When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
我17歲的時候,讀過一句格言,好像是這樣說的："如果你把每一天都當作最後一天去生活的話,總有一天,你會覺得自己這麼做是正確的."這句話給我留下了深刻印象.從那以後,在過去的33年中,每天清晨我都會對著鏡子問自己："如果今天是我生命中的最後一天,那我還會去做原先計劃好的那些事情嗎?"可連續多日我得到的答案都是"不會".於是,我明白我該做些改變了.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything-all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure-these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
時刻提醒自己我即將死去,是幫我做出人生許多重大抉擇的重要工具.因為幾乎所有的一切——一切外來的期望、一切驕傲、一切關乎面子和失敗的恐懼——在死亡面前,這些東西都將消失殆盡,留下的只是真正重要的東西.時刻提醒自己我即將死去,是不讓自己陷入患得患失的最好辦法.因為此時的你已然一無所有了,就沒有理由不順從你的心.
About a year ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for preparing yourself to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
大約在一年前,我被診斷出患有癌症.我在早上7點半做了掃描,掃描結果清楚地顯示我的胰腺上長了一個腫瘤.當時,我甚至都不知道胰腺是什麼東西.醫生很肯定地告訴我,我得的是一種基本上無法治癒的癌症.我活在世上的日子可能不會超過3到6個月.我的醫生建議我回家,安排好後事,這是醫生們專門對等死的病人說的話.這也就是意味著,你要把本來打算在未來10年內對孩子們說的話,在這幾個月裡說完；意味著你要把一切安排妥當,讓你的家人儘可能地輕鬆些；意味著你就要說"再見"了.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
那一整天我都在想著我的診斷結果.那天夜裡晚些時候,我做了活組織切片檢查.醫生把一個內窺鏡從我的喉嚨伸進去,通過我的胃,進入我的腸子,然後用一根針刺進我的胰腺,在腫瘤上取出一些細胞.我被注射了鎮定劑.可當時也在場的妻子後來告訴我,當醫生用顯微鏡觀察這些細胞時,突然大叫了起來.原來我患的是一種罕見的、可以用手術治癒的胰腺癌.於是,我做了手術,現在痊癒了.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
那就是我和死神擦肩而過的一次,我希望這也是接下來幾十年最接近死神的一次.以前死亡對我來說只是一個有用卻純粹是理論上的概念,可有了這次經歷之後,我可以更加確信地對你們說：
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
沒有人會想死,即使人們想上天堂,也不會為了去那兒而去死.然而,死亡是我們的最終歸宿,沒有人能夠逃脫.也許就該如此,因為死亡是生命唯一的最好發明.它是生命不斷變化的源動力.它除舊呈新.如今,你們是新人,然後不久之後,你們也會慢慢變老,接著被淘汰.我很抱歉如此戲劇性,但事實就是如此.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma-which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
你的時間有限,所以不要把時間浪費在重複別人的生活上.不要受教條的束縛,不然你就只能按照別人的思想生活.不要讓別人紛亂的意見淹沒你內心的呼聲.最重要的是,要勇於聽從你內心的直覺.因為內心的直覺已然知道你想要成為什麼樣的人.其他的一切都是次要的.
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