I’m really, really, really excited to be here.
真的很激动能来到这里
I kind of want to tell you
我挺想多告诉你们一点关于
a little bit more – I don’t want to say basics –
我的病的…… 我不想说基础知识
because we really don’t know anything about my syndrome.
因为人们对我的病真的完全不了解
I was born with this very rare syndrome,
我天生就患有这种罕见的疾病
that only two other people in the world including myself,
全世界只有我跟我们知道的另外两个人
that we know of, have.
患有此病
Basically what this syndrome causes, is that I cannot gain weight.
简单来说这种疾病使人无法增重
Yes,it does sound as good as it is.
的确 这听起来似乎不错
(Laughter)
［笑声］
I could eat absolutely whatever I want, whenever I want
无论何时 我可以吃任何想吃的东西
and I won’t really gain any weight.
而且不会增加一丝体重
I’m going to be 25 in March,
今年三月我就要25岁了
and I’ve never weighed over about 64 pounds in my entire life.
而在我的整个人生中 我从未超过64磅
When I was in college, I hid –
读大学时 我藏了一盒……
well, I didn’t’hide’ it, everyone knew it was there –
好吧 不是藏 每个人都知道它的存在
but it was a giant tub
但确实是个大筐子
of Twinkies, donuts, chips, Skittles,
装着加馅面包 甜甜圈 薯片 彩虹糖
and my roommate would say,
室友对我说
“I could hear you at 12:30 am, reaching under your bed to get food.”
“我听见你晚上12点半伸手从床下取吃的”
But I’m like,”You know what? It’s alright, I can do these things!”
我就说：“你知道吗 这没关系 我完全可以这么做！”
Because there are benefits to this syndrome.
因为这疾病有它的好处
There are benefits to not being able to gain weight.
不增重有它的好处
There are benefits to being visually impaired.
视力不好有它的好处
There are benefits to being kind of really small.
身材娇小也有它的好处
A lot of people think,
很多人会想
“Lizzie, how in the world are you saying there are benefits
“Lizzie 当你只有一只眼睛能看见时
when you can only see out of one eye?”
你怎么能说它有好处呢？”
Well, let me tell you what the benefits are
我来告诉你好处是什么
because they are great.
因为这真的很棒
I wear contacts–conTACT.
我戴隐形眼镜 一只隐形眼镜
Half-off conTACTS.
一半的隐形眼镜
(Laughter)
［笑声］
When I wear my reading glasses: half-off prescription.
当我戴近视眼镜 同样也是一只时
If somebody is annoying me, being rude:
如果有人很烦我 表现粗鲁
Stand on my right side.
就请他站在我右边
(Laughter)
［笑声］
It’s like you’re not even there.
就像他不存在一样
I don’t even know you’re standing there.
我根本不知道你站在那
Right now, if I stand like this,
现在 如果这样站着
I have no clue that there’s this whole side of the room.
我根本不知道这个房间右边是什么情况
Also, being small,
还有 因为身材瘦小
I am very willing to volunteer myself
我非常乐意自愿到
to go to Weight Watchers or to some gym,
减肥中心或健身房做义工
and say, “Hi, I’m Lizzie. I will be your poster child.
告诉他们： “嗨 我是Lizzie 我想当你们的海报模特
Put my face on whatever you need, and I will say,
把我的照片贴在任何你需要的地方 我会说
‘Hi! I used this program. Look how well it worked.'”
‘看！我参加了这个计划 看这效果多好”
(Laughter)
［笑声］
Even though there are amazing things
虽然我的病确实
that have come from this syndrome,
带来了一些很棒的事情
there are also things that have been very,
但如你所想像到的
very difficult, as you can imagine.
它也带来了很多困难
Growing up, I was raised 150% normally.
从小到大 父母无比正常地抚养着我
I was my parents’ first child.
我是家里的第一个孩子
And when I was born, the doctors told my mom,
出生时医生告诉我妈妈
“your daughter has no amniotic fluid around her. At all.”
“你女儿没有羊水的保护 完全没有”
So when I was born,
所以我能嚎啕大哭地来到这个世界上
it was a miracle that I came out screaming.
本身就是一个奇迹
The doctors told my parents,
医生告诉我父母
“We just want to warn you:
“请你们做好心理准备
Expect your daughter to never be able
你们的女儿可能永远不会
to talk, walk, crawl, think, or do anything by herself.”
说话 走路 爬行 思考 或独立完成任何事”
Now, as first-time parents,
作为初为父母的他们
you would think that my parents would say,
你可能觉得我父母会说
“Oh no. Why? Why are we getting our first child
“噢不 为什么？为什么随着我们第一个孩子到来的
with all these unknown problems?”
是这么多未知的问题？”
But that’s not what they did.
