Amy Purdy: Living beyond limits

Translator: Paola B Reviewer: Elena Montrasio

翻译人员: Morton Bast 校对人员: Zixuan Fang

If your life were a book

如果你的人生是一本书

and you were the author,

你是书的作者

how would you want your story to go?

你会怎么写你的故事？

That's the question that changed my life forever.

这个问题永远改变了我的一生

Growing up in the hot Last Vegas desert,

生长在拉斯维加斯的炎热沙漠

all I wanted was to be free.

我一直向往自由

I would daydream about traveling the world,

我做着白日梦 梦想周游世界

living in a place where it snowed,

住在能看见雪的地方

and I would picture all of the stories

编我想讲述的

that I would go on to tell.

所有故事

At the age of 19,

19岁那年

the day after I graduated high school,

在我从高中毕业后

I moved to a place where it snowed

我搬到了能见到雪的地方

and I became a massage therapist.

我成为一名按摩师

With this job all I needed were my hands

这份工作只需要双手

and my massage table by my side

以及身边的按摩桌

and I could go anywhere.

而且我可以去任何地方

For the first time in my life,

有生以来头一次

I felt free, independent

我感到自由 独立

and completely in control of my life.

对生活充满把握

That is, until my life took a detour.

直到人生出现了一个转折

I went home from work early one day

一天我下班比往常早

with what I thought was the flu,

以为自己得了流感

and less than 24 hours later

24小时不到

I was in the hospital

我就进了医院

on life support

生命垂危

with less than a two percent chance of living.

只有2%的存活几率

It wasn't until days later

之后的几天

as I lay in a coma

我陷入昏迷

that the doctors diagnosed me

医生诊断我得了

with bacterial meningitis,

细菌性脑膜炎

a vaccine-preventable blood infection.

疫苗可预防性血液感染

Over the course of two and a half months

在为期两个半月的治疗中

I lost my spleen, my kidneys,

我切除了脾和肾

the hearing in my left ear

左耳失聪

and both of my legs below the knee.

膝盖以下截肢

When my parents wheeled me out of the hospital

当父母把我推出医院时

I felt like I had been pieced back together

我感到自己被重新拼凑起来

like a patchwork doll.

像一个拼布娃娃

I thought the worst was over

我以为最惨的事已完结

until weeks later when I saw my new legs

直到我第一次见到

for the first time.

自己的新腿

The calves were bulky blocks of metal

小腿是笨重的金属块

with pipes bolted together for the ankles

脚踝用管子和螺丝固定

and a yellow rubber foot

外加黄色的橡胶脚

with a raised rubber line from the toe to the ankle

突起的橡胶线从脚趾延伸到脚踝

to look like a vein.

为了使它们看起来像血管

I didn't know what to expect,

我不知道我想要的结果是什么

but I wasn't expecting that.

但绝不会是这个

With my mom by my side

妈妈站在我旁边

and tears streaming down our faces,

两个人泪水肆意

I strapped on these chunky legs

我绑上这两条粗短腿

and I stood up.

然后站起来

They were so painful and so confining

它们让我感到十分痛苦，并且充满限制

that all I could think was,

我脑子里只有一个想法：

how am I ever going to travel the world

用这些破玩意我怎么能

in these things?

周游世界？

How was I ever going to live

我如何才能过我

the life full of adventure and stories,

一直想要的

as I always wanted?

异彩纷呈的生活？

And how was I going to snowboard again?

我如何才能再玩单板滑雪？

That day, I went home, I crawled into bed

那天，我回到家，爬上床

and this is what my life looked like

这是我接下来几个月的

for the next few months:

生活状态:

me passed out, escaping from reality,

我躺在床上, 淡出生活 逃离现实

with my legs resting by my side.

我的腿放在床边

I was absolutely physically and emotionally broken.

我在生理上和心理上完全崩溃了

But I knew that in order to move forward,

但是我知道 为了向前走

I had to let go of the old Amy

我必须放开过去的艾米

and learn to embrace the new Amy.

学着接受新的艾米

And that is when it dawned on me

那时 我突然想到

that I didn't have to be five-foot-five anymore.

我再也不只有5.5英尺高了

I could be as tall as I wanted!

我可以想多高有多高

(Laughter) (Applause)

（笑声）（掌声）

Or as short as I wanted, depending on who I was dating.

或者想多矮有多矮 这得看我和谁约会

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And if I snowboarded again,

如果我再玩单板滑雪

my feet aren't going to get cold.

