Once a circle missed a wedge. The circle wanted to be whole, so it went around looking for its missing piece. But because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly, it admired the flowers along the way. It chatted with worms. It enjoyed the sunshine. It found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit. So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching. Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. It was so happy. Now it could be whole, with nothing missing. It incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll. Now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice the flowers or talking to the worms. When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly, it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.
The lesson of the story, I suggested, was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something. The man who has everything is in some ways a poor man. He will never know what it feels like to yearn, to hope, to nourish his soul with the dream of something better.
There is a wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations, who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so. There is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive, he or she can lose someone and still feel like a complete person.
Life is not a trap set for us by God so that he can condemn us for failing. Life is not a spelling bee, where no matter how many words you' ve gotten right, you' re disqualified if you make one mistake. Life is more like a baseball season, where even the best team loses one-third of its games and even the worst team has its days of brilliance. Our goal is to win more games than we lose.
When we accept that imperfection is part of being human, and when we can continue rolling through life and appreciate it, we will have achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire to. That, I believe, is what God asks of us—not "Be perfect" , not "Don' t even make a mistake", but "Be whole" .
If we are brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, generous enough to rejoice in another' s happiness, and wise enough to know there is enough love to go around for us all, then we can achieve a fulfillment that no other living creature will ever know.
很久以前，一个圆失去了一角。圆想做回完整的自己，于是四处寻找那遗失的一角。但它不再是一个整圆，因此只能慢慢地滚动。它在和煦的阳光下，欣赏着路边鲜艳的花儿，与虫儿聊着天。它遇到了许多不同的角，但都不适合自己，于是将它们扔在路边，继续寻找。最终，它发现了一块最适合自己的角，兴奋不已。现在它是一个完整的圆了，不再残缺不全。它与那一角组合在一起开始滚动。它现在是一个完美的圆，因此能够快速地滚动，快到无法再欣赏美丽的花儿，不能与虫儿聊天了。当它明白速度提高之后的世界是多么不同时，它停了下来，将那一角扔在了路旁，缓慢地离开了。
我认为，这个故事告诉我们，从一种不同于以往的意义上来讲，缺憾也是一种完整。拥有一切的人在某些方面却是极度贫穷的。他永远无法知道何为向往与期盼，也不懂得用更好的梦想来滋润他的心灵。
一个人的完整在于他能为自己的极限让步，有足够的勇气放弃超乎现实的梦想，且并不因此灰心沮丧。一个男人和一个女人的完整在于他或她能坚强地走过困境，可以在失去亲人后依然能保持完整。
生活不是上帝为了责备我们的失败而设的圈套。生活也不是拼写比赛，无论你答对多少词，只要拼错一个，就丧失了比赛资格。生活更如棒球季候赛，最佳球队也许会输掉比赛三分之一的分数，而最差的球队也会有光辉灿烂的一天。我们的目标就是赢多输少。
接受不完美也是人生的一部分道理，我们就能在人生的道路上滚动前行并欣赏周围的一切，我们可以达到他人只能向往的圆满。我相信，那就是上帝对我们的要求——不是“完美”，也不是“毫无过错”，而是“圆满”。
如果我们勇敢地去爱，接受宽恕，大方地将快乐带给他人，清楚地明白所有的爱都围绕在我们身边，我们就能达到圆满，那是其他生物所无从知晓的。
从某种意义上来说，人生的缺憾本身就是一种完美。过于完美的人生，往往因为路途太顺而错失了欣赏路边风景的机会；过于完美的人，从来不懂何为期盼，更体会不到满足的快乐，他们的人生是如此单调。所以不要再为自己的缺憾而耿耿于怀，努力去克服吧，在这过程中，你会得到比结果本身更重要的东西。
wedge [wed] n. 楔；楔形物
It' s a shoe with a wedge heel.
这是一只有一个楔形后跟的鞋。
incorporate [in'k:preit] v. 把……合并；使并入
We' ll incorporate the new plan with the old.
我们将把新老计划合并为一。
yearn [j:n] v. 渴望；渴求；切盼；向往
After a long and cruel war between the tribes, the local people
all yearn for peace and safety.
经过一场旷日持久的残酷的部落战争，本地区的百姓都渴望和平与安全。
nourish ['nri] v. 养育；滋养
I said, deep footprints can nourish the soul of life, full of washing
sewage pollution and meet clean tomorrow.
我说，重脚印可以滋养灵魂，洗涤人生的斑斑污污，迎接清新洁净的明天。
一个人的完整在于他能为自己的极限让步，有足够的勇气放弃超乎现实的梦想，且并不因此灰心沮丧。
生活更如棒球季候赛，最佳球队也许会输掉比赛三分之一的分数，而最差的球队也会有光辉灿烂的一天。
如果我们勇敢地去爱，接受宽恕，大方地将快乐带给他人，清楚地明白所有的爱都围绕在我们身边。
Life is not a spelling bee, where no matter how many words you' ve gotten right...
no matter how：不管怎样
We will have achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire to.
aspire to：渴求；向往
勇敢地追随自己的梦想
Follow Your Dream
佚名 / Anonymous
I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs.
The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, "I want to tell you why I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy' s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.
"That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.
He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, 'See me after class. '