但是他们没有这样说
The first thing they told the doctor was,
他们告诉医生的第一件事是
“We want to see her,
“我们想看到她
and we are going to take her home
并带回家
and love her, and raise her to the best of our abilities.
好好爱她 并且尽全力抚养她”
And that’s what they did.
这正是他们做的
I credit pretty much everything that I’ve done in my life to my parents.
我把自己一生中做到的几乎所有事都归功于我父母
My dad is here with me today,
我爸爸就在台下
and my mom is at home watching.
妈妈正在家里看着我
Hi mom! (Laughter)
嗨 妈妈 ［大笑］
She’s recovering from surgery.
她正在术后恢复中
She has been the glue that’s held our family together,
我妈妈一直是维系我们家庭的凝合剂
and she’s given me the strength to see
看她经历了这么多
that she’s going through so much,
给了我很多力量
but she has this fighting spirit that she’s instilled in me,
正是她把这种奋斗的精神灌输于我
so that I have proudly been able to stand
我才有勇气自豪地站在这里
in front of people and say,
当着众人的面说
“You know what? I’ve had a really difficult life.
“你知道吗？我的生活很艰难
But that’s okay.”
但是没关系”
That’s okay. Things have been scary, things have been tough.
没关系 有些状况会很可怕 很煎熬
One of the biggest things that I had to deal with growing up was something I’m pretty sure
从小到大我不得不面对的一个大事件
every single one of us in this room has dealt with before.
我确信也是你们每一个人曾经历过的
Can you guess what that is?
能猜到是什么吗？
It starts with a’B’. Can you guys guess it?
它以字母‘B’开头 你们能猜到吗？
Audience: Boys! Lizzie: Boys?
观众：男孩！ Lizzie：男孩？
(Laughter)
［笑声］
Bullying!
欺凌！
(Laughter)
［笑声］
I know what you all are thinking.
我知道你们在想什么
(Laughter)
［笑声］
Why can’t I sit here with them? (Laughter)
为什么我不能和他们坐在一起呢？ ［笑声］
I had to deal with bullying a lot,
我遇到过很多欺凌事件
but as I said, I was raised very normally,
但正如我说的 我像普通人一样长大
so when I started kindergarten,
所以我刚去幼儿园时
I had absolutely no idea that I looked different.
完全没意识到我看起来跟别人不一样
No clue.
完全没有
I couldn’t see that I looked different from other kids.
我看不到自己和别的孩子不同
I think of it as a big slap
对一个五岁的孩子来说
of reality for a five year-old,
我觉得那是来自现实的一巴掌
because I went in to school the first day, decked-out in Pocahontas gear.
因为上学的第一天 我穿着宝嘉康蒂风格的衣服
I was ready!
我准备好了一切！
(Laughter)
［笑声］
I went in with my backpack
我背着那个像个龟壳的书包
that looked like a turtle shell
走进了教室
because it was bigger than me,
因为那个书包比我还要大
and I walked up to a little girl and smiled at her,
我走到一个小女孩跟前对她笑了笑
and she looked up at me like I was a monster,
她就像看见怪物一样看着我
like I was the scariest thing she had ever seen in her life.
似乎我是她生命中见过的最恐怖的东西
My first reaction was,
我的第一反应是
“She is really rude.
“她真没礼貌”
(Laughter)
［笑声］
I am a fun kid, and she’s the one missing out.
我是个有趣的小孩 没和我做朋友是她的损失
So I’ll just go over here and play with blocks.
所以我走到一边玩积木
Or boys.”
或和男孩玩”
(Laughter)
［笑声］
(Lizzie laughs)
［Lizzie的笑声］
I thought the day would get better, and unfortunately, it didn’t.
我以为日子会变好的 但不幸的是 并没有
The day got worse and worse.
日子越来越糟糕
A lot of people just wanted to have absolutely nothing to do with me,
很多人完全不想跟我产生任何关系
and I couldn’t understand why. Why?
而我并不理解这其中的原因 为什么呢？
What did I do? I didn’t do anything to them!
我做了什么？我没对他们做任何事！
In my mind I was still a really cool kid.
在我心里我一直是个很酷的小孩
I had to go home and ask my parents,
我只好回家问父母
“What’s wrong with me?
“我有什么问题吗？
What did I do? Why don’t they like me?”
我做了什么 为什么他们不喜欢我？”
They sat me down and said, “Lizzie,
他们让我坐下 说：“Lizzie
the only thing different about you
你和他们唯一不同的是
is that you’re smaller than the other kids.
你比其他的小孩更瘦小
You have this syndrome,
你的确患了一种综合症
but it’s not going to define who you are.”
但是这并不能定义你是谁”
They said,”Go to school, pick your head up, smile,
他们说：“去学校吧 抬起你的头 保持微笑
continue to be yourself, and people will see
继续做你自己 人们将会看到
that you’re just like them.” And so that’s what I did.
