because i've been exposed to more people who have opened doors for me than those who have put lids and cast shadows on me.
see, all you really need is one person to show you the epiphany of your own power, and you're off. if you can hand somebody the key to their own power -- the human spirit is so receptive -- if you can do that and open a door for someone at a crucial moment, you are educating them in the best sense. you're teaching them to open doors for themselves. in fact, the exact meaning of the word "educate" comes from the root word "educe." it means "to bring forth what is within, to bring out potential." so again, which potential do we want to bring out?
there was a case study done in 1960s britain, when they were moving from grammar schools to comprehensive schools. it's called the streaming trials. we call it "tracking" here in the states. it's separating students from a, b, c, d and so on. and the "a students" get the tougher curriculum, the best teachers, etc. well, they took, over a three-month period, d-level students, gave them a's, told them they were "a's," told them they were bright, and at the end of this three-month period, they were performing at a-level.
and, of course, the heartbreaking, flip side of this study, is that they took the "a students" and told them they were "d's." and that's what happened at the end of that three-month period. those who were still around in school, besides the people who had dropped out. a crucial part of this case study was that the teachers were duped too. the teachers didn't know a switch had been made. they were simply told, "these are the 'a-students,' these are the 'd-students.'" and that's how they went about teaching them and treating them.
so, i think that the only true disability is a crushed spirit, a spirit that's been crushed doesn't have hope, it doesn't see beauty, it no longer has our natural, childlike curiosity and our innate ability to imagine. if instead, we can bolster a human spirit to keep hope, to see beauty in themselves and others, to be curious and imaginative, then we are truly using our power well. when a spirit has those qualities, we are able to create new realities and new ways of being.
i'd like to leave you with a poem by a fourteenth-century persian poet named hafiz that my friend, jacques dembois told me about, and the poem is called "the god who only knows four words": "every child has known god, not the god of names, not the god of don'ts, but the god who only knows four words and keeps repeating them, saying, 'come dance with me. come, dance with me. come, dance with me.'"
thank you. (applause)
我叫方勵(lì),今年60歲。我在外面休息的時(shí)候觀察了一下大家,我覺得你們大家都比我年輕最少30歲。
為什么今天想跟大家聊聊天?因?yàn)槲易哉J(rèn)為過去30年我非常成功,為什么非常成功?因?yàn)槲液芸鞓,為什么?huì)快樂?因?yàn)槲抑廊耸鞘裁础?/p>
我先給大家講講這個(gè)地方。這是地球上目前保存的最完整的隕石坑,在美國(guó)亞利桑那州,我在1990年的時(shí)候?qū)iT開車去看過。這個(gè)坑有1.4公里寬,深175米。
從前大家以為它是個(gè)環(huán)形火山,后來經(jīng)過科學(xué)家研究才發(fā)現(xiàn)是個(gè)隕石坑,于是大家用提出這一想法的采礦工程師巴林杰的名命名它為巴林杰隕石坑(barringercrater)。
這么一個(gè)小坑,僅僅是天上掉了個(gè)40萬噸的石頭,砸下來的能量相當(dāng)于10個(gè)百萬噸級(jí)的氫彈同時(shí)砸在這兒爆炸,半徑100英里之內(nèi)所有的植物動(dòng)物全部毀滅。
大家可能學(xué)過一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)地球歷史。地球從一團(tuán)氣體變成今天的樣子,花了46億年。上一次人類的毀滅是在6500萬年前,我每時(shí)每刻都會(huì)記得這一點(diǎn):我們整個(gè)人類,是在兩次毀滅之間僅僅一個(gè)過程。
我們自己活多久呢?3萬天。也就是說當(dāng)我們談地球歷史的時(shí)候,那個(gè)單位時(shí)間是百萬年,因?yàn)闆]有百萬年,一個(gè)石頭無法形成,一個(gè)山脈也無法形成,一個(gè)峽谷也無法形成。就是切割的最厲害的美國(guó)大峽谷被科羅拉多河切割的也是一兩百萬年才形成的。
那我們想想人類的歷史,有文記錄的歷史才幾千年,那么這個(gè)單位時(shí)間算是一百年的話,我們?cè)谧魑荒苡卸嗌倌芑顗蜃钚∵@個(gè)單位時(shí)間?
那么我想跟大家分享一個(gè)什么感受呢,當(dāng)你意識(shí)到你的生命有多寶貴的時(shí)候,你就會(huì)特別特別惜命,惜命的方式是什么呢?不是拿來養(yǎng)生,是拿來折騰的。
我身邊幾乎完全沒有50后的朋友,因?yàn)樗麄凁B(yǎng)老去了,十五年前跟我打牌、打麻將、扎金花的朋友都是60后,現(xiàn)在他們也不跟我玩兒了,他們開始打高爾夫、體檢、養(yǎng)生去了,我今天身邊70%的朋友,都像你們?cè)谧?0后,甚至90后。
我不是一個(gè)刻意要反傳統(tǒng)的人,我一直跟年輕朋友講,傳統(tǒng)是拿來干嘛的?傳統(tǒng)是拿來學(xué)習(xí)的,學(xué)習(xí)它干嗎,前人走過所有的路應(yīng)該是我們的終點(diǎn),我們接著往前走。
來到世界上只有一次機(jī)會(huì),剛剛我們說宇宙的規(guī)模之大,其實(shí)人類的出現(xiàn)是很偶然的,也就是我們把地球重新復(fù)制一遍,未必會(huì)有人類。
人類的最后進(jìn)化進(jìn)入了良性循環(huán)是非常偶然的,所以我們非常幸運(yùn)才來到這個(gè)世界上。我告訴所有的朋友,我每天、每刻都在感動(dòng),為什么呢?因?yàn)槲疫活在這個(gè)精彩的世界上。
真的,我們特別不容易活這么一次。我就覺得我們?nèi)松褪且粋(gè)旅行,每天都是未知的,我們才可能做夢(mèng),一個(gè)沒有夢(mèng)想的生命是不可能有激情的,沒有激情的生命,你要它干嗎?
