At the beginning of my 8:00 a.m. class one Mon-day at 1)UNLV, I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been very good. He’d had his wisdom teeth 2)extracted. The young man then proceeded to ask me why I always seemed to be so cheerful.

His question reminded me of something I’d read somewhere before: “Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about how you want to approach life that day,” I said to the young man. “I choose to be cheerful.”

“Let me give you an example,” I continued. The other sixty students in the class ceased their 3)chatter and began to listen to our conversation. “In addition to teaching here at UNLV, I also teach out at the community college in Henderson, about seventeen miles down the 4)freeway from where I live. One day, a few weeks ago, I drove those seventeen miles to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive another quarter-mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again, but the engine wouldn’t turn over. So I put my flashers on, grabbed my books, and marched down the road to the college.”

“As soon as I got there I called AAA and asked them to send a tow truck. The secretary in the 5)provost’s office asked me what had happened. ‘This is my lucky day,’ I replied, smiling.”

“Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day?” She was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“I live seventeen miles from here.” I replied. “My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway. It didn’t. Instead, it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, within walking distance of here. I’m still able to teach my class, and I’ve been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class. If my car was meant to break down today, it couldn’t have been arranged in a more convenient fashion.”

“The secretary’s eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class.” So ended my story to the students in my economics class at UNLV.

I 6)scanned the sixty faces in the lecture hall. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be asleep. Somehow, my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasn’t the story at all. In fact, it had all started with a student’s observation that I was cheerful.

A wise man once said, “Who you are speaks louder to me than anything you can say.” I suppose it must be so.




　　在美国拉斯维加斯内华达州大学,
　　我在星期一早上八点的那堂课的一开始，便兴高采烈地问学生们周末过得怎么样。一个小伙子说他的周末过得不好，他刚拔了智慧牙。然后他接着问我为什么总是显得如此快乐无忧。
　　
　　他的问题让我想起了在哪里看过的一句话：“每天清晨，当你醒来，你可以选择用不同的态度去度过这一天。”我对小伙子说：“我选择乐观地度过。”
　　
　　“我给你举个例吧，”我接着说。班上其余60个学生停下了原来叽叽喳喳的闲聊，开始聆听我们的谈话。“我除了在内华达州大学教书之外，还在亨德森的社区大学兼课。从我家走高速公路去那里，要走17英里（约27千米）。几个星期前的一天我如往常一样开车走那17英里的路程去亨德森。下了高速，转入通往学校的车道。只要沿路再开四分之一英里（约400米）就能到达学校。但偏偏那个时候我的车子熄火了。无论我怎么重新启动，引擎就是不转。于是我把闪光灯打开，然后拿着我的书大步沿路迈往学校。”
　　
　　“一到学校我就马上打电话到AAA公司，让他们派拖车过来。教务处秘书问我发生了什么事。我笑着回答说，‘今天是我的幸运日。’”
　　
　　“你的车坏掉了，你还说今天是你的幸运日？”她大惑不解，“你是什么意思啊？”
　　
　　“我家离这里有17英里。”我回答道，“我的车其实可以在高速公路的任何一段上坏掉，但它没有，恰恰在我下了高速才熄火，而我只需走一小段路就可以到学校了。我不但没有误课，而且还能安排拖车在我下课后来接我去拖走坏车。如果我的车注定是要在今天坏掉的话，那没有比这更便利的方式了。”
　　
　　“教务秘书目瞪口呆，然后对我笑了。我也对她笑笑，然后跑去上课了。”在内华达州大学的经济学课堂上，我给学生们讲完了这个小故事。
　　
　　我扫视了一下讲演厅里的60个学生。虽然他们是一大早来上课，但没有人打瞌睡。也许，是我的小故事感动了他们，又或者跟这故事无关。其实一切就从一个学生观察到我乐观抖擞的精神开始。
　　
　　一位智者曾经说过：“言传不如身教。”我想这一定有它的道理。