My Definition of Success
By Chen Heng 陈恒 上海外国语大学
获得第五届全国英语演讲比赛冠军)
专家点评:演讲开头用了一个寓言故事，十分生动，最后点出对成功的看法，达到了点题的效果。
“Once upon a time， there was a king who had a daughter as beautiful as a blooming rose. To all the suitors who came to the king's palace to ask for the hand of the princess, the old king assigned three tasks to be accomplished, each next to impossible. One day, into the king's palace came a handsome young prince..." Well, you know the rest. The three tasks may be different in different versions, but the main plot is always the same, with the prince claiming the princess's hand triumphantly.
And the ending is always the same, finishing with the line "And they live happily every after."
Why aren't we tired of something so fanciful, so unrealistic, and, I would say, so unimaginative? How can a story like that endure generations of repetition`? Because, I think, it is a typical success story. It is highly philosophical and symbolic. By implication, we see a 4-step definition of success: 1 ) a goal to be set. as represented by the beautiful princess; 2 ) challenges to be met, as represented by the three tasks; 3 ) the process of surmounting difficulties, as represented by the ordeals the youth goes through; and 4 ) the reward of success, as represented by the happy marriage.
The story not only caters to everyone's inward yearning for success, but also emphasizes the inseparability of the process and the result. The reward of success will be much amplified if the path leading towards it is treacherous, and vice versa. If a person inherits his father's millions and leads an easy life, he is not a successful person even in material terms, because there are no difficulties involved in his achieving affluence. The term "success", to be sure. will not sit still for easy definition. But as I understand it, the true meaning of success entails a combination of both the process and the satisfactory result of an endeavor. To clarify my view, let me give another analogy.
If we changed the rules of football, greatly enlarged the goal and sent away David Seaman or any other goal keeper, so that another David, namely David Beckham, could score easily, then scoring would not give him the thrill of accomplishment and the joy that it brings. If we further changed the rules by not allowing Arsenal's defenders to defend, so that Beckham needed only to lift a finger, actually a toe, to score, then there would be no game at all, because the meaning of winning would have disappeared. In accepting the challenge, in surmounting the difficulties and in enduring the hardship, success acquires its value. The sense of attainment varies in proportion to the degree of difficulties on overcomes.
The concept of success is not constant but relative because the nature of difficulty is also relative. Something you do effortlessly might pose a great difficulty for a handicapped person. In acquiring the ability to do the same as you can, he or she achieve success. That's why we greatly admire Stephen Hawking, because, though confined to a wheel chair, he has contributed greatly to the field of science.
I myself, a rather shy person by nature who easily suffer from stage fright, had to pluck up great courage to take part in a speech contest like this. I could have stayed away and had an easy time of it by not entering the university level contest.But I chose to accept the challenge and to face the difficulties. Now here I am. If I come out first, it will be a great success for me. If I come out last-I hope this will not be the case-but if I come out last, I will not call my attempt a failure, but will also celebrate it as a true success, because part of my goal is my own character training-to do more assertive, to be brave in face of difficulties. For me, it is a meaningful step forward, small as it is, in the long journey toward the final success in my life, because I have truly gained by participating.
Let us return to our handsome young prince and the 4-step definition of success. You my have noticed that the usual worldly criteria of wealth, position and fame were not mentioned as part of the story, but rather, it emphasized the process of overcoming difficulties. The ancient wisdom had already defined the meaning of success, and this is my definition, too.
Thank you.
译文:成功之我见
“很久以前，有个国王，他的女儿貌美如花。老国王向所有来求婚的男士提出了三个任务作为挑战，而每一项任务都异常艰巨，几乎不可能完成。一天，来了一位年轻英俊的王子……”好了，下面的故事你们都知道了。三项任务在不同的版本中各不相同，但关键部分的情节都如出一辙:王子成功地过关，得到了公主的芳心。而故事的结局也都一样，最后一句都写道:“从此他们幸福地生活在一起。
为什么我们对如此美妙、如此不切实际,而我要说,如此缺乏想象力的东西这么乐此不疲呢?这样的故事又如何能够经历几代人的重复?我想，因为它是典型的成功的例子。故事的思想性很强，具有代表性。通过故事带给我们的启示，我们认识到了成功定义中的四个步骤;第一，目标的设定，有如故事里美丽的公主;第二，所遇到的困难和挑战，就像三大任务;第三，克服困难的过程，故事中青年经历重重难关可以作为象征;第四，就是成功的果实，如同幸福的婚姻。
这个故事不仅迎合了人们内心深处对成功的向往，也强调了过程和结果的不可分离。如果通往成功的道路崎岖曲折，那么成功的回报必然硕果累累，反之亦然。如果一个人继承了父辈的百万家产而生活得轻松富足，那么，即使在物质上，他也不能算是个成功人士，因为，他的财富并没有经过艰难困苦而获得。确切地说，“成功”这个词，不是个静态简单的定义。在我的理解中，真正意义上的成功是奋斗的过程和经历了奋斗之后赢得的满意的结果。请让我另举一例来阐明我的见解。
如果我们试着改变足球的比赛规则，将球门放得很大，换下大卫·希曼或其他任何的守门员，这样，随便哪个“大卫”，比如说，“大卫·贝克汉姆”，就可以轻松进球，然而这样进一球却不能给他带来成功的震颤与喜悦。如果我们再改一改比赛规则，不让阿森纳队的防守来守门，那么，贝克汉姆只要动动手，其实就是抬抬脚就能进一球，那样的话、，实际上也没有什么比赛可言了，因为赢球的意义已经不存在了。在接受挑战、克服困难和经历磨难的过程中，“成功”的价值才得以丰满。取得成果的意义和所克服的艰难的程度成正比。所谓成功的概念不是一成不变的.而昙相对而言的,因为困难的性质也是相对意义上的。
正常人不费力气做成的事对于一个残疾人来说也许相当困难。获得了同正常人一样的能力，这个残疾人就获得了成功。这便是我们为什么崇敬史蒂芬·霍金的原因—虽然行动不便，受到了轮椅的限制，他依然为科学界作出了巨大的贡献。
就我自己而言，生性羞涩，容易怯场，不得不鼓起非常大的勇气来参加此次的演讲比赛。我完全可以待在一边，不参加大学级别的比赛，而落得轻松自在。可是，我还是选择了接受这一挑战来面对困难。现在我来了，如果我能够得第一的话.这对我来说就是巨大的成功。如果，我是最后一名—我希望情况不是这样—但如果我真的是最后一名，我也不会认为这次的尝试是一次失败，反而我要把它当作一次真正的成功来庆贺，因为我一部分的目标是对自己性格的锻炼—更加坚强、勇敢地面对困难。对我来说，这标志着我在通向成功人生的漫漫征途中又向前迈进了一步，尽管是很小的一步，但是我确实通过参与真正地获得了收益。
回到我们年轻英俊的王子和对“成功”的四步骤定义上吧，您也许已经注意到了财富、地位和名誉等这些世俗的标准在故事中并未提及，相反故事强调了克服重重困难的过程。古代的智慧已经对成功的意义下了定义，这也是我的定义。
谢谢!
