大器晚成也华丽

By Jennifer Bragg

In the United States， it is not uncommon for a child to be asked by an adult， “What do you want to be when you grow up？” This usually refers to career choice， and the answers are sometimes very amusing for the adult asking the question.

Of course， not everyone knows what they want to do with their life when theyre a kid. Our first ideas often come from our parents and relatives， who may or may not continue to influence us as we get older. When it comes to choosing a career， only some people end up doing something they are passionate about. For others， it takes decades before a persons talents and passions are realized.

In 2014， the newspaper USA Today co-conducted a poll of American workers aged 40 to 59 to find out where they were in their careers as “preretirees”.2 Nearly one-third of the 1，000 respondents said they wanted to change careers within the next five years. Their reasons？ They said they wanted something with less pressure and more time to enjoy life outside of work.

It is not at all uncommon for Americans to have many careers over a lifetime. However， there have been times—for example， the mid-20th Century—when it was unusual to stray outside the norm of a longstanding career.3 Why risk financial and job security by trying something different？ In those days， practicality trumped4 passion.

對于成人而言，职业是生活最重要的组成部分之一，然而在当今压力巨大、竞争激烈的社会中，职业选择似乎往往难以与个人兴趣完美匹配。当大多数人为了安稳和现实的考量而长期从事同一职业时，有的人则在人生的晚年逐渐找到了真正的天赋和热爱的事情。这些大器晚成者的人生华章也许姗姗来迟，但却依然精彩纷呈。追寻卓越的道路有着无限可能，大器晚成也是华丽的绽放。

There have been rare cases when a person shows a great talent and skill that isnt revealed until much later in life. This type of person is known as a “late bloomer”. In some cases， there are those who switched careers completely to follow a dream； in others， success didnt come until later.

Here are some examples：

Grandma Moses5

Anna Mary Robinson Moses was in her late 70s when she made her debut6 as one of the most famous American painters. As a child she loved art. But as an adult she had little time for it—between raising five children， maintaining a small business and running a farm with her husband.

For years， Moses spent her spare time embroidering and quilting scenes of American country life.7 But arthritis8 made it too painful to keep up as she became older. Her sister encouraged her to take up painting instead， so Moses taught herself to depict country scenes on canvas instead of cloth.9 Eventually she gained fame for her simple pictures of folk life. An art critic called her“Grandma Moses” and that was how she was known until she died in 1961 at the age of 101. Over 30 years， she painted more than 1，500 pictures.

Julia Child10

Julia Child is an American institution when it comes to culinary art，11 but it wasnt always that way. During World War II， Child worked for the U.S. government in Washington， D.C.， first as a typist then as a researcher. She was later sent to Sri Lanka12 and then Kunming， China， where she met and married Paul Child， who loved good food.

In 1948， Paul and Julia moved to Paris. As the wife of a diplomat， she had time to study cooking， so she enrolled at Cordon Bleu school13 in Paris when she was in her 40s. She excelled in learning to cook French cuisine， and eventually she and two other women published the legendary14 book， Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Child was also a pioneer of the television cooking shows that are so common today， with her program The French Chef. She continued to appear on television well into her 80s， often cooking alongside worldfamous chefs. She died in 2004 at the age of 91.

Colonel Sanders15

You dont have to go too far in Beijing—or any major Chinese city—to find a KFC restaurant. The famous fast-food chain is known for its delicious， crispy16 chicken， based on a “secret recipe” that was developed by a man named Harland Sanders.

In 1930， when he was 40 years old， Sanders purchased a gas station in Kentucky17， where he served up his fried chicken to hungry customers. Before that， Sanders had many different jobs， from farm worker to insurance salesman. When he was 63 years old， he started opening franchises18 so more people could enjoy his chicken.

Sanders popular “Kentucky Fried Chicken” restaurant became known as KFC in 1991. By the time he died in 1980， he saw his company grow to a two-billion-dollar business with 6，000 stores. Today there are about 20，000 KFCs around the world in more than 120 countries.

