If youre like most of us， failure is not your best friend. But I like the attitude of one man. “I dont say I have strengths and weaknesses，” he says. “I say I have strengths and lesser strengths.” Thats me！ Lots and lots of strengths... but most of them are lesser strengths.

One of my lesser strengths may be in the area of art. But when my three-year-old son asked me to draw a picture of a horse on his chalkboard， I agreed anyway. And it wasnt too bad... Well， it wasnt great， I must admit. It may have looked a little more like a dog than a horse. But it was definitely a horse-looking animal of some sort and my young son seemed satisfied.

I left the picture on the chalkboard. The next day one of his preschool friends stopped by to play. She spotted the drawing and asked， “Who drew the horse？”

I called down the hall， “I did！” I actually felt just a little bit proud. After all， she immediately recognized it as a horse.

There was a moment of silence as a look of confusion swept her face. Then she asked， “Did you draw it when you were a baby？”

Everyones an art critic.

My sons friend just couldnt square such a childish line drawing with somebody my age. Sure， Id starve as an artist， but I dont have to excel as one. I have other strengths， other skills， other abilities. And I can enjoy good art while I spend time doing whatever it is I am meant to do.

I appreciate Henry Wadsworth Longfellos perspective. He said， “Give what you have. To some it may be better than you dare to think.” I dont need to beat myself up over all the things I do miserably. I learned years ago to make peace with those things. What others call weaknesses I call lesser strengths and look at them as nothing more than opportunities to learn.

In the meantime， Ill give what I can and trust that will be enough.

就算身無(wú)長(zhǎng)物，是蕓蕓眾生之一員，也不意味著失敗就是你的莫逆之交，與你如影隨形。不過(guò)，我倒認(rèn)為有一個(gè)人的態(tài)度值得提倡?！拔覐膩?lái)不說(shuō)自己有哪些優(yōu)點(diǎn)和不足，”他說(shuō)，“我言必稱(chēng)自己有哪些優(yōu)點(diǎn)和‘次優(yōu)點(diǎn)。”我也正是這種觀(guān)點(diǎn)！優(yōu)點(diǎn)有不少……但其中大多都是“次優(yōu)點(diǎn)”。

我有一項(xiàng)“次優(yōu)”本領(lǐng)可能體現(xiàn)在藝術(shù)方面。一次，3歲的兒子央求我在他的黑板上畫(huà)一匹馬，雖然有自知之明，我還是同意了。結(jié)果看起來(lái)不算太糟……事實(shí)上，我必須承認(rèn)，畫(huà)得不怎么好：看起來(lái)不太像一匹馬，反而更像一只狗。但從它身上，你準(zhǔn)能看到馬的影子，兒子似乎也非常滿(mǎn)意。

于是這匹馬留在了黑板上。第二天，兒子幼兒園的朋友順便來(lái)家里玩。她發(fā)現(xiàn)了那幅畫(huà)，問(wèn)道：“這是誰(shuí)畫(huà)的馬？”

我在客廳里大聲回答：“我畫(huà)的！”事實(shí)上，我還覺(jué)得有些驕傲。畢竟，她一眼就認(rèn)出這是一匹馬。

場(chǎng)面一度尷尬，她的臉上露出困惑的表情。然后她問(wèn)：“是您小時(shí)候畫(huà)的嗎？”

真是人人都堪稱(chēng)藝術(shù)評(píng)論家呀。

我兒子的朋友不能把這么孩子氣的線(xiàn)條畫(huà)和我這種年紀(jì)的人等同起來(lái)。誠(chéng)然，要是我以畫(huà)畫(huà)謀生，肯定會(huì)餓死，但我沒(méi)必要成為一個(gè)出類(lèi)拔萃的畫(huà)家。我還擁有其他的優(yōu)勢(shì)和技能。我把時(shí)間花在我應(yīng)盡的本分與職責(zé)上，同時(shí)也不耽誤我欣賞優(yōu)秀的藝術(shù)作品。

我非常欣賞亨利·沃茲沃斯·朗費(fèi)羅的一個(gè)觀(guān)點(diǎn)。他曾說(shuō)過(guò)：“盡力付出就好。努力，在有些事上效果可能比想象的要好?！蔽覜](méi)必要為自己哪些慘不忍睹的能力和自己較勁。多年前我就學(xué)會(huì)了與自己的“不足”和平共處。別人眼中的不足，我稱(chēng)之為“次優(yōu)”，把它們僅僅看作是學(xué)習(xí)的機(jī)會(huì)。

同時(shí)，我會(huì)盡自己所能做到最好，相信做到這些就足夠了。

If youre like most of us， failure is not your best friend. But I like the attitude of one man. “I dont say I have strengths and weaknesses，” he says. “I say I have strengths and lesser strengths.” Thats me！ Lots and lots of strengths... but most of them are lesser strengths.

