A New Look from Borrowed Time
第二次生命的启示

有句话说：大难不死，必有后福。在经历生死攸关的时刻后，能够有机会重新深刻地审视之前的生活，延续以往好的做法，改正错误的行为，使自己有机会为真正重要的人做更多的事情，也更好地爱护自己，这应该算是其中一种“福”吧。但是，并不是所有人都有二次审视自己的机会，所以，我们要做的是，珍惜当下，少留遗憾。

Ralph Richmond
拉尔夫·里士满

Just ten years ago, I sat across the desk from a doctor with a stethoscope. “Yes,” he said, “there is a lesion in the left, upper lobe. You have a moderately advanced case…” I listened, stunned, as he continued, “You'll have to give up work at once and go to bed. Later on, we'll see.” He gave no assurances.

Feeling like a man who in mid-career has suddenly been placed under sentence of death with an indefinite reprieve, I left the doctor's office, walked over to the park, and sat down on a bench, perhaps, as I then told myself, for the last time. I needed to think. In the next three days, I cleared up my affairs; then I went home, got into bed, and set my watch to tick off not the minutes, but the months. 2 years and many dashed hopes later, I left my bed and began the long climb back. It was another year before I made it.

I speak of this experience because these years that past so slowly taught me what to value and what to believe. They said to me: Take time, before time takes you. I realize now that this world I'm living in is not my oyster to be opened but my opportunity to be grasped. Each day, to me, is a precious entity. The sun comes up and presents me with 24 brand new, wonderful hours—not to pass, but to fill.

Frequently, I sit back and say to myself, let me make note of this moment I'm living right now, because in it I'm well, happy, hard at work doing what I like best to do. It won't always be like this, so while it is I'll make the most of it—and afterwards, I remember—and be grateful. All this, I owe to that long time spent on the sidelines of life. Wiser people come to this awareness without having to acquire it the hard way. But I wasn't wise enough. I'm wiser now, a little, and happier.

大约十年前，我坐在一位拿着听诊器的大夫对面。他说：“是的，你的肺上叶有一处病变，而且在逐渐恶化……”听到大夫这么说，我完全愣住了，随后他紧接着说道：“你必须立即放下工作，卧床休息。之后我们再看情况。”他没有给任何保证。

我离开了大夫的办公室，感觉就像是一个处在事业中期的人突然被判了死刑，但缓期到不知哪一天执行。我走到公园里，坐在一个长凳上，告诉自己可能是最后一次来这儿了。我需要好好想想。在接下来的三天里，我把所有的事情都处理完了，之后回家躺在床上，把手表从显示分钟调为显示月份。两年过去了，在许许多多的希望破灭之后，我离开病床，开始艰难地回归从前的生活。我又用了一年的时间才成功。

我说起这段经历，是因为那几年度日如年的时间教会了我应该珍惜和相信什么。它们跟我说：在让时间掌控你之前，你要掌控时间。我意识到我所生活的世界不是一个等待着我去打开的牡蛎，而是需要我去抓住的机会。每一天对我来说都是一种宝贵的存在。太阳每一次升起都带给我崭新而精彩的24小时——这24个小时不是用来虚度的，而是需要我去将它们填满。

我经常坐下来休息并告诉自己，要记住当下的每时每刻，因为现在的我健康、快乐，努力做着自己最喜欢的工作。这种状态不会永远持续，所以趁我还是这样的时候，我要最大限度地利用好它——在这一切逝去之后，我会记得——心怀感激。这一切都得益于我淡出生活的那几年。睿智的人不需要通过这种痛苦的方式就能懂得这个道理，但是我那个时候不够睿智。但是我现在比以前多了几分智慧，也多了几分快乐。

巧记词汇

stethoscope [ˈsteθəskəʊp] n. 听诊器

【拓】telescope [ˈtelɪskəʊp] n. 望远镜

lesion [ˈliːʒn] n. 病变；损伤

【拓】illness [ˈɪlnəs] n. 疾病

lobe [ləʊb] n. 肺叶；脑叶

【拓】lung [lʌŋ] n. 肺

indefinite [ɪnˈdefɪnət] a. 不确定的

【拓】definite [ˈdefɪnət] a. 确切的

reprieve [rɪˈpriːv] n. 暂缓；缓刑

【拓】receive [rɪˈsiːv] v. 收到

dash [dæʃ] v. 使破灭

【拓】dash one's hopes 使某人的希望破灭

entity [ˈentəti] n. 存在；实体

【拓】exist [ɪɡˈzɪst] v. 存在

afterwards [ˈɑːftəwədz] ad. 后来

【拓】later [ˈleɪtə(r)] ad. 后来

趣学短语

owe…to sb./sth. 将……归因或归功于某人/某事物

【例】She owes her achievement more to luck than to ability. 她将自己的成就更多地归因于运气，而不是能力。