當(dāng)我能看到自己的人生終點(diǎn),就像在國(guó)營(yíng)企業(yè)排多少年能當(dāng)科長(zhǎng)、當(dāng)處長(zhǎng)、當(dāng)局長(zhǎng),我一眼能看透,就跟那日歷本一樣,我每天活的事情就是扯日歷,扯到終點(diǎn)要等死,那就沒法活了。
我經(jīng)常給年輕朋友打一個(gè)比方。我說,人生假如是一個(gè)苦海,我就是個(gè)小舢板。但別忘了,老子自己是船長(zhǎng),什么時(shí)候拋錨,什么時(shí)候起航,不管是風(fēng)平浪靜還是驚濤駭浪,我說了算,哪里是彼岸,只有我自己知道。
你在路上你就走你的路,你遇到幾個(gè)同路人,聊得很開心就一直走下去了。所以,我們?nèi)松皇阑钕聛,最后我們獲得的就是我們大腦神經(jīng)細(xì)胞元里面的那些記憶,那些非常溫馨、激動(dòng)、甚至悲傷的記憶。
我簡(jiǎn)單跟大家說一下我的經(jīng)歷吧。17歲我就被下放了,在貴州山里邊打了一年隧道,修了一年橋,然后19歲進(jìn)工廠,20歲北漂在北京當(dāng)藍(lán)領(lǐng)工人,1978年高考第一次統(tǒng)考考上大學(xué)。
因?yàn)槟菚r(shí)候十年沒念書,特別想念書,那時(shí)就選了一個(gè)選了一個(gè)我認(rèn)為最苦、最有把握考上的專業(yè):地質(zhì)學(xué)院?墒俏矣窒矚g物理,所以就選了個(gè)地球物理。
后來我完全沒有想到這一選擇因禍得福。其實(shí)這也是跟大家分享,我們經(jīng)常在做決定的時(shí)候,對(duì)未來、對(duì)自己的前途、對(duì)自己的職業(yè)規(guī)劃不要太算計(jì),算計(jì)太多要上當(dāng)。
比如說你們可能都有經(jīng)驗(yàn)做高考的時(shí)候,或者是平時(shí)考試時(shí)候的選擇題,一定是你那第一直覺是對(duì)的,你去選半天,算半天,最后錯(cuò)了。
所以有的時(shí)候,不要去想太多,算過去算過來你算不清楚的,就憑自己從心里面出來的感覺,隨著自己的心愿去走,永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)錯(cuò)。
所以這就是我經(jīng)常跟年輕朋友們說的,如何去做事,怎么把一個(gè)事做好,這是戰(zhàn)術(shù)行為,但是,想做什么,最希望做什么,從心里出來的東西才是你一生中最重要的東西,是戰(zhàn)略。
就好比賺錢,我一直跟朋友們講,把賺錢當(dāng)做第一位,你就賺不到錢,你應(yīng)該把賺錢當(dāng)做順帶的事情,是戰(zhàn)術(shù)手段,賺錢不能夠動(dòng)情、不能傷心,賺錢可以腦袋去算計(jì),胳膊腿去跑。
你想想看,錢是什么,錢就是一張紙上畫了幾個(gè)數(shù),錢是拿來買快樂的,當(dāng)我們賺錢的過程中如果不快樂,那你就輸在起跑線上了。
我們仔細(xì)來算算這個(gè)賬。剛才我們講了人一共只有3萬天,一天24小時(shí),你8小時(shí)睡覺,只有16小時(shí)才擁有真正有感知的生命,如果不幸,你還有8個(gè)小時(shí)你在職場(chǎng)上。
這就是我跟年輕朋友們說的,不管能賺再多的錢,只要不好玩,我就不賺,因?yàn)樗恢档梦腋冻雒,因(yàn)槲业耐顿Y太寶貴了,我投進(jìn)去是我的命,我的生命換回來的東西值嗎?
如果說我一天很痛苦,賺了很多錢,大家別忘了,白天光學(xué)帶寬頻譜最豐富,包括聲音,你是最能夠去擁抱這個(gè)世界,去跟這個(gè)世界互動(dòng)的,結(jié)果你白天的職業(yè)選擇變成了一個(gè)不情愿的事情,只是跟同學(xué)們比哪個(gè)同學(xué)月薪多少,那你何苦呢?
如果說我們白天做的事是我們喜歡的事,我們還沒花錢就已經(jīng)快樂了,如果我賺了一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)錢,還能養(yǎng)活自己,晚上我還可以不用擔(dān)憂和憂郁,那我覺得這就是最大的成功。
這也是我跟所有朋友們分享的成功。我說我這個(gè)人一直很成功,在過去的三十多年里,我當(dāng)工人的時(shí)候當(dāng)藍(lán)領(lǐng)的時(shí)候我也很快樂,因?yàn)槲蚁牟涣耸裁础?/p>
成功只有一個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn),就是自己的快樂。如果說你能一直快樂地活在這個(gè)世界上,這就是成功,沒有任何東西能超過這一點(diǎn),因?yàn)槲覀冏詈笊慕K點(diǎn)很快就能到來。