I believe in the 50-percent theory. Half the time things are better thannormal; the other half, they are worse. I believe life is a pendulum swing. Ittakes time and experience to understand what normal is, and that gives me theperspective to deal with the surprises of the future.
Lets benchmark the parameters: Yes, I will die. Ive dealt with the deathsof both parents, a best friend, a beloved boss and cherished pets. Some of thesedeaths have been violent, before my eyes, or slow and agonizing. Bad stuff, andit belongs at the bottom of the scale.
Then there are those high points: romance and marriage to the right person;having a child and doing those Dad things like coaching my sons baseball team,paddling around the creek in the boat while hes swimming with the dogs,discovering his compassion so deep it manifests even in his kindness to snails,his imagination so vivid he builds a spaceship from a scattered pile ofLegos.
But there is a vast meadow of life in the middle, where the bad and thegood flip-flop acrobatically. This is what convinces me to believe in the50-percent theory.
One spring I planted corn too early in a bottomland so flood-prone thatneighbors laughed. I felt chagrined at the wasted effort. Summer turned brutal-- the worst heat wave and drought in my lifetime. The air-conditioner died, thewell went dry, the marriage ended, the job lost, the money gone. I was livinglyrics from a country tune -- music I loathed. Only a surging Kansas City Royalsteam, bound for their first World Series, buoyed my spirits.
Looking back on that horrible summer, I soon understood that all succeedinggood things merely offset the bad. Worse than normal wouldnt last long. I amowed and savor the halcyon times. They reinvigorate me for the next nastysurprise and offer assurance that I can thrive. The 50 percent theory even helpsme see hope beyond my Royals recent slump, a field of struggling rookies sown sothat some year soon we can reap an October harvest.
Oh, yeah, the corn crop? For that one blistering summer, the groundmoisture was just right, planting early allowed pollination before heat witheredthe tops, and the lack of rain spared the standing corn from floods. That wintermy crib overflowed with corn -- fat, healthy three-to-a-stalk ears filled withkernels from heel to tip -- while my neighbors fields yielded only brown, emptyhusks.
Although plantings past may have fallen below the 50-percent expectation,and they probably will again in the future, I am still sustained by the cropthat flourishes during the drought.
我信奉对半理论。生活时而无比顺畅，时而倒霉透顶，好坏参半。我觉得生活就像来回晃动的钟摆。读懂生活的常态需要时间和阅历，也正是这样才练就了我面对未来荣辱不惊的生活态度。
让我们掂量这些点点滴滴：是的，我注定会死去。我已经经历了双亲的仙逝，一位友人的亡故，一位敬爱的老板的离逝，还有心爱宠物的死亡。当中一些变故突如其来，直击眼前;有些却长期折磨，痛苦不堪。糟糕的事儿，它们驻留谷底。
当然生活也不乏熠熠光彩：坠入爱河缔结良缘;养育幼子身为人父，训练儿子的棒球队，当他和狗在水中嬉戏时，摇桨划船前瞻后顾，感受他如此强烈的同情心——即使对蜗牛也善待有加，发现他如此活跃的想像力——即使零散的积木也能堆出太空飞船。
但在它们发生期间有一片宽广的草坪，在那儿上演的各种好事坏事像耍杂技一样地翻新。这就是让我信服对半理论的原因。
有一年春天，我在一片容易被淹的低洼地过早地种下了玉米，邻居们都为此嘲笑我。一番心血付之东流让我懊恼不已。接着我生命中最难熬的酷暑来临了——热浪袭人，酿至旱灾。空调失灵，水井枯竭，婚姻破裂，惨遭失业，积蓄挥空。我正经历某个乡村调频描绘的情节，我讨厌这种音乐。只有一支人气攀升的堪萨斯皇家棒球队的小组因他们的第一次出征世界大赛团结起来使我精神振奋。
回想那个可怕的夏天，我不久就明白了所有的好事坏事不过是正负抵消。不顺心的境遇不会延宕过久。太平时光是我应得的，我要尽情享受。它们给我新的活力以应对突如其来的险境，并确保我再度辉煌。对半理论甚至帮我在我喜爱的皇家棒球队最近的低潮中看到希望——这是一块艰难行进的新手们耕耘的土地，播种了，假以时日我们就可以收获十月的金秋。
哦，对了，玉米收成?就那年炎热的夏天，庄稼地的湿度恰到好处，过早的种植使授粉避开酷热在顶梢干枯前完成，雨水稀少使地里长着的玉米免遭水灾。那年冬天，我的粮仓里堆满了玉米——饱满结实的玉米每株秆上结三个，每个玉米从底到顶端长满了玉米粒——而我的邻居们地里长出来的只是暗沉干瘪的壳。
尽管过去播种的收获没有达到50%的期望，而且将来也可能是这样，我仍然要为经历旱季依然丰收的玉米而坚守阵地。
There was once a guy who suffered from cancer, a cancer that can’t becured. He was 18 years old and he could die anytime. All his life, he was stuckin his house being taken cared by his mother. He never went outside but he wassick of staying home and wanted to go out for once. So he asked his mother andshe gave him permission.
He walked down his block and found a lot of stores. He passed a CD storeand looked through the front door for a second as he walked. He stopped and wentback to look into the store. He saw a beautiful girl about his age and he knewit was love at first sight. He opened the door and walked in, not looking atanything else but her. He walked closer and closer until he was finally at thefront desk where she sat.
She looked up and asked, “Can I help you?
