We've heard it before—we've heard it on the news; from teachers，from parents —children and teenagers today are growing up too fast.There are not too many people that will disagree¹ with that statement. Teenagers are faced with² serious problems and decisions at an early age. In fact， most teenagers' daily schedules are busy enough to rival that of an adult' s.

I have been working since I was thirteen， and always ih positions in which I was working with adults， I have had to learn to think and act like an adult to be taken seriously. So， I count myself as one who has grown up too fast. I just graduated from high school， and have recently spent some time reflecting on the last eighteen years -- thinking about myself， what I have accomplished³， and what goals I have yet to achieve.

We are expected to work hard， get excellent grades， be in a good relationship， and know what we want to do in life. The list goes on and on. But the message is clear: We live in a society today that is shortening our childhood. We no longer have many years to be careless and fancy-free.Our life is regimented⁴ from an early age，and we are expected to follow that regiment and to excel in everything we do.

I've known these things for a long time， and knew that they affected me. But，I never really acknowledged⁵ it until last night， when I learned a valuable lesson， taught to me by my boss where I work. We had just gotten done finishing a job at a remote site. It was about 11:30 at night， and we had gone back to his house. We were talking about the improvements he had been making to his home.One of the things he said was \"I fixed my basketball hoop⁶.\" Then he tossed⁷ me a basketball.

I hadn't held a basketball in five years.

We proceeded to shoot hoops for about 40 minutes， ignoring the glares⁸ from inside the house as we made a terrible racket. Both of us were horribly bad at it， but we spent the whole time laughing away like children. Then I realized some- thing: I am still a child. Oh， the law says I'm an adult. Most people would call me a teenager. But， we are still really and truly children. We all need to have fun once in a while.

My boss， of 50 years of age， has taught me many things about the industry we work in， about the business world， but one of the most valuable lessonshe taught mewas that night—when he taught me that you have to stop and have some fun every now and then.

So，this is my suggestion to other teenagers — Take the time and just stop—Forget about your relationships—Forget about how you are going to pay for college—Forget about how your parents are pushing you—Forget about that group of kids at school who always make your life miserable— Forget it all. Be a kid again. Go shoot some basketball for fun. Go to the play- ground at the elementary school down the street. Get some friends together and be totally childish and immature⁹ for an hour once in a while. It'll be good for you.

\"It's been so long—such a long， long， time

Since I was running on a railway， swinging

from a vine

In my younger days

You can't take away memories of the past

Fishing in the river， running on the grass.

In my younger days

On in my younger days\"

無論在新聞里，還是出自老師、父母之口——我們都曾聽說如今的孩子和青少年成長得太快。對于這一說法不會(huì)有太多人反駁。少年們在小小的年紀(jì)就必須面對嚴(yán)肅的問題和決定。事實(shí)上，大多數(shù)青少年的日程與成年人的一樣排得滿滿的。

我13歲就開始打工，而且總是和成年人一起干活。為了能使自己被當(dāng)回事兒，我必須學(xué)會(huì)像成年人一樣思考和行事。因此，我把自己算作成長得太快的青少年中的一員。我剛剛邁出中學(xué)的校門，近來我花了一些時(shí)間來反思過去的18年——反思我自己，我獲得了什么，我還有什么目標(biāo)要去追求。

人們要求我們努力學(xué)習(xí)取得優(yōu)秀的成績，要建立良好的人際關(guān)系，而且要明確我們的人生理想。這個(gè)單子可以不停地被列下去。但情況清楚地表明：我們今天所處的社會(huì)正在縮短我們的年少時(shí)光。我們沒有多少歲月能夠無憂無慮和自由想像。從年少時(shí)我們的生活就受到嚴(yán)格約束，我們被要求遵循那些約束而且在我們所做的每一件事上都要優(yōu)于他人。

長久以來我就知道這些事情，而且也知道它們對我的影響，但直到昨晚，我的老板給我上了寶貴的一課后，我才真正認(rèn)清這一點(diǎn)。那天，我們在一個(gè)偏遠(yuǎn)的地方剛做完一項(xiàng)工作，大約是是晚上11：30分，我們回到他家。我們談起他家修繕的事兒，他提到一件事，“我裝了一個(gè)籃球網(wǎng)?！闭f著，他拋給我一個(gè)籃球。

我已經(jīng)有五年沒有碰籃球了。

我們進(jìn)行了40分鐘的投籃，全然不顧因我們制造的嘈雜引來左鄰右舍怒視的目光。我們倆都打得不怎么樣，但時(shí)間就在我們?nèi)绾⒆影愕男β曋辛鬟^。然后，我意識(shí)到，我仍然是個(gè)孩子。哦，法律上說我已是一個(gè)成人了?？纱蠖鄶?shù)人會(huì)稱我為少年，但我們的的確確還是孩子，時(shí)不時(shí)我們都需要找點(diǎn)樂子。

我的老板已有50多歲了，他教了我許多關(guān)于我所從事的行當(dāng)以及商界的事情，但其中最有價(jià)值的一課是在那天晚上，他教我必須停下手中的工作不時(shí)地做一些開心的事情。

而這也是我對其他青少年的建議——?jiǎng)e著急停下來——忘掉你的各種關(guān)系，忘掉你將如何支付上大學(xué)的費(fèi)用，忘掉你的父母是如何催促你，忘掉學(xué)校里那幫總是找你麻煩的孩子——忘掉所有這一切。重新成為一個(gè)孩子，去開心地投籃；沿街去小學(xué)的操場玩。偶爾和一些朋友在一起，孩子般地痛痛快快玩上一小時(shí)。

\"已是那樣久遠(yuǎn)，

我奔跑在鐵路邊，在葡萄架上蕩秋千，

那時(shí)我是少年。

過去的記憶無法抹掉，

河邊的垂釣，草地上的奔跑，

我的年少歲月，

哦，那時(shí)我還年少。\"

注釋

1 disagree vi .不同意，不一致

2 face with 面臨著

3 accomplish vt. 獲得

4 regiment vt. 嚴(yán)格管制，嚴(yán)格控制n. 統(tǒng)治，管轄

5 acknowledge vt. 承認(rèn)

6 hoopn. 籃圈

7 toss vt. 扔，拋，擲

8 glare n. 瞪眼，怒視

9 immature adj. 未成熟的