摘錄：其實(shí)幸福的生活一直在我身邊，只是我現(xiàn)在才選擇去發(fā)現(xiàn)它的存在。這種幸福感更加使我堅(jiān)信：我總能選擇。

　　I believe that I always have a choice. No matter what I'm doing. No matter where I am. No matter what is happening to me. I always have a choice.

　　Today I am sitting at my computer, speaking these words through a microphone. Although I have spent my life typing on a keyboard, I can no longer use my hands. Every day I sit at my computer speaking words instead of typing. In 2003, I was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease. Over time, this disease will weaken and finally destroy every significant muscle in my body. Ultimately, I will be unable to move, to speak, and finally, to breathe. Already, I am largely dependent upon others. So every day I review my choices.

　　我相信我總能選擇。無論我在做什么，無論我在哪里，無論我發(fā)生了什么事情。我總能選擇。

　　今天我坐在我的電腦桌邊，通過麥克風(fēng)說了這些話。盡管一直以來我都是用鍵盤打字，但現(xiàn)在我無法再使用我的手了。現(xiàn)在每天我坐在電腦旁邊講話而不是打字。2003年我被癥斷患有肌萎縮性側(cè)索硬化癥，隨著病情的進(jìn)一步發(fā)展，這個(gè)病會(huì)削弱并破壞我身上的每一塊肌肉組織。最終，我將無法行動(dòng)，說話直至無法呼吸。現(xiàn)在，我的大部分行動(dòng)都要依靠別人的幫助，因此每天我都在審視我的選擇。

　　Living with ALS seems a bit like going into the witness protection program. Everything I have ever known about myself, how I look, how I act, how I interact with the world, is rapidly and radically changing. And yet, with each change, I still have choice. When I could no longer type with my hands, I knew I could give up writing entirely or go through the arduous process of learning how to use voice recognition software. I'm not a young woman. This took real work. Interestingly, I write more now than ever before.

　　And at an even more practical level, every day I choose not only how I will live, but if I will live. I have no particular religious mandate that forbids contemplating a shorter life, an action that would deny this disease its ultimate expression. But this is where my belief in choice truly finds its power. I can choose to see ALS as nothing more than a death sentence or I can choose to see it as an invitation – an opportunity to learn who I truly am.

雙語閱讀美文：我總能選擇

　　我被癥斷患有肌萎縮性側(cè)索硬化癥之后的生活，就像受保護(hù)的證人一樣。我對(duì)我自己的一切都很了解，我的樣貌，我的行動(dòng)，我與這個(gè)世界的一切互動(dòng)都發(fā)生了巨大的變化，但是，對(duì)于這所有的變化，我都有自己的選擇權(quán)。當(dāng)我無法再次使用我的雙手打字時(shí)，我就知道我只能完全放棄手寫，要經(jīng)歷艱難的過程去學(xué)習(xí)如何使用聲音辨別軟件。我不再是一個(gè)年輕的女士了，這對(duì)我來說真的要花一番工夫來學(xué)習(xí)。但有趣的是，現(xiàn)在我比以前寫更多的文章了。

　　而且有時(shí)間的話，我每天的選擇的不僅僅是我將如何生活，而是我是否要活下去。我沒有任何的宗教禁忌阻止我思考是否可以提早結(jié)束我的生命，這個(gè)選擇可以使我不必辛苦的撐到病情發(fā)展的最后一刻。就在這時(shí)，我一直堅(jiān)信的選擇真的起到了十分重要的作用。我可以選擇把肌萎縮性側(cè)索硬化癥僅僅看作是一個(gè)死亡的宣判，我也可以選擇將他看作是一個(gè)邀請(qǐng)-一個(gè)真正認(rèn)識(shí)我自己的機(jī)會(huì)。

　　Even people in the witness protection program must take with them fundamental aspects of themselves which can never change. What are these aspects for me? This is what I learn every day, and so far I have discovered many unique things, but one stands out above the rest. I have discovered in myself an ability to recognize, give, and receive caring in a way far deeper than anything in my life previously. Others have seen this in me as well.

　　即使是每個(gè)在證人保護(hù)制度下生活的人也都會(huì)帶著一些他們永不改變的特制。什么東西對(duì)我來說是永不改變的呢?這就是我每天學(xué)習(xí)的東西，到目前為止我已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了許多奇特的事情，但最與眾不同的事情是我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己較之以往更能認(rèn)識(shí)，給予和接受關(guān)懷。其他的人也發(fā)現(xiàn)我在這方面改變了許多。

　　I, who have always been an intensely private and independent person, have allowed a wide circle of family and friends into the most intimate parts of my life. Previously, I would have found such a prospect appalling. I might have felt I had no choice but to embrace the assumption that living with ALS means a life of hardship and isolation. Instead, because I believe that I always have a choice, I opened myself to other possibilities. And now the very thing that at first seemed so abhorrent has graced my life with unaccustomed sweetness. It was always there. Only now I have chosen to see it. This sweetness underscores and celebrates my belief that I always have a choice.

　　我以前是一個(gè)獨(dú)來獨(dú)往，過著十分獨(dú)立生活的人，更多親密的親人和朋友進(jìn)入我個(gè)人最私密的生活圈子會(huì)讓我感到害怕，得了肌萎縮性側(cè)索硬化癥之后，我以為，從此我就只能過著艱難而又與世隔絕的生活。但是，因?yàn)槲蚁嘈盼铱梢赃x擇，我愿意嘗試一切可能的生活方式。原先一開始看起來十分可怕的病確使我現(xiàn)在的生活變得異常尋常的幸福。其實(shí)幸福的生活一直在我身邊，只是我現(xiàn)在才選擇去發(fā)現(xiàn)它的存在。這種幸福感更加使我堅(jiān)信：我總能選擇。