[心靈雞湯一] We Never Told Him He Couldn't Do It
My son Joey was born with club feet. The doctors assured us that with treatment he would be able to walk normally - but would never run very well. The first three years of his life were spent in surgery, casts and braces. By the time he was eight, you wouldn't know he had a problem when you saw him walk .
The children in our neighborhood ran around as most children do during play, and Joey would jump right in and run and play, too. We never told him that he probably wouldn't be able to run as well as the other children. So he didn't know.
In seventh grade he decided to go out for the cross-country team. Every day he trained with the team. He worked harder and ran more than any of the others - perhaps he sensed that the abilities that seemed to come naturally to so many others did not come naturally to him. Although the entire team runs, only the top seven runners have the potential to score points for the school. We didn't tell him he probably would never make the team, so he didn't know.
He continued to run four to five miles a day, every day - even the day he had a 103-degree fever. I was worried, so I went to look for him after school. I found him running all alone. I asked him how he felt. "Okay," he said. He had two more miles to go. The sweat ran down his face and his eyes were glassy from his fever. Yet he looked straight ahead and kept running. We never told him he couldn't run four miles with a 103-degree fever. So he didn't know.
Two weeks later, the names of the team runners were called. Joey was number six on the list. Joey had made the team. He was in seventh grade - the other six team members were all eighth-graders. We never told him he shouldn't expect to make the team. We never told him he couldn't do it. We never told him he couldn't do he didn't know. He just did it.
By Kathy Lamancusa From A 3rd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul
從不說他做不到
我的兒子瓊尼降生時，他的雙腳向上彎彎著，醫生向我們保證說經過治療，小瓊尼可以像常人一樣走路，但像常人一樣跑步的可能性則微乎其微。瓊尼3歲之前一直在接受治療，和支架、石膏模子打交道。七八歲的時候，他走路的樣子已讓人看不出他的腿有過毛病。
鄰居的小孩子們做遊戲的時候總是跑過來跑過去。毫無疑問小瓊尼看到他們玩就會馬上加進去跑啊鬧的。我們從不告訴他不能像別的孩子那樣跑，我們從不說他和別的孩子不一樣。因為我們不對他說，所以他不知道。
七年級的時候，瓊尼決定參加跑步橫穿全美的比賽。每天他和大夥一塊訓練。也許是意識到自己先天不如別人，他訓練得比任何人都刻苦。訓練隊的前7名選手可以參加最後比賽，為學校拿分。我們沒有告訴瓊尼；也許會落空，所以他不知道。
他堅持每天跑4~5英里。我永遠不會忘記有一次，他發著高燒，但仍堅持訓練。我為他擔心，於是去學校看他，發現他正在一個人沿著長長的林蔭道跑步呢。我問他感覺怎麼樣，"很好。"他說。還剩下最後兩英里。他滿臉是汗，眼睛因為發燒失去了光彩。然而他目不斜視，堅持著跑下來。我們從沒有告訴他不能發著高燒去跑4英里的路，我們從沒有這樣對他說，所以他不知道。
兩個星期後，在決賽前的3天，長跑隊的名次被確定下來。瓊尼是第六名，他成功了。他才是個七年級生，而其餘的人都是八年級生。我們從沒有告訴他不要去期望入選，我們從沒有對他說他不會成功。是的，從沒說起過……所以他不知道，但他卻做到了！！
[心靈雞湯二]Follow Your Dream（1）
"The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you'll have to pay large stud fees. There's no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher added, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.’
"The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.’
"Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, `You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream.'"
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, "I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace." He added, "The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week." When the teacher was leaving, he said, `Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.’"
Don't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.
By Jack Canfield From Chicken Soup for the Soul
追隨夢想
"老師回答道：'你年紀輕輕，不要老做白日夢。你沒錢，沒家庭背景，什麼都沒有。蓋座農場可是個花錢的大工程；你要花錢買地、花錢買純種馬匹、花錢照顧它們。你別太好高騖遠了。'他接著又說：'如果你肯重寫一個比較不離譜的志願，我會重打你的分數。'"
"這男孩回家後反覆思量了好幾次，然後徵詢父親的意見。父親只是告訴他：'兒子，這是非常重要的決定，你必須自己拿定主意。'
"再三考慮好幾天後，他決定原稿交回，一個字都不改。他告訴老師：'即使拿個大紅字，我也不願放棄夢想。'"
蒙提此時向眾人表示："我提起這故事，是因為各位現在就坐在200畝農場內，佔地4000平方英尺的豪華住宅。那份國中時寫的.報告我至今還留著。"他頓了一下又說："有意思的是，兩年前的夏天，那位老師帶了30個學生來我的農場露營一星期。離開之前，他對我說：'蒙提，說來有些慚愧。你讀國中時，我曾潑過你冷水。這些年來，我也對不少學生說過相同的話。幸虧你有這個毅力堅持自己的夢想。'"
不論做什麼事，相信你自己，別讓別人的一句話將你擊倒。
[心靈雞湯三]Follow Your Dream（2）
I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs.
The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, "I want to tell you why I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy's high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.
"That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.
"He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after class.'
"The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, `Why did I receive an F?'
追隨夢想
我有個朋友叫蒙提·羅伯茲，他在聖思多羅（San Ysidro）有座牧馬場。我常借用他寬敞的住宅舉辦募款活動，以便為幫助青少年的計劃籌備基金。
上次活動時，他在致辭中提到："我讓傑克借用住宅是有原因的。這故事跟一個小男孩有關，他的父親是位馬術師，他從小就必須跟著父親東奔西波，男孩的求學過程並不順利。國中時，有次老師叫全班同學寫報告，題目是長大後的志願。
"那晚他洋洋灑灑寫了7張紙，描述他的偉大志願，那就是想擁有一座屬於自己的牧馬農場，並且仔細畫了一張200畝農場的設計圖，上面標有馬廄、跑道等的位置，然後在這一大片農場中央，還要建造一棟佔地4000平方英尺的巨宅。
"他花了好大心血把報告完成，第二天交給了老師。兩天後他拿回了報告，第一頁上打了一個又紅又大的F，旁邊還寫了一行字：下課後來見我。
"腦中充滿幻想的他下課後帶著報告去找老師：'為什麼給我不及格？
