斷翼的天空也精彩

I remember， as a kid growing up， attending school with a kid who had no arms and one fake leg. His name was Chris and I will never forget him. He attended school with me and my brother and had a strong personality. Outside of his handicap， he was really a pretty normal kid. He attended most of the same classes and had many of the same friends. But thinking back on his existence， he had to overcome 1)way more obstacles than myself and most other kids at our school. Chris is just one story of many.

We have all probably either heard about or seen the movie， Door to Door with 2)William Macy about a salesman from Portland， Oregon named Bill Porter. Bill Porter is a real person who had 3)cerebral palsy and can barely make out sentences， yet he built a very loyal customer base selling products door to door. If you have not seen the movie and you have an interest in sales， 4)network marketing or being successful， I highly recommend that you rent this film or buy it from your local video store.

This evening I watched a 5)60 Minutes segment on a man with no legs or arms who has become a motivational speaker and is changing the lives of many in his home country of Australia. When I think of handicapped people overcoming great obstacles， I cannot help but think of 6)Stephen Hawking who is a famous theoretical physicist. Stephen has been confined to a wheelchair for most of his life. Yet， he has made startling revelations regarding our planet in relation to the universe and his most famous revelation relating to black holes emitting radiation， which has been declared “Hawking radiation.”

Another that comes to mind is a former American President Franklin D. Roosevelt who served in the White House from 1933—1945 and is the only US President who served more than 2 terms， all while he was 7)paralyzed and confined to a wheel chair. I’m sure most everyone has heard the name of Helen Keller. She was deaf and blind from birth， and managed to finish college， and went on to become a world famous speaker and author. And who can forget 8)Ray Charles， one of the most famous rhythm and blues performers of a generation. Many declared that Ray was a genius. His life was so interesting and successful that it was later turned into a Hollywood movie starring 9)Jamie Foxx， which ultimately won Foxx the 2004 Academy Award for his performance.

Above are just a few examples of some amazing handicapped people who overcame great obstacles to accomplish incredible things. They would rather fight fate than lie 10)prostrate at the feet of misfortune. We tend to think of famous or successful people as having it easy in life， or that they somehow got lucky， or are even favored by fate. We admire them for what they have or for what they have accomplished and sometimes wish we were just like them. The truth， however， is often very different from what we imagine. When I think of these people， I wonder how I can ever fail at anything， when these people have accomplished far more， and have had to overcome handicaps， which I can’t even imagine. You might say their handicaps were their friend， as many had to learn to live in a world with no light， sound， or without the ability to walk， speak， or move normally. I think the one thing that made these people great， is they all believed in themselves， they did not bow to fate and they all had a willingness to succeed. The next time you feel like a failure in business， relationships， or life， think of those less fortunate that have accomplished great things. They are fighters， not scared by fate. They win the 11)tug-of-war of fighting fate.

我記得小時(shí)候，一個(gè)沒有手臂而且一條腿是義肢的孩子和我一起上過學(xué)。他的名字叫克里斯。我永遠(yuǎn)都不會(huì)忘記他。他和我還有我哥哥一起上學(xué)，他個(gè)性很強(qiáng)。撇開他的身體缺陷不看，他真的和一般小孩無異。他上的課程和我的大同小異，且我們有很多共同的朋友。但回想起他的生活，比起我以及學(xué)校里其他大多數(shù)的孩子，他得克服的障礙要多得多。克里斯的故事只是眾多故事中的一個(gè)。

我們大概都聽過或看過由威廉·梅西主演的電影《永不放棄》，該電影講述了一位來自俄勒岡州波特蘭市名為比爾·波特的推銷員的故事。比爾·波特真有其人，他患有大腦性麻痹癥，幾乎說不清楚話。然而他通過做上門推銷建立起一批非常忠實(shí)的客戶群。如果你沒有看過那部電影，而又對(duì)銷售、直銷感興趣，或者你渴望成功，那么我強(qiáng)烈建議你租這碟子或到當(dāng)?shù)氐囊粝竦臧阉I下來看看。

今天晚上，我看了《60分鐘時(shí)事雜志》里的一節(jié)，里面介紹了一個(gè)沒有腿也沒有手臂的男人，他成為了一位勵(lì)志演說家，在他祖國澳大利亞改變著很多人的生活。一說到身有缺陷而能克服重重障礙的人，我會(huì)不由自主地想到著名的理論物理學(xué)家斯蒂芬·霍金。斯蒂芬一生中的大部分時(shí)間都困在輪椅上。然而，他在我們的星球與宇宙之間的聯(lián)系這個(gè)問題上取得了驚人發(fā)現(xiàn)。還有他最著名的新發(fā)現(xiàn)是關(guān)于黑洞發(fā)出輻射，被稱為“霍金輻射”。

另一個(gè)在我腦海里浮現(xiàn)的是美國前總統(tǒng)富蘭克林·D·羅斯福，他在1933到1945年間執(zhí)掌白宮，是目前為止美國總統(tǒng)中唯一的一位任期超過兩屆的總統(tǒng)。……