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