And I told them why I’ve kept that ribbon. You see to me, that ribbon is a reminder that you don’t have to be a winner in the eyes of the world to be a winner to those closest to you. The world may judge you a failure or a success, but those closest to you will know the truth. That’s important to remember as we travel through this life.
You may not have a red ribbon to prove it, but I sincerely hope you have at least a few friends who remember you for taking time out from your pursuit of that red ribbon to help them. I’m thinking those will be the ones that really count—I know it’s the one that counted the most to me.
每个人都想要一个红丝带，红色、第一、最好的，连上幼稚园的孩子都想要一个红丝带。在体育方面，我不是一个够拥有红丝带的人。赛跑时，总跑倒数第一；打垒球时，打着头的几率和丢球的几率一样高；打篮球时，只要球场上没有其他九个人，我打得还不错。我如此糟糕的体育能力是怎么得道的，我不知道，但是应该是从很早的时候。
在我上幼稚园的那年春天，我们班举行了一场田径赛，终点是在一个城镇的公园，距此有二十多英里远。现在开车去那儿不是大问题，但当你才六岁，一辈子都住在一个有三百人的城镇里，去一个有两千多人的城镇里确实是一个大问题。然而，现在回想起来，那些日子我差不多都忘记了。可以肯定一点的是，我们就吃一点午饭，然后就荡秋千，滑滑梯——都是六岁孩子的游戏。之后就快到比赛的时间了。
这些不平常的竞赛。有些父母想出了一些点子，举行一个野餐式的竞赛，比如在你跑到另一个方的时候，把土豆从你脖子后传递给他人，勺子里放个鸡蛋。这些我记得不太清楚了，但有一个比赛我将永远不能忘记——三腿比赛。
父母们决定在这次比赛中不用土豆袋。他们把我们的脚绑在一起。一个小男孩有我做伴，他真幸运。现在关于这个小男孩你要知道的是，在体育方面他是我们班里的第二名。我确定的是他遇到麻烦了，他们把那个小男孩的脚捆在我的脚上。至于我，可遭殃了。这个家伙是个赢家，他几乎总是赢，可是我明白，和我在一起他就没有机会了。
然而，看上去，这个时候他并没有我领悟得那么深。他把他的胳膊绑在我胳膊上，鸣枪后，我们跑想另一边。在我们旁边，一对对选手要么摔倒了要么被绊倒了，但我们俩脚步稳妥跑道了终点。
难以想象的是，当我们转身回家的时候，我们俩在最前面！只有一对有超越我们的机会，他们只在我们身后几码远。
在脚快到终点线的那有时刻，厄运发生了，我被绊倒了。我们离得很近，他本可以轻而易举地把我拉过终点线的。他本可以，可他并没有那么做，相反，他停下来，伸手把我扶起来——正好另一对穿过了终点线。
我仍记得那个时刻，现在还有那个红丝带。毕业十三年后，我站在舞台上，向同一组的学生做告别发言，他们之中已没有一个人记得那一时刻了。因此，我告诉他们：男孩刹那间做出决定去把朋友扶起来，那比赢一个红丝带还有意义。在演讲时，我对他们说，就算他和我一起站在这里，我也不能分清哪位是当年的那个小男孩。我不能分清，事实上是因为当时，或者其他人都曾经是那位小男孩，把我扶起来，帮助一个需要帮助的伙伴，却浪费了时间放弃了他们自己的目标。
同时，我还告诉他们为什么我一直保存着这个丝带。向我这看，这个丝带是一个提醒，你没有必要在世人的眼里是一个成功者，在你最亲密的人眼里要是个成功者。这个世界可以判给你成功或者失败，但是只有你最亲近的人知道真相。记住它，这在我们一生中都很重要。
你可能没有红丝带来证明这，但是，我真心地希望你至少有这么几个朋友，就是放弃了赢得红丝带的机会去帮助你并且还在想念你的那些朋友。我认为那些朋友才是真正有价值的朋友——我知道他对我来说非常重要。
The World Is Full of Smiles充满微笑的世界
About ten years ago when I was an undergraduate in college, I was working as an intern at my University’s Museum of Natural History. One day while working at the cash register in the gift shop, I saw an elderly couple come in with a little girl in a wheelchair.
As I looked closer at this girl, I saw that she was kind of perched on her chair. I then realized she had no arms or legs, just a head, neck and torso. She was wearing a little white dress with red polka dots.
As the couple wheeled her up to me I was looking down at the register. I turned my head toward the girl and gave her a wink. As I took the money from her grandparents, I looked back at the girl, who was giving me the cutest, largest smile I have ever seen.
All of a sudden her handicap was gone and all I saw was this beautiful girl, whose smile just melted me and almost instantly gave me a completely new sense of what life is all about. She took me from a poor, unhappy college student and brought me into her world; a world of smiles, love and warmth.
That was ten years ago. I’m a successful business person now and whenever I get down and think about the troubles of the world, I think about that little girl and the remarkable lesson about life that she taught me.
大约十年以前，当时还在上大学，我在大学自然历史博物馆里面作为实习生而在那里学习工作。有一天，当我在赠品店的收银机那里忙活的时候，我看到一对年迈的夫妇，推着一辆上面有小女孩坐着的轮椅走了进来。
当小女孩坐的轮椅徐徐向我而来的时候，我仔细地打量了她，感觉她就如同其他那些坐在轮椅上的残疾人一样。然后我了解到，她周身既没有手臂也没有大腿，有的只是躯干和脖子上面的头部而已。她穿着一身小巧的白色连衣裙，上面点缀着红色的小圆点。
当那对老夫妇推着小女孩向我走来的时候，我正忙着低头看着纪录器。我瞥向小女孩然后对着她眨眨眼示意。在我从她爷爷奶奶手里接过钱的时候，我又看了看那小女孩，她正冲着我微笑呢。我此前从未见到过如此可爱动人，心胸广大的面容。
突然此刻，我对她身残不全的印象荡然无存。我所看到的，只是仅仅一个微笑就能让我为之动容的漂亮女孩。而且此时此刻，我对生命的价值有了崭新的认识。而后，这种想法使我从一名默默无闻，郁郁寡欢的大学生融入了她的世界；一个充满着微笑，爱心以及温暖的地方。
那日一别后，过去有十年之久。如今我已经是一名成功的生意人，而且在每当我遭受打击和去思索生活中的烦恼之时，我总会回想起那个女孩子来，以及她所给我上的人生中意义非凡的一课。
This Is Good这很好
I heard the story about a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he had grown up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, “This is good!”
One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.
Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, “This is good!” to which the king replied, “No, this is not good!” and proceeded to send his friend to jail.
About a year later, the king was hunting in an area wherein he should have known not to hunt. Cannibals captured him and took them to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came close to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.
As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. “You were right,” he said, “it was good that my thumb was blown off.” And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened.
