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My third story is about death.
我的第三個(gè)故事是關(guān)于死亡。
When I was 17 I read a quote that went something like,
我17歲那年讀到過一句話，大意是這樣，
"If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."
“倘若你把每一天都當(dāng)成你的最后一天，總有一天你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)你是對(duì)的。”
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,
這話給我留下了印象。在那之后的33年里，每個(gè)早晨我都對(duì)著鏡子自問，
"If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"
“假如今天是我人生的最后一天，我還會(huì)做我今天要做的這些事嗎？”
And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
每當(dāng)連續(xù)很多天答案都是“不會(huì)”的時(shí)候，我知道有什么東西需要改變了。
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important thing I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.
記住自己將不久于人世，這是我在作出人生重大選擇時(shí)的一個(gè)最重要的參考工具。
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?yàn)閹缀跛械囊磺幸磺型饨鐚?duì)你的期待、一切榮耀、一切對(duì)丟臉和失敗的恐懼 -這些東西在面對(duì)死亡的時(shí)候都黯然失色，剩下的只有真正重要的東西。
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
在我看來，時(shí)刻謹(jǐn)記你將離去是避開“我會(huì)失去什么”這種思維陷阱最好的方式。
You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
你已經(jīng)是赤裸裸的了，沒有理由不追隨自己的心靈。
About a year ago, I was diagnosed with cancer.
大約一年前，我被查出患有癌癥。
I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas.
早上7點(diǎn)半，我做了一次掃描，結(jié)果很清楚地顯示出我的胰腺里有一個(gè)腫瘤。
I didn't even know what a pancreas was.
當(dāng)時(shí)我連胰腺是什么都不知道。
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.
大夫們告訴我，差不多可以肯定這是一種無法治愈的癌，并且我可能還能活三到六個(gè)月。
My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order which is doctors' code for "prepare to die".
我的醫(yī)生建議我回家去，把事情都做個(gè)了結(jié)。這是醫(yī)生的行話，它意味著料理后事。
It means to try and tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next ten years to tell them in just a few months.
這意味著你要把未來10年要對(duì)孩子們說的話在幾個(gè)月內(nèi)提前說完。
It means to make sure that everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.
這意味著為了讓你的家人日后過好，把每一件事都作好安排。
It means to say your goodbyes.
這意味著對(duì)這個(gè)世界說再見。
I lived with that diagnosis all day.
一整天我的腦子里只有這個(gè)判決。
Later that evening I had a biopsy where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor.
當(dāng)天晚上，我做了一次組織切片檢查：他們把一個(gè)內(nèi)窺鏡伸進(jìn)我的喉嚨，穿過我的胃一直進(jìn)到腸子里，用一枚探針伸進(jìn)胰臟取得了一些組織細(xì)胞。
I was sedated but my wife who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope, the doctor started crying, because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.
我被麻醉了，但是當(dāng)時(shí)在場(chǎng)的妻子告訴我，醫(yī)生們把這些細(xì)胞放到顯微鏡下觀察之后都驚叫起來了。因?yàn)樗麄儼l(fā)現(xiàn)這是一種非常罕見的、通過手術(shù)可以治愈的胰腺癌。
I had the surgery and, thankfully, I am fine now.
我做了手術(shù)，非常幸運(yùn)，我現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)痊愈了。
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades.
迄今為止，這是我距離死亡最近的一次，希望這也是未來幾十年里我離死亡最近的一次。
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.
經(jīng)歷了這件事，死亡對(duì)我而言已經(jīng)不再只是一個(gè)有用而僅限純粹想象的概念，因此我可以更加確信地跟你們談起我對(duì)死亡的看法。
No one wants to die, even people who want to go to Heaven don't want to die to get there.
沒有人想要死，就算那些想進(jìn)天堂的人也不想為此去死。
And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.
然而，死亡是我們共同的終點(diǎn)。從未有人逃離過死亡。
And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life.
而這是合理的，因?yàn)樗劳龊芸赡苁巧詈玫陌l(fā)明。
It's life's change agent, it clears out the old to make way for the new, right now, the new is you.
它是生命的代謝催化劑，去除老朽，迎接新生，而現(xiàn)在，新生的是你們。
But someday, not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.
但是用不了太久，某天你們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己已經(jīng)漸漸變得老朽，將被取代。
Sorry to be so dramatic, but it's quite true.
抱歉說得這么夸張，但是這是真理。
Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life.
你的生命是有限的，所以不要浪費(fèi)時(shí)間去過你不想要的生活。
Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking.
不要被教條所迷惑，它誘使你按照他人的思維定式生活。
Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.
不要讓別人發(fā)出的聲音遮蓋住你自己的心聲。
And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
最重要的是，要有勇氣追隨你的心靈和直覺。
They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
它們會(huì)知道你真正想要做一個(gè)什么樣的人，其他的一切都是次要的。
