Remember when you were a little child, trying to learn to walk? First you had to learn to stand: a process involving constantly falling down, and then getting back up.

你记得你小时候刚开始学着走路吗？首先得学会站立，这是一个不断摔倒又站起来的过程。

You laughed sometimes and cried at other times. Somehow there was a determination and conviction that you would succeed, no matter what. After much practice you finally figured out how to balance yourself, a necessary requirement. You enjoyed this new feeling of power - you’d stand everywhere you could in your crib, by the couch. It was a joyous time you did it. You were in control of you.

有时候会笑，有时候也会哭。不知为何，总有一种一定会成功的决心和信念。在经过多次练习之后，你终于明白怎么保持自身平衡，这也是一个必要的需求。在婴儿床边上，在沙发旁，你享受这种想站在哪就站在哪的感觉。那确实是一段充满欢乐的时光，你能控制自己。

Now "the next step"walking. You’d seen others do it -“it didn’t look that hard”- just move your legs while you were standing. Wrong - more complexity than you ever imagined. More frustration than anyone should have to deal with. But you tried again and again and again until you figured this out. If people caught you walking. They applauded, they laughed,it was,“Oh my god, look at what he’s/she’s doing.”This encouragement fueled you on; it raised your self-confidence.

接下来一步是走路。你看到别人走路的时候没有那么难，只是站着然后动腿。大错特错，走路要远比你想象的复杂。所以你比任何人更沮丧。但是你一遍又一遍地尝试，直到你学会走路。如果你走路的时候有别人在场，他们会鼓掌、会笑，好像在说：“太棒了，看他/她呀！”这些话鼓舞你前进，并增强你的自信心。

But how many times did you attempt when no one was watching, when no one was cheering? You couldn’t wait for someone to encourage you to take the next steps. You learned how to encourage yourself. If we could only remember this about ourselves today, remember that we can do anything we set our minds to if we are willing to go through the process, just like when we learned to walk.

但又有多少次，在你尝试走路的时候，没有人在旁边看着你，鼓励你？你不能等着别人鼓励才走下一步。你学着自我鼓励。如果现在我们还能记得这些事情，记得为了克服困难我们可以支配自己的思想做一些工作，就像我们学走路一样。

We don’t need to wait for others to encourage us; we need to encourage ourselves. If you’ve forgotten how to do this, or feel like your self-esteem needs a boost, take a short journey back through your life-“look at your accomplishments, no matter if they were large or small.”you met the challenge and figured out a way to succeed.

我们不需要等待别人的鼓励，我们需要自我鼓励。如果你不记得怎么去做，或者觉得你的自信心需要加强，那就回顾一下你的人生，看看你那些或大或小的成就，那时你遇到挑战，总会找到成功的道路。

While going back, look for the little child you once were. Thank the child for never giving up. As you wave goodbye, remember he/she will never give up on you. He/she have believed in you all of your life！Now you need to believe in you, too!

回顾的时候，找到曾经的那个小小的你。谢谢那个小小的你从不言放弃。当你向他/她告别的时候，也要记得他/她永远不会放弃你，会一直相信你，相信你的人生！现在你也需要对自己有信心！

Remember, today is the best day of your life because yesterday was and tomorrow may only be.

记住，昨天曾经是，明天可能是，今天确实是你人生中最美好的一天。

资料来源：《每天背点好英文：精选美文50篇》