She smiled and he thought it was the most beautiful smile he has ever seenbefore and wanted to kiss her right there.
He said, “Uh... Yeah... Umm... I would like to buy a CD.
He picked one out and gave her money for it.
“Would you like me to wrap it for you? she asked, smiling her cute smileagain.
He nodded and she went to the back. She came back with the wrapped CD andgave it to him. He took it and walked out of the store.
He went home and from then on, he went to that store every day and bought aCD, and she wrapped it for him. He took the CD home and put it in his closet. Hewas still too shy to ask her out and he really wanted to but he couldn’t. Hismother found out about this and told him to just ask her. So the next day, hetook all his courage and went to the store as usual. He bought a CD like he didevery day and once again she went to the back of the store and came back with itwrapped. He took it and when she wasn’t looking, he left his phone number on thedesk and ran out...
RRRRRING!!!
One day the phone rang, and the mother picked it up and said, “Hello?
It was the girl!!! The mother started to cry and said, “You don’t know? Hepassed away yesterday...
The line was quiet except for the cries of the boy’s mother. Later in theday, the mother went into the boy’s room because she wanted to remember him. Shethought she would start by looking at his clothes. So she opened the closet.
She was face to face with piles and piles and piles of unopened CDs. Shewas surprised to find all these CDs and she picked one up and sat down on thebed and she started to open one. Inside, there was a CD and as she took it outof the wrapper, out fell a piece of paper. The mother picked it up and startedto read it. It said: Hi... I think U R really cute. Do u wanna go out with me?Love, Jocelyn.
The mother was deeply moved and opened another CD...
Again there was a piece of paper. It said: Hi... I think U R really cute.Do u wanna go out with me? Love, Jocelyn.
Love is... when you’ve had a huge fight but then decide to put aside youregos, hold hands and say, “I Love You.
从前，有一个少年患了癌症，根本无法治愈。他只有18岁，随时都可能死去。他每天都待在家里，由母亲照料着。他从来都没出去过，但在家实在待烦了，想出去走走，母亲也就同意了。
他走在大街上，看到了很多商店，经过一家音像店时，他透过橱窗盯了一会儿。然后他停下来，又折回音像店向里望去。他看到了一个非常美丽的同龄女孩，并对她一见钟情。他打开门，走了进去，眼里始终只有她一个人。他不由自主地走到了柜台前，走到那个女孩坐着的地方。
女孩抬头问道：“你想要点什么?
她微笑着，他觉得这是他一生中看到的最美的笑容，其实这时他最想做的就是吻她。
他结结巴巴地说：“是的，嗯，那个……我想买一张CD。
他随便拿了张CD，连同钱一起递给她。
“想让我把它包起来吗? 女孩问，依然带着可爱的笑容。
他点了点头。她回到后面，出来的时候，手里拿着包装好的CD，然后交给了他。他接过CD，离开了商店。
他回家了。从那以后，这个少年每天都到那家音像店去买一张CD。女孩每次都将CD包好交给他，他也总是把CD带回去，放进自己的衣柜里。这个少年很羞涩，不敢约她出去
他真的很想，但却不能。母亲知道后，不断地鼓励他。第二天，他终于鼓起了勇气，像往常一样走进了音像店，买了一张CD，她也像往常一样，到后面去替他包起来。他接过CD，趁她不注意时将自己的电话号码放在柜台上，然后跑了出去……
叮铃铃铃!!!
有一天，电话铃响了，母亲接起电话：“喂?
是那个女孩打来的!!!母亲伤心地哭了，她说：“你不知道吗?他昨天死了……
电话线那端沉默了，只能听到母亲的抽泣声。那天晚些时候，母亲来到儿子的房间，她想念儿子了，就想看看他的衣服，于是打开了衣柜。
母亲看到的是衣柜里一大堆包好的CD，这些CD都没有打开过。母亲大吃一惊。她坐在床边，打开了一个包装，从包装盒中拿出CD时，盒里掉出一张小纸条，她拾了起来，上面写道：嗨，你好，我觉得你真的很可爱，愿意和我一起出去吗?乔斯林。
母亲深受感动，她又打开了一个CD盒……
里面仍有一张小纸条，上面都写着同样的话：嗨，你好，我觉得你真的很可爱，愿意和我一起出去吗?乔斯林。
爱是什么?当你作了巨大的思想斗争，最终决定抛开一切束缚时，那就攥紧手，说出“我爱你 。
The little boy sat on the edge of the barrel and wiped the tears to think, think for a long time has finally come up with a solution, he from the edge of the well choose a barrel and a barrel of water, then pour them into the empty barrel, and then he was very upset to go home to bed. For second days, just before dawn the little boy, hurriedly climb up, he ran to the place where the vats, the oak a are arranged neatly, no one was blown over by the wind, no one has been blown crooked. The little boy laughed, he said to his father: "to wooden barrels to be blown, will increase the weight of the bucket." the boy's father smiled approvingly.
Yes, we can not change the wind, the world can not change a lot of things, but we can change ourselves, to increase their own, so that we can adapt to change, not to be defeated!
Westminster Abbey in the basement, the tomb of an Anglican Bishop wrote such a sentence: when I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world.
Life is like water, people can only adapt to the environment. If you can't change the environment, change yourself, the only way to overcome more difficulties and overcome more setbacks, self realization. If can not see their own shortcomings and deficiencies, just blindly blame the environment, so as to change the situation of hope in the changing environment this is really, in vain.
Although we can not change the world, but we can change ourselves, let us with love and wisdom to face all the environment