优与次优

If youre like most of us， failure is not your best friend. But I like the attitude of one man. “I dont say I have strengths and weaknesses，” he says. “I say I have strengths and lesser strengths.” Thats me！ Lots and lots of strengths... but most of them are lesser strengths.

One of my lesser strengths may be in the area of art. But when my three-year-old son asked me to draw a picture of a horse on his chalkboard， I agreed anyway. And it wasnt too bad... Well， it wasnt great， I must admit. It may have looked a little more like a dog than a horse. But it was definitely a horse-looking animal of some sort and my young son seemed satisfied.

I left the picture on the chalkboard. The next day one of his preschool friends stopped by to play. She spotted the drawing and asked， “Who drew the horse？”

I called down the hall， “I did！” I actually felt just a little bit proud. After all， she immediately recognized it as a horse.

There was a moment of silence as a look of confusion swept her face. Then she asked， “Did you draw it when you were a baby？”

Everyones an art critic.

My sons friend just couldnt square such a childish line drawing with somebody my age. Sure， Id starve as an artist， but I dont have to excel as one. I have other strengths， other skills， other abilities. And I can enjoy good art while I spend time doing whatever it is I am meant to do.

I appreciate Henry Wadsworth Longfellos perspective. He said， “Give what you have. To some it may be better than you dare to think.” I dont need to beat myself up over all the things I do miserably. I learned years ago to make peace with those things. What others call weaknesses I call lesser strengths and look at them as nothing more than opportunities to learn.

In the meantime， Ill give what I can and trust that will be enough.

就算身无长物，是芸芸众生之一员，也不意味着失败就是你的莫逆之交，与你如影随形。不过，我倒认为有一个人的态度值得提倡。“我从来不说自己有哪些优点和不足，”他说，“我言必称自己有哪些优点和‘次优点。”我也正是这种观点！优点有不少……但其中大多都是“次优点”。

我有一项“次优”本领可能体现在艺术方面。一次，3岁的儿子央求我在他的黑板上画一匹马，虽然有自知之明，我还是同意了。结果看起来不算太糟……事实上，我必须承认，画得不怎么好：看起来不太像一匹马，反而更像一只狗。但从它身上，你准能看到马的影子，儿子似乎也非常满意。

于是这匹马留在了黑板上。第二天，儿子幼儿园的朋友顺便来家里玩。她发現了那幅画，问道：“这是谁画的马？”

我在客厅里大声回答：“我画的！”事实上，我还觉得有些骄傲。毕竟，她一眼就认出这是一匹马。

场面一度尴尬，她的脸上露出困惑的表情。然后她问：“是您小时候画的吗？”

真是人人都堪称艺术评论家呀。

我儿子的朋友不能把这么孩子气的线条画和我这种年纪的人等同起来。诚然，要是我以画画谋生，肯定会饿死，但我没必要成为一个出类拔萃的画家。我还拥有其他的优势和技能。我把时间花在我应尽的本分与职责上，同时也不耽误我欣赏优秀的艺术作品。

我非常欣赏亨利·沃兹沃斯·朗费罗的一个观点。他曾说过：“尽力付出就好。努力，在有些事上效果可能比想象的要好。”我没必要为自己哪些惨不忍睹的能力和自己较劲。多年前我就学会了与自己的“不足”和平共处。别人眼中的不足，我称之为“次优”，把它们仅仅看作是学习的机会。

同时，我会尽自己所能做到最好，相信做到这些就足够了。

If youre like most of us， failure is not your best friend. But I like the attitude of one man. “I dont say I have strengths and weaknesses，” he says. “I say I have strengths and lesser strengths.” Thats me！ Lots and lots of strengths... but most of them are lesser strengths.

One of my lesser strengths may be in the area of art. But when my three-year-old son asked me to draw a picture of a horse on his chalkboard， I agreed anyway. And it wasnt too bad... Well， it wasnt great， I must admit. It may have looked a little more like a dog than a horse. But it was definitely a horse-looking animal of some sort and my young son seemed satisfied.

I left the picture on the chalkboard. The next day one of his preschool friends stopped by to play. She spotted the drawing and asked， “Who drew the horse？”

I called down the hall， “I did！” I actually felt just a little bit proud. After all， she immediately recognized it as a horse.

There was a moment of silence as a look of confusion swept her face. Then she asked， “Did you draw it when you were a baby？”

Everyones an art critic.

My sons friend just couldnt square such a childish line drawing with somebody my age. Sure， Id starve as an artist， but I dont have to excel as one. I have other strengths， other skills， other abilities. And I can enjoy good art while I spend time doing whatever it is I am meant to do.

I appreciate Henry Wadsworth Longfellos perspective. He said， “Give what you have. To some it may be better than you dare to think.” I dont need to beat myself up over all the things I do miserably. I learned years ago to make peace with those things. What others call weaknesses I call lesser strengths and look at them as nothing more than opportunities to learn.

In the meantime， Ill give what I can and trust that will be enough.

就算身无长物，是芸芸众生之一员，也不意味着失败就是你的莫逆之交，与你如影随形。不过，我倒认为有一个人的态度值得提倡。“我从来不说自己有哪些优点和不足，”他说，“我言必称自己有哪些优点和‘次优点。”我也正是这种观点！优点有不少……但其中大多都是“次优点”。

我有一项“次优”本领可能体现在艺术方面。一次，3岁的儿子央求我在他的黑板上画一匹马，虽然有自知之明，我还是同意了。结果看起来不算太糟……事实上，我必须承认，画得不怎么好：看起来不太像一匹马，反而更像一只狗。但从它身上，你准能看到马的影子，儿子似乎也非常满意。

于是这匹马留在了黑板上。第二天，儿子幼儿园的朋友顺便来家里玩。她发现了那幅画，问道：“这是谁画的马？”

我在客厅里大声回答：“我画的！”事实上，我还觉得有些骄傲。毕竟，她一眼就认出这是一匹马。

场面一度尴尬，她的脸上露出困惑的表情。然后她问：“是您小时候画的吗？”

真是人人都堪称艺术评论家呀。

我儿子的朋友不能把这么孩子气的线条画和我这种年纪的人等同起来。诚然，要是我以画画谋生，肯定会饿死，但我没必要成为一个出类拔萃的画家。我還拥有其他的优势和技能。我把时间花在我应尽的本分与职责上，同时也不耽误我欣赏优秀的艺术作品。

我非常欣赏亨利·沃兹沃斯·朗费罗的一个观点。他曾说过：“尽力付出就好。努力，在有些事上效果可能比想象的要好。”我没必要为自己哪些惨不忍睹的能力和自己较劲。多年前我就学会了与自己的“不足”和平共处。别人眼中的不足，我称之为“次优”，把它们仅仅看作是学习的机会。

同时，我会尽自己所能做到最好，相信做到这些就足够了。

Word Study

square /skwe?（r）/ v. ～sth with sth/ ～with sth（使）与……一致，与……相符

Your theory does not square with the facts.

excel /?k'sel/ v. 擅长;善于;突出

perspective /p?'spekt?v/ n. 态度;观点;思考方法