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翻译：Darren
A Nickel in the Road
Exercising is not one of my favorite 1)pastimes but I know it’s good for me, so every day I try to get outside and take a two-mile walk. Most days I carry a small notebook and pen with me so that I can 2)jot down the 3)random, brilliant thoughts that come to me.
A few weeks ago I was rounding a corner about half way through my walk and noticed a nickel in the road. I 4)adjusted my 5)gait so that I stepped on the coin and kept walking.
Within a few steps I started thinking of my daughter who always stops to pick up 6)loose change. She wouldn’t have passed this one by. I was half 7)tempted to turn around and go back for it, but I thought it would be embarrassing if someone happened to see me 8)stooping down to pick up a nickel.
It didn’t take me long to 9)transition my thoughts from that nickel to those small opportunities that have been in front of me that I’ve stepped on or passed by. How many have I 10)overlooked because I thought they were not important? How many have I been too embarrassed to try? How many have I stepped on because I wanted to show the world they were unworthy of my attention?
Later that day I told my daughter about the nickel incident because it continued to 11)weigh on my mind. She said, “I would have picked it up. Did you know that one day at school I found a dollar on the floor?”
She had 12)taken advantage of seemingly small opportunities, but when added up, they became something worthwhile. In my daughter’s case, she was able to buy a can of soda from the 13)vending machine she wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.
The next morning I paid attention as I walked that same road. I was determined to pick up that nickel if I saw it again. But alas, it was gone. Not surprising I guess. Someone else is usually willing to take advantage of the opportunities that others choose to pass by. Unfortunately, by the time I decided to take advantage of it, the opportunity was no longer there.
Since the day I walked past that nickel in the road, I’ve been more 14)attuned to opportunities that surround me. I’ve been paying attention to my 15)response to them. Instead of quickly 16)discounting the ones that appear to be small payoffs, I’m looking at the bigger picture: What can a small opportunity add to what I already have going on? How can a small opportunity serve as the beginning of something bigger?
What a great life lesson, and it only cost me a nickel!
运动并不是我最喜欢的消遣方式，不过我知道它对身体有好处。因此，每天我都会尽量到外面步行两英里。通常我都随身带着纸笔，以便把在脑海中冒出的奇思妙想记下来。
几个星期前的一天，在我走到大约一半，正要经过一个转角时，突然发现地上有枚五分硬币。我调整了一下步伐，踏过这枚硬币继续向前走。
走了几步，我便想起了我的女儿，她总会在路上停下来捡起这些零钱，要是她的话肯定不会错过这一个。想到这儿，我禁不住想折回去捡起它。不过我又想，要是刚好给别人看到我弯腰去捡五分钱的话，那就太尴尬了。
我很快就从那个五分硬币联想到生活中那些小机遇，它们曾经摆在我面前，而我要么视而不见，要么与之擦身而过。仅仅因为觉得它们不重要，我忽视了多少这样的机遇？因为怕不好意思，我又有多少次选择了不去尝试？由于故作清高，向别人显示我毫不在乎这些小东西，我又错过了多少这样的机会？
那天，这件事一直在我的脑海中盘旋，于是我把这件事情跟女儿说了。她说：“要是我的话，我一定把这五分钱捡起来。你知道吗，有一天我在学校地上捡到了一块钱。”
她把握住身边每个看似微不足道的机遇。然而，这些机遇累积起来，它们发挥的作用就很有价值了。对我女儿而言，她就可以用那一块钱在学校的自动售货机买一罐汽水。如果没有这一块钱，她就喝不上汽水了。
第二天早上，当我再次从那条路上走过的时候，我特别留神。如果再看到那枚硬币，我一定会把它捡起来。然而，唉，正如我预料的那样，硬币已经不见了。看来，一定是有心人抓住了我轻易放过的机会，把这枚硬币捡走了。不幸的是，等我回头想抓住这个机会时，才发现已经错过了。
自从错过那枚硬币之后，我慢慢学会把握身边的各种机遇。我开始关注自己对这些机遇的反应。我不再轻易忽略那些看似回报低微的机遇，而是从全局出发来考虑：一个微不足道的机遇对现在的我有何裨益？这样一个机遇怎样才能成为我进一步发展的起点？
这是何等的人生经验！而它只需区区五分钱。
A Nickel in the Road
Exercising is not one of my favorite 1)pastimes but I know it’s good for me, so every day I try to get outside and take a two-mile walk. Most days I carry a small notebook and pen with me so that I can 2)jot down the 3)random, brilliant thoughts that come to me.
