人生不設限·將生活整個打包，運到地球另一端

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

我到美國的頭幾個星期，就常常感受到文化震撼。其實在上學的第一天，當全班同學站著面對國旗，背誦效忠誓詞時，我就有些驚慌，因為在澳大利亞，我們從來沒這么做過，我覺得自己好像走錯地方了。

Culture shock set in early and often during my first few weeks in America. In fact, on the very first day of school I had a bit of a panic when the entire class stood to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. We didn't do anything like that in Australia. I felt like I'd walked into a club that I didn't belong to.

還有一天，警報器突然大響，老師要我們全部躲到桌子底下。我還以為是外星人來襲了，結果只是地震演習。地震?
Then one day all the alarms went off and the teachers told us to get under our desks! I thought aliens were attacking, but it was just a disaster drill for earthquakes. Earthquakes?

當然了，我這沒有四肢的身體照例會引來神經(jīng)兮兮的眼光、粗魯?shù)膯栴}和怪異的評論。美國中學生對我如何上廁所這件事的好奇心之強，真是令我難以置信，我甚至開始祈禱地震來襲，好讓同學不要再對我上廁所的問題問個不停。

Of course I got the usual nervous glances, rude questions, and odd comments about my lack of limbs. I could not believe how curious American middle-school kids were about how I managed in the restroom. I prayed for an earthquake, just to stop the endless interrogations about my toilet tactics.

我還得適應經(jīng)常性的教室變動。在澳大利亞上課時，所有科目都是在同一間教室進行，我們不會像袋鼠一樣整天移來移去。但是在美國這里，我們好像不停地從一間教室“跳”到另一間教室。

I had to adjust also to the constant shuffle from class to class. Back in Australia all my subjects were taught in one room. We didn't move around all day like kangaroos in the outback. At Lindero Canyon Middle School, it seemed like all we did was hop from one classroom to the next.

對于生活中出現(xiàn)的這個大變化，老實說我處理得不是很好。過去我一直是好學生，但是到了新學校，我很快就落后了。由于正規(guī)的六年級已經(jīng)沒有空間容納新學生，所以學校安排我去上高級班，結果我的成績退步了。回頭看看，我想當時只是因為壓力太大了——壓力怎么可能不大?我的生活可是被整個打包，運到地球的另一端呢。

I was not handling this major life change very well. I'd always been a good student, but I quickly fell behind in my new school. They had no room in the regular sixth-grade classes so they'd put me in an advanced studies program, but my grades were retreating. Looking back, I can see that I was just stressed out. And why wouldn't I have been? My whole life had been packed up and transported across the globe.

我們甚至不再擁有自己的房子。爸爸為貝塔叔叔工作，我們全家人跟他們一家一起住在叔叔的大房子里，直到有了自己的房子。我不?？匆姲职?、媽媽，因為他們老是忙著找工作、通勤上班，或是在找住的地方。

We didn't even have our own house anymore. My father was working for Uncle Batta, and we were living with him and his family in their big house until we found our own. I didn't see much of my parents because they were busy finding work, commuting to work, or looking for a place to live.

我討厭這樣。那時的我身心都承受太多，因此成了一只小烏龜，縮回自己小小的殼里。下課和午餐時間，我會逃開，有時躲到操場附近的灌木叢后面，不過我最喜歡躲在麥坎更先生管理的其中一間音樂教室，他是樂隊和音樂老師。

I hated it. I was overwhelmed, mentally, emotionally, and physically. So I made like a turtle and withdrew into my shell. During recess and lunch hours, I went off on my own, sometimes hiding behind the bushes near the playground. My favorite hideout, though, was in one of the music rooms overseen by Mr. McKagan, the band and music teacher.

麥坎更先生是一位很棒的老師。他在學校一天大概教八九堂課(我覺得了)，非常受歡迎，簡直就像搖滾巨星。老師的弟弟杜夫是知名貝司手，曾經(jīng)跟“槍與玫瑰”和其他一些頂尖搖滾樂團合作過。這正是從澳大利亞移居加州另一個奇特的地方，我覺得我們好像把平凡的家庭生活都留在澳大利亞，然后進入了一個超現(xiàn)實的流行文化王國。我們就住在洛杉磯和好萊塢外圍，所以常常會在雜貨店或購物中心碰到電影或電視明星。我們班上一半的同學都想成為演員，或者正在當演員。放學后打開電視，我可能就會看到歷史課班上某個還不錯的同學出現(xiàn)在頗受歡迎的電視劇里。

Mr. McKagan, who is still on the staff at Lindero Canyon, is a terrific teacher. He was so popular, he was like a rock star at the school, teaching (I think) eight or nine classes a day. His brother Duff is a legendary bass guitarist who has played with Guns N' Roses and other top rock bands. That was another strange aspect of moving from Australia to California. I felt like we'd left a perfectly normal family existence and landed in some surreal pop culture kingdom. We lived just outside Los Angeles and Hollywood, so we were always bumping into movie stars and television stars in the grocery store or at the mall. Half my classmates were aspiring or working actors. After school, I could turn on the television and watch a nice guy from my history class, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, ham it up on the popular television show Home Improvement.

