優與次優

If youre like most of us， failure is not your best friend. But I like the attitude of one man. “I dont say I have strengths and weaknesses，” he says. “I say I have strengths and lesser strengths.” Thats me！ Lots and lots of strengths... but most of them are lesser strengths.

One of my lesser strengths may be in the area of art. But when my three-year-old son asked me to draw a picture of a horse on his chalkboard， I agreed anyway. And it wasnt too bad... Well， it wasnt great， I must admit. It may have looked a little more like a dog than a horse. But it was definitely a horse-looking animal of some sort and my young son seemed satisfied.

I left the picture on the chalkboard. The next day one of his preschool friends stopped by to play. She spotted the drawing and asked， “Who drew the horse？”

I called down the hall， “I did！” I actually felt just a little bit proud. After all， she immediately recognized it as a horse.

There was a moment of silence as a look of confusion swept her face. Then she asked， “Did you draw it when you were a baby？”

Everyones an art critic.

My sons friend just couldnt square such a childish line drawing with somebody my age. Sure， Id starve as an artist， but I dont have to excel as one. I have other strengths， other skills， other abilities. And I can enjoy good art while I spend time doing whatever it is I am meant to do.

I appreciate Henry Wadsworth Longfellos perspective. He said， “Give what you have. To some it may be better than you dare to think.” I dont need to beat myself up over all the things I do miserably. I learned years ago to make peace with those things. What others call weaknesses I call lesser strengths and look at them as nothing more than opportunities to learn.

In the meantime， Ill give what I can and trust that will be enough.

就算身無長物，是蕓蕓眾生之一員，也不意味著失敗就是你的莫逆之交，與你如影隨形。不過，我倒認為有一個人的態度值得提倡。“我從來不說自己有哪些優點和不足，”他說，“我言必稱自己有哪些優點和‘次優點。”我也正是這種觀點！優點有不少……但其中大多都是“次優點”。

我有一項“次優”本領可能體現在藝術方面。一次，3歲的兒子央求我在他的黑板上畫一匹馬，雖然有自知之明，我還是同意了。結果看起來不算太糟……事實上，我必須承認，畫得不怎么好：看起來不太像一匹馬，反而更像一只狗。但從它身上，你準能看到馬的影子，兒子似乎也非常滿意。

于是這匹馬留在了黑板上。第二天，兒子幼兒園的朋友順便來家里玩。她發現了那幅畫，問道：“這是誰畫的馬？”

我在客廳里大聲回答：“我畫的！”事實上，我還覺得有些驕傲。畢竟，她一眼就認出這是一匹馬。

場面一度尷尬，她的臉上露出困惑的表情。然后她問：“是您小時候畫的嗎？”

真是人人都堪稱藝術評論家呀。

我兒子的朋友不能把這么孩子氣的線條畫和我這種年紀的人等同起來。誠然，要是我以畫畫謀生，肯定會餓死，但我沒必要成為一個出類拔萃的畫家。我還擁有其他的優勢和技能。我把時間花在我應盡的本分與職責上，同時也不耽誤我欣賞優秀的藝術作品。

我非常欣賞亨利·沃茲沃斯·朗費羅的一個觀點。他曾說過：“盡力付出就好。努力，在有些事上效果可能比想象的要好。”我沒必要為自己哪些慘不忍睹的能力和自己較勁。多年前我就學會了與自己的“不足”和平共處。別人眼中的不足，我稱之為“次優”，把它們僅僅看作是學習的機會。

同時，我會盡自己所能做到最好，相信做到這些就足夠了。

If youre like most of us， failure is not your best friend. But I like the attitude of one man. “I dont say I have strengths and weaknesses，” he says. “I say I have strengths and lesser strengths.” Thats me！ Lots and lots of strengths... but most of them are lesser strengths.

One of my lesser strengths may be in the area of art. But when my three-year-old son asked me to draw a picture of a horse on his chalkboard， I agreed anyway. And it wasnt too bad... Well， it wasnt great， I must admit. It may have looked a little more like a dog than a horse. But it was definitely a horse-looking animal of some sort and my young son seemed satisfied.

I left the picture on the chalkboard. The next day one of his preschool friends stopped by to play. She spotted the drawing and asked， “Who drew the horse？”

I called down the hall， “I did！” I actually felt just a little bit proud. After all， she immediately recognized it as a horse.

There was a moment of silence as a look of confusion swept her face. Then she asked， “Did you draw it when you were a baby？”

Everyones an art critic.

My sons friend just couldnt square such a childish line drawing with somebody my age. Sure， Id starve as an artist， but I dont have to excel as one. I have other strengths， other skills， other abilities. And I can enjoy good art while I spend time doing whatever it is I am meant to do.

I appreciate Henry Wadsworth Longfellos perspective. He said， “Give what you have. To some it may be better than you dare to think.” I dont need to beat myself up over all the things I do miserably. I learned years ago to make peace with those things. What others call weaknesses I call lesser strengths and look at them as nothing more than opportunities to learn.

In the meantime， Ill give what I can and trust that will be enough.

就算身無長物，是蕓蕓眾生之一員，也不意味著失敗就是你的莫逆之交，與你如影隨形。不過，我倒認為有一個人的態度值得提倡。“我從來不說自己有哪些優點和不足，”他說，“我言必稱自己有哪些優點和‘次優點。”我也正是這種觀點！優點有不少……但其中大多都是“次優點”。

我有一項“次優”本領可能體現在藝術方面。一次，3歲的兒子央求我在他的黑板上畫一匹馬，雖然有自知之明，我還是同意了。結果看起來不算太糟……事實上，我必須承認，畫得不怎么好：看起來不太像一匹馬，反而更像一只狗。但從它身上，你準能看到馬的影子，兒子似乎也非常滿意。

于是這匹馬留在了黑板上。第二天，兒子幼兒園的朋友順便來家里玩。她發現了那幅畫，問道：“這是誰畫的馬？”

我在客廳里大聲回答：“我畫的！”事實上，我還覺得有些驕傲。畢竟，她一眼就認出這是一匹馬。

場面一度尷尬，她的臉上露出困惑的表情。然后她問：“是您小時候畫的嗎？”

真是人人都堪稱藝術評論家呀。

我兒子的朋友不能把這么孩子氣的線條畫和我這種年紀的人等同起來。誠然，要是我以畫畫謀生，肯定會餓死，但我沒必要成為一個出類拔萃的畫家。我還擁有其他的優勢和技能。我把時間花在我應盡的本分與職責上，同時也不耽誤我欣賞優秀的藝術作品。

我非常欣賞亨利·沃茲沃斯·朗費羅的一個觀點。他曾說過：“盡力付出就好。努力，在有些事上效果可能比想象的要好。”我沒必要為自己哪些慘不忍睹的能力和自己較勁。多年前我就學會了與自己的“不足”和平共處。別人眼中的不足，我稱之為“次優”，把它們僅僅看作是學習的機會。

同時，我會盡自己所能做到最好，相信做到這些就足夠了。

Word Study

square /skwe?（r）/ v. ～sth with sth/ ～with sth（使）與……一致，與……相符

Your theory does not square with the facts.

excel /?k'sel/ v. 擅長;善于;突出

perspective /p?'spekt?v/ n. 態度;觀點;思考方法