One of my lesser strengths may be in the area of art. But when my three-year-old son asked me to draw a picture of a horse on his chalkboard， I agreed anyway. And it wasnt too bad... Well， it wasnt great， I must admit. It may have looked a little more like a dog than a horse. But it was definitely a horse-looking animal of some sort and my young son seemed satisfied.

I left the picture on the chalkboard. The next day one of his preschool friends stopped by to play. She spotted the drawing and asked， “Who drew the horse？”

I called down the hall， “I did！” I actually felt just a little bit proud. After all， she immediately recognized it as a horse.

There was a moment of silence as a look of confusion swept her face. Then she asked， “Did you draw it when you were a baby？”

Everyones an art critic.

My sons friend just couldnt square such a childish line drawing with somebody my age. Sure， Id starve as an artist， but I dont have to excel as one. I have other strengths， other skills， other abilities. And I can enjoy good art while I spend time doing whatever it is I am meant to do.

I appreciate Henry Wadsworth Longfellos perspective. He said， “Give what you have. To some it may be better than you dare to think.” I dont need to beat myself up over all the things I do miserably. I learned years ago to make peace with those things. What others call weaknesses I call lesser strengths and look at them as nothing more than opportunities to learn.

In the meantime， Ill give what I can and trust that will be enough.

就算身無(wú)長(zhǎng)物，是蕓蕓眾生之一員，也不意味著失敗就是你的莫逆之交，與你如影隨形。不過(guò)，我倒認(rèn)為有一個(gè)人的態(tài)度值得提倡?！拔覐膩?lái)不說(shuō)自己有哪些優(yōu)點(diǎn)和不足，”他說(shuō)，“我言必稱(chēng)自己有哪些優(yōu)點(diǎn)和‘次優(yōu)點(diǎn)?！蔽乙舱沁@種觀(guān)點(diǎn)！優(yōu)點(diǎn)有不少……但其中大多都是“次優(yōu)點(diǎn)”。

我有一項(xiàng)“次優(yōu)”本領(lǐng)可能體現(xiàn)在藝術(shù)方面。一次，3歲的兒子央求我在他的黑板上畫(huà)一匹馬，雖然有自知之明，我還是同意了。結(jié)果看起來(lái)不算太糟……事實(shí)上，我必須承認(rèn)，畫(huà)得不怎么好：看起來(lái)不太像一匹馬，反而更像一只狗。但從它身上，你準(zhǔn)能看到馬的影子，兒子似乎也非常滿(mǎn)意。

于是這匹馬留在了黑板上。第二天，兒子幼兒園的朋友順便來(lái)家里玩。她發(fā)現(xiàn)了那幅畫(huà)，問(wèn)道：“這是誰(shuí)畫(huà)的馬？”

我在客廳里大聲回答：“我畫(huà)的！”事實(shí)上，我還覺(jué)得有些驕傲。畢竟，她一眼就認(rèn)出這是一匹馬。

場(chǎng)面一度尷尬，她的臉上露出困惑的表情。然后她問(wèn)：“是您小時(shí)候畫(huà)的嗎？”

真是人人都堪稱(chēng)藝術(shù)評(píng)論家呀。

我兒子的朋友不能把這么孩子氣的線(xiàn)條畫(huà)和我這種年紀(jì)的人等同起來(lái)。誠(chéng)然，要是我以畫(huà)畫(huà)謀生，肯定會(huì)餓死，但我沒(méi)必要成為一個(gè)出類(lèi)拔萃的畫(huà)家。我還擁有其他的優(yōu)勢(shì)和技能。我把時(shí)間花在我應(yīng)盡的本分與職責(zé)上，同時(shí)也不耽誤我欣賞優(yōu)秀的藝術(shù)作品。

我非常欣賞亨利·沃茲沃斯·朗費(fèi)羅的一個(gè)觀(guān)點(diǎn)。他曾說(shuō)過(guò)：“盡力付出就好。努力，在有些事上效果可能比想象的要好?！蔽覜](méi)必要為自己哪些慘不忍睹的能力和自己較勁。多年前我就學(xué)會(huì)了與自己的“不足”和平共處。別人眼中的不足，我稱(chēng)之為“次優(yōu)”，把它們僅僅看作是學(xué)習(xí)的機(jī)會(huì)。

同時(shí)，我會(huì)盡自己所能做到最好，相信做到這些就足夠了。

Word Study

square /skwe?（r）/ v. ～sth with sth/ ～with sth（使）與……一致，與……相符

Your theory does not square with the facts.

excel /?k'sel/ v. 擅長(zhǎng);善于;突出

perspective /p?'spekt?v/ n. 態(tài)度;觀(guān)點(diǎn);思考方法