我的生活在很多方面都改變了，真的讓我難以消受，也失去了好不容易建立起來的自信心。我在澳大利亞已經(jīng)被同學接納了，但是在美國，我是個身在異鄉(xiāng)的外地人，有著怪異的口音，以及更怪異的身體——至少我當時的感受是這樣。麥坎更先生發(fā)現(xiàn)我躲在他的音樂教室里，就鼓勵我走出去，多跟同學混在一起，但我就是提不起勁兒。

My life had been altered in so many ways, I was simply overwhelmed. I'd lost all the confidence I'd worked so hard to build. My Australian classmates had accepted me, but in America I was a stranger in a strange land with a strange accent and an even stranger body. Or at least that's how I felt. Mr. McKagan saw that I was hiding out in his music rooms, and he tried to encourage me to go out and mix with the other students. But I just couldn't get motivated.

我在對抗一個我無法控制的變化，而沒有把注意力放在我能調整的地方——我的態(tài)度和行動。我真不該那么笨才對。當時我只有12歲，但已學會把焦點放在我“能”，而不是我“不能”上。我已經(jīng)可以接受缺少四肢的事實，也努力成為快樂、自信的孩子。然而，移居這件事讓我感到十分震驚。

I was fighting a change I couldn't control instead of focusing on what I could adjust, my attitude and my actions. Really, I should have known better. I was only twelve years old, but I'd already learned to focus on my abilities instead of my disabilities. I'd accepted my lack of limbs and I'd managed to become a pretty happy and self-sufficient kid. But this move threw me for a loop.

你有沒有注意到，當你進入生命重大的轉變期時，你的感受力會變得比較強?在痛苦地分手后，你會不會覺得好像每部電影、每部電視劇都是演給你看的?收音機傳來的每首歌，是不是仿佛都替你唱出你的心痛?這些被強化的情緒和感受可能是你飽受壓力或是被丟入一個陌生環(huán)境時觸發(fā)的生存工具，它們讓你保持高度警覺，所以是很有價值的。

Have you ever noticed that when you enter into one of those major transitional periods in your life, your senses seem heightened? When you go through a bad breakup, doesn't every movie and television show seem to have a hidden message aimed at you? Don't all the songs on the radio seem to be about your very own aching heart? Those heightened emotions and senses may be survival tools triggered when you are stressed or thrown into unfamiliar situations. They put you on high alert, and they can be valuable.

我仍然記得，即使我因為離開澳大利亞而心傷，我還是能在眺望新居地的群山與海灘落日時，找到平靜與慰藉。我現(xiàn)在還是覺得加州很美，但那個時候似乎更美。

I still remember that as distressed as I was about leaving Australia, I always found peace and comfort gazing at the mountains or watching the sun set on the beach in my new environment. I still think California is a beautiful place, but it seemed even more beautiful then.

不論是正面或負面，改變都會是強而有力且讓人害怕的經(jīng)歷，因此你的第一反應總是與之對抗。我在大學的商業(yè)課程里學到，多數(shù)的大企業(yè)都會指定高階管理人作為“變革推動者”，他們的任務就是在重大轉變發(fā)生時——例如合并、成立新部門，或是采取新的做生意方式——讓心不甘、情不愿的員工振作起來。

Whether positive or negative, change can be a powerful and scary experience, which is why your first reaction may be to fight it. When I took business classes in college, I learned that most major corporations have executives who are the designated "change agents." Their job is to rally reluctant employees behind big transitions, whether it's a merger, or a new division, or a new way of doing business.

身為自創(chuàng)事業(yè)的總裁，我了解每個員工在面對任務上的變化時，都有自己的一套應變之道?？傆幸恍┤藭π碌捏w驗感到興奮，但大部分人其實是抗拒的，因為他們安于現(xiàn)狀，或是擔心生活會變得更糟。

As the president of my own business, I've learned that each employee has his or her own way of dealing with new initiatives or alterations in our mission. There will always be a few people who get excited about new experiences, but mostly people resist because they are comfortable with the status quo, or they fear their lives will change for the worse.