I find it humorous sometimes that even the mostmundane occurrences can have an impact on ourawareness.

有時候我覺得很有意思，甚至連最平凡的事情都能夠?qū)ξ覀兊恼J(rèn)識產(chǎn)生影響。

My wife, daughter, and I moved into our home nineyears ago and we spent a lot of time and energy inthe yard to get it looking like it does today. We liveon a corner, higher than street level, and the entireside of the yard is encased by a professionally builtrock wall. The front of the house though is anotherstory because instead of a wall along the sidewalk, the rocks appear to be just thrown up ontothe dirt as if someone were in a hurry to finish.

九年前，我的妻子、女兒和我搬進(jìn)了現(xiàn)在的家，我們花了大量的時間和和精力整修我們的院子，讓它看起來像今天這個樣子。我們住在一個拐角處，比街道的水 平面要高。院子的外側(cè)圍著一面砌得很講究的石墻。盡管房子的前邊是另一碼事——因為沿人行道修建的不是一面墻，而是在泥地上草草壘起來的石頭堆，好像是什 么人匆忙趕工完成的。

We did the best we could with what we had to work with and called this area our ‘rock garden’.Whenever we had leftover flowers or plants, Denise or I would stick them out front, just tobring some color to the area.

我們竭盡所能來做我們必須做的工作，并把這個地方叫做我們的“巖石花園”。每當(dāng)我們在這里種上花或其他植物，丹尼斯或者我就會讓它們伸到墻外，只是為了給這個地方增添一些色彩。

I still do all of my own yard work, even the dreaded weed-pulling. After putting on my kneepads I assume the position to clear the yard of weeds, even in the rock garden.

我還在做自己的庭院勞作，包括讓人生畏的拔雜草工作。我?guī)�上護(hù)膝后，我便著手清理庭院雜草，即使是在巖石花園里。

Last summer I had reached the end of the rock garden and found a tiny little plant that I couldnot immediately identify, I knew I didn’t plant it and Denise claimed that she didn’t either. Wedecided to let it continue growing until we could figure out what it was.

去年夏天，我走到巖石花園的一端，發(fā)現(xiàn)一株我不能立刻認(rèn)出來的小植物。我知道我沒有在那里種植它。丹尼斯說她也沒有種過。我們決定讓它繼續(xù)生長，直到我們能搞清楚，它到底是什么植物。

Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the mystery plant, it appeared to be a Sunflower.It was spindly looking with a tall skinny stalk and only one head on it. I decided to baby italong and weed around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticedsomething unusual. The Sunflower had not started where I saw the stalk begin. It actually hadbegun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the sun.

幾周過去了，我回到那株神秘植物跟前，它好像是一棵向日葵。它還很纖細(xì)，長著細(xì)高的莖桿，上面只有一個頭。我決定好好照看它，除去它周圍的雜草。當(dāng)我 把這個地方的石頭挪開以便除草時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)有些異常情況。向日葵并不是從我發(fā)現(xiàn)莖桿的地方開始生長的。實際上，它從一塊大石頭下面開始發(fā)芽、生長，然后繞過 石頭，以獲取陽光。

That’s when I realized that if a tiny little Sunflower didn’t let a big rock stand in its way ofdeveloping, we too have the capability of doing the same thing. Once our environment beginsto see that we believe in ourselves like that little Sunflower, we can attain the samenourishment and nurturing as well.

那時我認(rèn)識到，如果一棵小小的向日葵都沒有讓一塊大石頭擋住它成長的路，那么我們同樣有能力做同樣的事情。一旦我們的環(huán)境開始看到，我們像那棵小小的向日葵一樣相信自己，我們就能夠得到同樣的養(yǎng)分并且成長起來。

First, we need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the capabilities in achieving our desires.Like the Sunflower, it knew it had the capability to overcome its obstacle because it trustedin the Universal Truth and had faith it would succeed.

首先， 我們需要相信自己， 認(rèn)識到我們有能力達(dá)到我們的愿望。就像向日葵那樣， 它知道它有能力去克服障礙， 因為它相信普遍真理， 并且相信它會成功。

Stand tall like the Sunflower and be proud of who and what you are and the environment willbegin to support you. You will find a way to go under or around your big obstacle in order toreach your desires.

只要你像向日葵一樣高高站著，為自己感到自豪，環(huán)境就會開始支持你。為了達(dá)成愿望，你會在障礙下邊或其周圍找到一條出路。

（來源：滬江英語）