A few weeks ago I was rounding a corner about half way through my walk and noticed a nickel in the road. I 4)adjusted my 5)gait so that I stepped on the coin and kept walking.
Within a few steps I started thinking of my daughter who always stops to pick up 6)loose change. She wouldn’t have passed this one by. I was half 7)tempted to turn around and go back for it, but I thought it would be embarrassing if someone happened to see me 8)stooping down to pick up a nickel.
It didn’t take me long to 9)transition my thoughts from that nickel to those small opportunities that have been in front of me that I’ve stepped on or passed by. How many have I 10)overlooked because I thought they were not important? How many have I been too embarrassed to try? How many have I stepped on because I wanted to show the world they were unworthy of my attention?
Later that day I told my daughter about the nickel incident because it continued to 11)weigh on my mind. She said, “I would have picked it up. Did you know that one day at school I found a dollar on the floor?”
She had 12)taken advantage of seemingly small opportunities, but when added up, they became something worthwhile. In my daughter’s case, she was able to buy a can of soda from the 13)vending machine she wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.
The next morning I paid attention as I walked that same road. I was determined to pick up that nickel if I saw it again. But alas, it was gone. Not surprising I guess. Someone else is usually willing to take advantage of the opportunities that others choose to pass by. Unfortunately, by the time I decided to take advantage of it, the opportunity was no longer there.
Since the day I walked past that nickel in the road, I’ve been more 14)attuned to opportunities that surround me. I’ve been paying attention to my 15)response to them. Instead of quickly 16)discounting the ones that appear to be small payoffs, I’m looking at the bigger picture: What can a small opportunity add to what I already have going on? How can a small opportunity serve as the beginning of something bigger?
What a great life lesson, and it only cost me a nickel!
运动并不是我最喜欢的消遣方式，不过我知道它对身体有好处。因此，每天我都会尽量到外面步行两英里。通常我都随身带着纸笔，以便把在脑海中冒出的奇思妙想记下来。
几个星期前的一天，在我走到大约一半，正要经过一个转角时，突然发现地上有枚五分硬币。我调整了一下步伐，踏过这枚硬币继续向前走。
走了几步，我便想起了我的女儿，她总会在路上停下来捡起这些零钱，要是她的话肯定不会错过这一个。想到这儿，我禁不住想折回去捡起它。不过我又想，要是刚好给别人看到我弯腰去捡五分钱的话，那就太尴尬了。
我很快就从那个五分硬币联想到生活中那些小机遇，它们曾经摆在我面前，而我要么视而不见，要么与之擦身而过。仅仅因为觉得它们不重要，我忽视了多少这样的机遇？因为怕不好意思，我又有多少次选择了不去尝试？由于故作清高，向别人显示我毫不在乎这些小东西，我又错过了多少这样的机会？
那天，这件事一直在我的脑海中盘旋，于是我把这件事情跟女儿说了。她说：“要是我的话，我一定把这五分钱捡起来。你知道吗，有一天我在学校地上捡到了一块钱。”
她把握住身边每个看似微不足道的机遇。然而，这些机遇累积起来，它们发挥的作用就很有价值了。对我女儿而言，她就可以用那一块钱在学校的自动售货机买一罐汽水。如果没有这一块钱，她就喝不上汽水了。
第二天早上，当我再次从那条路上走过的时候，我特别留神。如果再看到那枚硬币，我一定会把它捡起来。然而，唉，正如我预料的那样，硬币已经不见了。看来，一定是有心人抓住了我轻易放过的机会，把这枚硬币捡走了。不幸的是，等我回头想抓住这个机会时，才发现已经错过了。
自从错过那枚硬币之后，我慢慢学会把握身边的各种机遇。我开始关注自己对这些机遇的反应。我不再轻易忽略那些看似回报低微的机遇，而是从全局出发来考虑：一个微不足道的机遇对现在的我有何裨益？这样一个机遇怎样才能成为我进一步发展的起点？
这是何等的人生经验！而它只需区区五分钱。