Martha Stewart19

From cooking to entertaining to design， for decades Martha Stewart has been a go-to resource for millions of Americans when it comes to home and lifestyle.20 From a young age， Stewart learned how to cook and sew from her mother， and how to garden from her father. But in her early adulthood she modeled to help pay for college and worked in New York as a stock broker21.

In 1982， when she was in her early 40s， her first book， Entertaining， was published. By then she gave up her Wall Street career to start a small catering business.22 Her food and hosting skills caught the attention of a publisher who offered her a book contract， and over the next 35 years she rose to become a media mogul with a home design label that was sold by major U.S. retailers.23

Today Stewart shows no signs of slowing down. At 76 years old， she runs a multimedia empire and has a net worth of $300 million. She has even taken her business to China， where her home goods sell online via Alibaba.

What can we learn from these powerful examples？ All of them have proven that age is irrelevant when it comes to talent and skill. In todays digital times， it is much easier to switch careers. So imagine what it was like 40， or even 70 years ago—long before computers， smartphones and the Internet—to pursue a career based purely on passion， good ideas， and perseverance.24

1. late bloomer： 才能发展较迟的人，大器晚成的人。

2. poll： 民意测验；pre-retiree：接近退休的人士。

3. stray： 偏离；norm： 标准，规范；longstanding： 存在已久的。

4. trump： 胜过，打败。

5. Grandma Moses： “摩西奶奶”（1860—1961），原名安娜·玛丽·罗伯森·摩西（Anna Mary Robertson Moses），是一位美国女画家，常被当做自学成才、大器晚成的代表，她在晚年成为美国著名的和最多产的原始派画家之一。其作品主要描绘农场景色以及她的生活，常作全景风景画如收获和制糖场面，共作画一千多幅。

6. debut： 首次登台，初次亮相。

7. embroider： 刺绣；quilt： 缝制，在……上缝出图案。

8. arthritis： 关节炎。

9. depict： 描绘；canvas： 帆布，油画布。

10. Julia Child： 朱莉娅·查尔德（1912—2004），美国知名厨师、作家与电视节目主持人。曾登上1966年11月25日的《时代》杂志封面，她的故事在2009年被翻拍成电影《朱莉与朱莉娅》。

11. institution：（某地方的）知名人士（或事物）；culinary： 厨房的，烹饪用的。

12. Sri Lanka： 斯里兰卡，亚洲南部岛国，位于印度洋上，英联邦成员国之一。

13. Cordon Bleu school： 蓝带厨艺学校，位于法国巴黎，是世界上规模最大的西餐料理与甜点烘焙职业培训学校。

14. legendary： 大名鼎鼎的，传奇式的。

15. Colonel Sanders：“桑德斯上校”（1890—1980），原名哈兰德·大卫·桑德斯（Harland David Sanders），肯德基的创始人。直到现在，肯德基商品的外包装上皆会印上他的肖像画，此肖像画也是肯德基集团的一个商标。

16. crispy： 松脆的。

17. Kentucky： 肯塔基州，美国中东部的一个州，以纯种马和威士忌闻名。

18. franchise： 特许经营区，专卖店。

19. Martha Stewart： 玛莎·斯图尔特（1941— ），美国富商与著名专栏作家。

20. 玛莎·斯图尔特在烹饪界、娱乐业及设计领域都颇具影响力，数十年来，她一直是广大美国民众在居家和生活方式方面的活指南。go-to： 有问必答的，总被找去解决问题的。

21. stock broker： 股票经纪人。

22. Wall Street： 华尔街，位于美国纽约曼哈顿区的一条街道，以“美国的金融中心”闻名于世；catering： 餐饮供应，酒席承办。

23. mogul：（尤指新聞、影视界的）大人物，大亨；retailer：零售商。

24. 想象一下40年甚至70年前的情况是怎样的吧，在那时，电脑、智能手机和互联网还都无迹可寻，人们往往单纯地凭借自己的热情、奇思妙想和坚持不懈来追寻职业理想。perseverance： 不屈不挠，坚持不懈。