你和他们一样” 而这正是我所做的
I want you to think,
现在 我想让你们想想
and ask yourself this in your head, right now:
并且扪心自问：
What defines you?
什么能够定义你？
Who are you?
你是谁？
Is it where you come from?
是你来自的地方吗？
Is it your background?
是你的背景吗？
Is it your friends?
是你的朋友吗？
What is it?
到底是什么？
What defines who you are as a person?
作为一个独立的人 什么能定义你？
It’s taken me a very long time to figure out what defines me.
我花了很长时间才找到什么定义了我
For so long I thought what defined me was my outer appearance.
有很长一段时间 我觉得定义我的是我的外表
I thought that my little tiny legs,
是我细小的双腿
and my little arms, and my little face were ugly.
弱小的胳膊 和我丑陋的面孔
I thought I was disgusting.
我觉得自己很令人厌恶
I hated when I’d wake up
我讨厌每天早上起床
in the morning when I was going to middle school,
准备去上中学的时刻
and would be looking in the mirror getting ready, and thinking,
我会看着镜子 想着
“Can I just scrub this syndrome off?
“我能摆脱这个病症吗？
It would make my life so much easier
如果我能摆脱掉它
if I could just scrub it off.
生活会容易很多
I could look like other kids;
我可以看起来像其他小孩一样正常
I wouldn’t have to buy clothes
不用买那些
that had Dora the Explorer on them.
印着《爱探险的朵拉》的衣服
I wouldn’t have to buy stuff that was’Bedazzled’,
不用为了成为很酷的小孩
when I was trying to be like the cool kids.”
而买那些眼花缭乱的东西”
I would wish, and pray, and hope,
我会许愿 祈祷 希望
and do whatever I could
做我所能做的一切
so I would wake up in the morning and be different,
祈祷某一天早上醒来时 我会变得不同
and I wouldn’t have to deal with these struggles.
再也不用面对这些麻烦
It’s what I wanted every single day,
这 曾是我每一天都期望着的
and every single day I was disappointed.
而每一天 我只会失望
I have an amazing support system around me,
我身边有着很奇妙的 支持我的力量
who never pity me,
他们从不怜悯我
who are there to pick me up if I’m sad,
我难过时他们会在我身边
who are there to laugh with me during the good times,
有开心的事时他们同我一起欢笑
and they taught me that, even though I have this syndrome,
他们教会我 即使患有这个病
even though things are hard, I can’t let that define me.
即使生活很艰难 我也不能让这些定义我
My life was put into my hands,
是我掌控着自己的生活
just like your lives are put into yours.
就像你们才是掌控自己生活的人
You are the person in the front seat of your car.
坐在前座驾驶车的人是你
You are the one who decides
只有你才能决定
whether your car goes down a bad path, or a good path.
车该往对还是错的方向走
You are the one who decides what defines you.
只有你才能决定什么能定义你自己
Now let me tell you:
现在让我来告诉你：
it could be really hard to figure out
找到是什么定义你 真的很难
what defines you, because there were times
因为每当
when I’d get so annoyed and frustrated, and say:
我真的很生气或很沮丧时 会说：
“I don’t care what defines me!”
“我才不在乎什么能定义我！”
When I was in high school I found a video,
高中时 我看到一个视频
unfortunately, that somebody posted of me,
很不幸 是关于我的视频
labeling me the world’s ugliest woman.
视频上对我的定义是“世界上最丑的女人”
There were over four million views to this video;
这个仅仅8秒的无声视频
eight seconds long, no sound, thousands of comments;
有超过四百万点击量 上千条评论
people saying, “Lizzie, please – please – just do the world a favor,
有人说：“Lizzie 请求你 为这个世界做一件好事
put a gun to your head, and kill yourself.”
拿把枪对着你的头 一枪崩了自己”
Think about that, if people told you that,
你们想想 如果有人告诉你这些
if strangers told you this.
如果陌生人告诉你这些
I cried my eyes out of course,
当然 我哭红了眼睛
and I was ready to fight back
也准备好了如何反击
and something kind of clicked in my head,
突然 我的脑海中闪现过一个念头
and I thought,”I’m just going to leave it alone.”
我想：“我只要不去管它就好”
I started realizing that my life is in my hands.
我开始意识到我的生活掌控在自己手中
I could either choose to make this really good,
我可以选择 让生活更好
or I could choose to make this really bad.
或让它更糟糕
I could be grateful, and open my eyes
我可以心怀感恩 睁开双眼
and realize the things that I do have,
珍惜我所拥有的
and make those the things that define me.
让那些事来定义我
I can’t see out of one eye,
我的一只眼睛看不见
but I can see out of the other.
但可以用另一只看
I might get sick a lot, but I have really nice hair.
