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My third story is about death.
我的第三個故事是關于死亡
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." 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: "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.
在我17歲的時候，我讀到了一句箴言，差不多是這樣的：“如果你把每一天都當作生命中的最后一天去生活的話,那么終有一天你會發(fā)現(xiàn)自己是正確的。”這句話給我留下了深刻的印象，從那時算起的33年以來，我每天早晨都會對著鏡子問自己：“如果今天是我生命中的最后一天，我還會做自己今天即將要做的事嗎？”當答案連續(xù)多次都是“不”時，我就知道自己需要做些改變了。
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. 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. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
“記住你就快要死了”是我聽過的最重要的箴言，它幫我做出了生命中非常重大的決策。因為幾乎所有的一切——包括所有的外界期望、所有的驕傲、所有對于難堪或失敗的恐懼——都會在面對死亡時化為虛無，留下真正重要的東西。你有時會想自己可能失去一些東西，“記住你就快要死了”是我知道的逃脫這種思維陷阱的最好辦法。既然你已經(jīng)赤身裸體了無牽掛了，你就沒有理由不去遵從自己的內心。
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. 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. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. 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. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
大概在一年前, 我被診斷出患有癌癥。那天早晨七點半，我接受了一次掃描，結果清楚地顯示我的胰腺里長了一個腫瘤。我當時都不知道胰腺是什么東西，醫(yī)生們告訴我，這幾乎可以確定是一種無法治愈的癌癥，我的壽命估計還有三到六個月的時間。醫(yī)生們建議我回家把事情都做個了結，這是醫(yī)生們的行話，意思是準備后事。這意味著在接下去的幾個月里你要把未來十年要對孩子們說的話提前說完，意味著你要確保把每件事都安排妥當好讓家人以后的日子盡量好過，也意味著你要對這個世界說再見了。
I lived with that diagnosis all day. 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. 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. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
這個診斷一整天都縈繞在我心頭，當天晚上，我做了一次活體組織切片檢查：他們把一個內窺鏡伸進我的喉嚨，穿過我的胃一直進到腸子里，用一枚探針伸進胰臟取得了一些組織細胞。我當時被麻醉了，在場的妻子告訴我，醫(yī)生們把這些細胞放到顯微鏡下觀察之后都驚叫起來，因為他們發(fā)現(xiàn)這是一種非常罕見的、通過手術可以治愈的胰腺癌。后來我做了手術，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)康復。
