Our limited thinking prevents us from progress.

Our limited thinking prevents us from progress. There was a fisherman who, every time he caught a big fish, would throw it back into the river, keeping only the smaller ones. A man watching this unusual behavior asked the fisherman why he was doing this. The fisherman replied, “Because I have a small frying pan.” Most people never make it in life because they are carrying a small frying pan. That is limited thinking.

我们思想上的局限是我们进步的阻碍。比如从前有个渔夫，每次他他只留下一些小鱼，如果钓上一条大鱼都会把大鱼扔回河里。有人看到他这种异常的做法就问他为什么这样做。渔夫回答说“因为我只有一个小的煎锅”。很多人一生没有成功的原因就在于思想上的局限，如同随身携带的一个小小的煎锅。

What we think is pulling us down is really taking us up.

What we think is pulling us down is really taking us up. That is what discipline is about. A boy was flying a kite with his father and asked his father what kept the kite up. Dad replied. “The string.” The boy said, “Dad, it is the string that is holding the kite down.” The father asked his son to watch as he broke the string. Guess what happened to the kite? It came down. Isn’t that true in life? Sometimes the very things that we think are pulling us down are the things that are helping us fly. That is what discipline is all about.

有时候那些我们认为正在拖我们后腿的东西其实正是帮助我们飞翔的东西，那就是纪律的真谛。有个小男孩和父亲一起放风筝，就问父亲 “是什么使风筝飞起来了？” 父亲回答“是拉动风筝的线”小男孩不相信“爸爸，不正是风筝线在把风筝往下拉吗？”父亲于是让小男孩观察当他把风筝线扯断时，风筝会怎么样。令人惊讶的是风筝真的往下掉了！我们生活不也有同样的情形吗？有时候那些我们认为正在拖我们后腿的东西其实正是帮助我们飞翔的，这就是纪律的真谛。

Losers look for quick fixes

   There are two ways of getting rid of weeds in your yard: the easy way and not-so-easy way. The easy way may be to run a lawnmower and the yards looks fine for a while, but that is a temporary answer. Soon the weeds are back. But the not-so-easy way may mean getting down on your hands and knees and pulling out the weeds by the roots. It is time-consuming and painful, but the weeds will stay away for a long time. The first solution appeared easy, but the problem remained. The second solution was not so easy ,but took care of the problem from the roots. The key is to get the root of the problem.

   The same thing is true of our attitude  in life. The problem with people today is that they want instant answer. They are looking for one-minute solutions to everything. Just like instant coffee, they want instant happiness. There are no quick fixes. This attitude leads to disappointment or even failure.

除掉院子中的野草通常会有两种方法：一种简单易行，一种比较麻烦。简单轻松的方法就是借一部除草机然后你的院子有段时间会看上去很不错，但那只是一种暂时性的解决方法。很快野草又会长回来。比较麻烦的方法是你可能需要跪在地上用手将野草连根拔去。这个过程很费时间说实话也非常累人，但野草会很长时间不会出现。第一种方法看上去简单，但问题仍然存在。第二种方法不容易，但从根本上解决了问题。成功的关键就是从根本上解决问题。

 同理，我们对待生活的态度也一样。当今人们处理问题时都急于找一个快速的方法。人们每件事都希望有个锦囊妙计一分钟就能解决问题，如同速溶咖啡一样，人们追求即时的快乐。世上并无捷径，这种追求捷径的态度最终是饮下失望甚至失败的苦酒。