我可能常常生病 但我的头发很好
(Laughter)
［笑声］
(Audience) You do, you do!
是的 你的头发真的很好看！
Thanks.
谢谢
You guys are like the best little section right here.
你们是这里最贴心的
(Laughter)
［笑声］
(Lizzie laughs) You made me lose my train of thought!
［Lizzie 笑］ 你们让我忘了接下来要说什么
(Laughter) Okay…
［笑声］好的……
where was I?
我说到哪了？
Audience: Your hair! Hair!
观众：你的头发！头发！
Hair. Ok,
头发 对
ok, thank you.
对 谢谢
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
谢谢 谢谢 谢谢
So I could either choose to be happy
所以我可以选择过得快乐
or I could choose kind of to be upset
或为我的外形状况
with what I have and still kind of complain about it,
感到难过 而抱怨连连
but then I started realizing:
但是我开始意识到：
Am I going to let the people who called me a monster define me?
我会让那些叫我怪物的人定义我吗？
Am I going to let the people who said,”Kill it with fire!” define me?
我会让对我说“放火杀了她”的人定义我吗？
No. I’m going to let my goals,
不 我会让我的目标
and my success, and my accomplishments
我的成功 和我的造诣
be the things that define me – Not my outer appearance,
来定义我 而不是我的外表
not the fact that I’m visually impaired,
不是我视力差这一事实
not the fact that I have this syndrome that nobody knows what it is.
更不是我所患的别人闻所未闻的疾病
So I told myself I’m going to work my butt off
所以我对自己说 我会拼命地努力
and do whatever I could to make myself better,
做我所能做的任何事 让自己更好
because in my mind,
因为对我来说
the best way that I could get back at all those people
能够反击那些
who made fun of me, who teased me,
取笑我的 嘲讽我的
who called me ugly, who called me a monster
说我丑陋的 叫我怪物的人的最佳方式
was to make myself better, and to show them:
就是让我自己变得更好 证明给他们看
You know what? Tell me those negative things,
你知道吗？他们对我的那些负面言论
I’m going to turn them around,
我会让他们变得积极
and I’m going to use them as a ladder to climb up to my goals.
我会让这成为我通往目标的阶梯
That’s what I did.
那正是我所做的
I told myself that I wanted to be a motivational speaker,
我告诉自己 我想成为一个能激励别人的演讲者
I wanted to write a book, graduate college, have my own family,
我想写书 完成学业 组建自己的家庭
and have my own career.
拥有自己的事业
Eight years later, I’m standing in front of you,
8年后 我正站在你们面前
still doing motivational speaking.
仍然做着激励人心的演讲
First thing, I accomplished it.
第一件事 我做到了
I wanted to write a book; in a couple of weeks
我想写书 再过几周
I will be submitting the manuscript for my third book.
我将会交上我第三本书的手稿
(Applause)
［掌声］
I wanted to graduate college, and I just finished college.
我想从学院毕业 而我刚刚毕业了
(Cheers and applause)
［掌声和欢呼］
I’m getting a degree in Communication Studies
我将从圣马科斯的
from Texas State University in San Marcos,
德克萨斯州立大学获得通信学士学位
and I have a minor in English.
还有英语专业的辅修学位
I really, really tried to use real-life experience
毕业时我尝试用我的真实生活经历
while I was getting my degree, and my professors were not having it.
来拿到学位 但我的导师没有因此让我轻松过关
I wanted to have, lastly, my own family and my own career.
最后 我想拥有自己的家庭和事业
The family part is kind of down the line,
家庭是我计划中的最后一步
and my career part,
关于事业
I feel like I’m really doing well with it.
我觉得自己做的还不错
considering the fact that
因为当我决定
when I decided I wanted to be a motivational speaker,
成为一名励志的演讲者后
I went home,
我回到家
I sat in front of my laptop, went to Google, and typed in:
坐在电脑前 在谷歌上搜索
“How to be a motivational speaker.”
“如何成为励志讲师”
(Laughter)
［笑声］
I’m not even joking.
我没开玩笑
I worked my butt off.
我加倍地努力
I used the people who were telling me
用别人对我的否定
that I couldn’t do this to motivate me.
来激励自己
I used their negativity to light my fire to keep going.
我用他们的负面评语来鞭策自己前进
Use that. Use that. Use that negativity
利用它！利用那些你生活中的否定言论
that you have in your life to make yourself better,
来让你变得更好
because I guarantee you –
因为我向你保证
guarantee you –
我保证
You will win.
你将会成功
Now I want to end, with asking you again.
现在 我想以同一个问题结束今天的演讲
I want you to leave here, and ask yourself what defines you.
我想让你们离开后 问问自己 什么才能定义你
But remember: Brave starts here.
但是记住 勇气从这里开始
Thank you.
谢谢
(Applause)
［鼓掌］