相信自己，永不止步

What does it take to be inspirational？ If you had asked me that ten years ago， I would have said inspiration is Michael Jordan making the last-second shot in the championship game， Adam Vinatieri kicking the winning field goal[將球踢過球門橫木得分] in the Super Bowl， or someone coming back from last place to win a race. But an event in my life when I was 17 years old changed my perspective[看法].

I remember it like it was yesterday. My parents came home and said， “We need to talk about your brother Vince.” Hes four years older than me and someone I look up to. He earned himself a running scholarship. He was one of my coaches and pushed me to be the best that I could be. He had been diagnosed[診斷] with dermatomyo-sitis[皮肌炎]， which is an autoimmune[自身免疫的] disease that eats away at[侵蝕] your muscles. I was speechless.

My brother asked the doctors， “When can I start running and exercising again？” The doctors replied， “It will take time and although you probably will be able to run， you may not be able to compete.” My brother didnt say anything， but what he told my mother after the doctors had left sums up his attitude： “Im still going to run a marathon.”

When he came home after being in the hospital for five days， he set forth on his goal. Believe me when I tell you that he started from scratch[從零開始]. In fact， so much so that I had to carry him upstairs because he was too weak to walk up SEVEN stairs. Now， think for a minute. Youre not able to walk up seven stairs， and not able to lift yourself off of the furniture， but you still think you can run a marathon. Well， thats exactly what my brother thought. He was going to run a marathon.

He started lifting himself up off of the furniture even if he didnt need to get up simply because he wanted to practice and get better. He began walking upstairs and started going to physical therapy[物理治療]. But that wasnt enough for him. After his physical therapy sessions， he would go to a local gym and work out even more. He was determined to get stronger so that he could start running.

While at the gym， he would receive looks from just about everyone when he would struggle to lift his 2lb dumbbells[啞鈴]. Sometime in May， he began to run and actually got yelled at from the physical therapist[治療師] for being so sore[疼痛的] from running. But he didnt mind. On his first run， he ran for 30 seconds. He started running three times a week at 30 seconds each time， and increased by about 10% each week. By August， he could run for eight minutes without stopping. In April， he ran in a half marathon and finished with a time of one hour and thirty minutes.

In October in the windy city of Chicago， 22 months after being diagnosed with dermatomyocitis and unable to even get out of bed， my brother ran in his first marathon， with his whole family， especially my mother， scared to death about what he was doing. He crossed the finish line like it was nothing. He then told us， “Im going to qualify[使具有資格] for the Boston Marathon.” He began his quest for Boston， running two more marathons， in both of which he barely missed the qualifying mark. On his third try， he did it. He qualified for Boston. But that wasnt good enough for him. Hes just decided to compete in a Half Ironman triathlon. So much for not being competitive.

What does it take to be inspirational？ Inspiration is getting back up after youve fallen. Its running a marathon at a competitive level after not even being able to get up out of bed. Inspiration is believing in yourself even though doctor after doctor has told you that you cant compete like you have before. At some point in our lives， when times get rough， we need to be inspired or motivated just to get out of bed—but has it ever been so bad that you simply couldnt get out of bed？ Think about it. Lifes hard， but most of us can get out of bed， even in the worst of times. My brother is all the inspiration I will ever need to get out of bed.

怎樣才算鼓舞人心呢？如果你在十年前問我這個問題，我會說激勵人心就是邁克爾·喬丹在總決賽最后一秒的驚世一投、亞當(dāng)·維納蒂耶里在“超級碗”攻進(jìn)決勝一球，或是某人在賽跑中從最后一名一路反超，最終獲勝。但在我17歲那年發(fā)生的一件事改變了我的想法。

往事歷歷在目，仿如昨日。我的父母回家對我說：“我們得和你談?wù)勀愀绺缥乃沟氖??！彼任夷觊L四歲，我一直對他崇敬有加。他贏得了賽跑獎學(xué)金，是我的教練之一，總是讓我盡己所能，做到最好。他被診斷出患有皮肌炎，那是一種破壞肌肉的自身免疫疾病，我說不出話來了。

哥哥問醫(yī)生：“我什么時(shí)候可以再次跑步和訓(xùn)練呢？”醫(yī)生們回答：“這需要時(shí)間，即便還能跑步，你也無法參賽了?！备绺鐩]答話，不過等醫(yī)生離開以后，他對母親所說的話概括了他的想法：“我還是打算參加馬拉松?！?/p>

哥哥在醫(yī)院住了五天，回家后便開始為其目標(biāo)努力。他真的是從頭開始，我沒騙你。實(shí)際上，因?yàn)樗撊趿?，連七階樓梯都爬不上去，我還得背他上樓。試想一下，你連七階樓梯都爬不上去，無法從家具上自行起身，但你仍然認(rèn)為自己可以跑馬拉松。好吧，那正是哥哥的想法。他要跑馬拉松。

即便是不需要起來的時(shí)候，他也會試著從家具上自行起身，以此作為訓(xùn)練，讓自己慢慢好起來。他可以上樓了，便開始進(jìn)行理療。但那些對他來說還不夠。理療結(jié)束后，他還會去本地的健身房繼續(xù)鍛煉。他決心讓自己強(qiáng)壯起來，這樣才能繼續(xù)跑步。

當(dāng)他在健身房里努力舉起兩磅（約0.91千克）的啞鈴時(shí)，幾乎每個人都會投來異樣的目光。到了5月，他開始跑步，雖然跑步帶來的劇痛害他被理療師臭罵了一頓，但他并不在乎。第一次跑步，他堅(jiān)持了30秒。他每周跑三次，每次30秒，每周能堅(jiān)持多10%的時(shí)間。到了8月，他可以不停歇地跑上八分鐘。第二年4月，他跑完了半程馬拉松，用時(shí)一小時(shí)三十分。

十月份在風(fēng)城芝加哥，距離他被診斷出患有皮肌炎并且無法起身下床的22個月之后，哥哥與全家人一起跑完他的第一次馬拉松——母親尤其緊張，她被哥哥的壯舉嚇得半死。他恍若無物地沖過終點(diǎn)線，然后對我們說：“我準(zhǔn)備參加波士頓馬拉松的資格賽?！彼_始為波士頓努力，跑了兩次馬拉松，兩次都是差一點(diǎn)達(dá)標(biāo)。他在第三次終于成功了。他取得了波士頓馬拉松的參賽資格。但他并未就此滿足。他剛決定參加半程鐵人三項(xiàng)——別人還說他不能再參賽呢。

怎樣才算鼓舞人心呢？鼓舞人心就是你摔倒之后重新爬起來。鼓舞人心就是在你甚至無法起身下床的前提下跑完一場競賽級別的馬拉松。鼓舞人心就是相信自己，即便一個又一個醫(yī)生認(rèn)為你不能像以前那樣參賽。我們的人生總會有那么一些時(shí)候特別難熬，連起身下床都要有所激勵才有動力——但情況真的糟糕到你無法起身下床嗎？想想這個問題吧。生活確實(shí)艱辛，但即便是在最糟糕的日子里，大多數(shù)人依然可以起身下床。每當(dāng)我要起身下床時(shí)，哥哥便是我全部的動力之源。