My-third-story-is-about-death.doc

My third story is about death.我的第三个故事是关于死亡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. 在我17岁的时候，我读到了一句箴言，差不多是这样的：“如果你把每一天都当作生命中的最后一天去生活的话,那么终有一天你会发现自己说对了。”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: 这句话给我留下了深刻的印象，从那时算起的33年以来，我每天早晨都会对着镜子问自己：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.“如果今天是我生命中的最后一天，我还会做自己今天即将要做的事吗？”当答案连续多次都是“不”时，我就知道自己需要做些改变了。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.“记住你就快要死了”是我听过的最重要的箴言，它帮我做出了生命中非常重大的决策。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.因为几乎所有的一切包括所有的外界期望、所有的骄傲、所有对于难堪或失败的恐惧都会在面对死亡时化为虚无，留下真正重要的东西。Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.你有时会想自己可能失去一些东西，“记住你就快要死了”是我知道的逃脱这种思维陷阱的最好办法。You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.既然你已经赤身裸体了无牵挂了，你就没有理由不去遵从自己的内心。01:08.46 About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer.大概在一年前, 我被诊断出患有癌症。I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas.那天早晨七点半，我接受了一次扫描，结果清楚地显示我的胰腺里长了一个肿瘤。01:18.18 I did not even know what a pancreas was.我当时都不知道胰腺是什么东西，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.医生们告诉我，这几乎可以确定是一种无法治愈的癌症，我的寿命估计还有三到六个月的时间。My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctors code for prepare to die.医生们建议我回家把事情都做个了结，这是医生们的行话，意思是准备后事。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.这意味着在接下去的几个月里你要把未来十年要对孩子们说的话提前说完，It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.意味着你要确保把每件事都安排妥当好让家人以后的日子尽量好过，It means to say your goodbyes.也意味着你要对这个世界说再见了。I lived with that diagnosis all day.这个诊断一整天都萦绕在我心头，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.当天晚上，我做了一次活体组织切片检查：他们把一个内窥镜伸进我的喉咙，穿过我的胃一直进到肠子里，用一枚探针伸进胰脏取得了一些组织细胞。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.我当时被麻醉了，在场的妻子告诉我，医生们把这些细胞放到显微镜下观察之后都惊叫起来，因为他们发现这是一种非常罕见的、通过手术可以治愈的胰腺癌。I had the surgery and I m fine now.后来我做了手术，现在已经康复。This was the closest I ve been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades.这是我距离死亡最近的一次，我希望它也是未来几十年里我离死亡最近的一次。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: No one wants to die.经历了这件事，死亡对我而言已经不再只是一种有益却仅限于纯粹想象的概念，因此我可以更加确信地跟你们谈起我对死亡的看法：没有人想要死，Even people who want to go to heaven do not want to die to get there.即使人们想上天堂, 他们也不会为了去那里而死，And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.但是死亡是我们共同的终点，从来没有人能够逃脱它。And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.而这也是合理的，因为死亡很可能是生命最好的一项发明，It is Lifes change agent.它是生命变化的推动者，It clears out the old to make way for the new.它清除老朽而为新生代开路。Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.现在的你们就是新生代，但是在不久之后的某天，你们就会渐渐变成老朽而被清除出人生的舞台。Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.抱歉说得这么夸张，但是这是事实。Your time is limited, so do not waste it living someone elses life.你的时间有限，别浪费生命过别人的生活。do not be trapped by dogma? which is living with the results of other peoples thinking.要被教条所束缚，因为那是别人生活的目的。do not let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice.别让其他人的不同意见压过你自己内心的声音。And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.最重要的是，要勇于追随自己的内心和直觉，They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.它们其实早已知道你想要成为什么，除此以外都是次要的。When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation.当我年轻的时候，有一份非常精彩的刊物，叫做全球概览，那是我们那一代人视为圣经的读物之一。It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch.它由斯图尔特布兰德在离这里不远的门洛帕克创办，他把诗意带进杂志，赋予它鲜活的生命力。This was in the late 1960s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras.那是在1960年代末，这本刊物全部由打字机、剪刀和宝丽来相机制作出来。It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.有点像平装版的谷歌，但早于谷歌问世35年。这就是理想主义，充满着整洁的工具和伟大的奇想。Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue.斯图尔特和他的团队出版了几期全球概览之后，顺其自然地出版了最后一期。It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age.那是1970年代中期，而我正如你们这般年纪。On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road,在最后一期的封底上，是一条清晨乡间小路的照片，the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous.如果你富有冒险精神，它可能就是你要搭车的那种小路。Beneath it were the words: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. It was their farewell message as t