脚再也不会冷

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And best of all, I thought,

我觉得最棒的是

I can make my feet the size of all the shoes

我可以调整脚的大小来适合

货架上任何尺码的鞋子 （笑声）

that are on the sales rack. (Laughter)

And I did!

我真那么干了！

So there were benefits here.

所以这还是有些好处的

It was this moment that I asked myself

那一刻我问了自己

that life-defining question:

一个决定人生走向的问题

If my life were a book

如果人生是一本书

and I were the author,

而我是作者

how would I want the story to go?

我会怎么写这个故事？

And I began to daydream.

我开始做白日梦

I daydreamed like I did as a little girl

想小时候那样做梦

and I imagined myself

我想象自己

walking gracefully,

优雅地前行

helping other people through my journey

在路途中帮助别人

and snowboarding again.

再次玩单板滑雪

And I didn't just see myself

我并不是仅仅看到自己

carving down a mountain of powder,

从山上滑下来

I could actually feel it.

我可以真切感受到那个场景

I could feel the wind against my face

我可以感受到风扑面而来

and the beat of my racing heart

感受到心脏的韵律

as if it were happening in that very moment.

如同那一刻正在真实发生

And that is when a new chapter in my life began.

那就是我开启人生新篇章的时刻

Four months later I was back up on a snowboard,

4个月之后，我重拾单板滑雪

although things didn't go quite as expected:

虽然事情并不像我期待的那样

My knees and my ankles wouldn't bend

我的膝盖和脚踝无法弯曲

and at one point I traumatized all the skiers on the chair lift

在某一点上我吓坏了升降椅上所有的滑雪者

when I fell and my legs,

（笑声）就是当我摔倒时，

我的腿还连着滑板

still attached to my snowboard —

(Laughter) —

（笑声）

went flying down the mountain,

它们一起飞落到山脚

and I was on top of the mountain still.

而我依然在山顶

I was so shocked,

（笑声）我被惊到了

I was just as shocked as everybody else, and I was so discouraged,

同其他人一样 我惊呆了 而且很失落

but I knew that if I could find the right pair of feet

但是我知道 如果我找到了两条合适的腿

that I would be able to do this again.

我完全可以成功

And this is when I learned that our borders

这时 我明白了

and our obstacles can only do two things:

艰难险阻只能做两件事：

one, stop us in our tracks

一是将我们困在原来的轨道

or two, force us to get creative.

二是迫使我们充满创造力

I did a year of research, still couldn't figure out

我研究了一年 仍然不知道

what kind of legs to use,

用什么样的腿

couldn't find any resources that could help me.

也找不到任何有用的资源

So I decided to make a pair myself.

于是我决定自己做一副假腿

My leg maker and I put random parts together

我和制作者把各种部件拼在一起

and we made a pair of feet that I could snowboard in.

做了两条可以玩滑板的腿

As you can see,

你可以看到

rusted bolts, rubber, wood and neon pink duct tape.

生锈的螺栓、橡胶、木头和荧光粉胶带

And yes, I can change my toenail polish.

没错 我可以换指甲颜色

It was these legs

这双假腿

and the best 21st birthday gift I could ever receive —

以及我21岁生日收到的最好礼物——

a new kidney from my dad —

——我爸爸的一个肾

that allowed me to follow my dreams again.

让我再次追逐梦想

I started snowboarding,

我开始玩单板滑雪

then I went back to work, then I went back to school.

我重新工作 并回到学校

Then in 2005 I cofounded a nonprofit organization

2005年我创办了一个非盈利组织

用来救助身体残疾的年轻人

for youth and young adults with physical disabilities

so they could get involved with action sports.

使他们能再次参加体育运动

From there, I had the opportunity to go to South Africa,

从那时起 我有机会前往南非

where I helped to put shoes on thousands of children's feet

给千百儿童带来鞋子

so they could attend school.

这样他们就可以去上学

And just this past February,

在刚刚过去的二月

I won two back-to-back World Cup gold medals —

我相继取得两块世界金牌

(Applause) —

（掌声）

which made me

——这使我成为

the highest ranked adaptive female snowboarder

世界上最高级别的残疾人女子单板滑雪

运动员

in the world.

Eleven years ago, when I lost my legs,

11年前 当我失去腿时

I had no idea what to expect.

我不知道该期盼什么

But if you ask me today,

但是如果你现在问我

if I would ever want to change my situation,

是否愿意换个人生

I would have to say no.

我会回答不

Because my legs haven't disabled me,

因为我的双腿并没有阻碍我

if anything they've enabled me.

如果说它们给我带来了什么

They've forced me to rely on my imagination

那就是它们让我依靠想象力

and to believe in the possibilities,

让我相信一切皆有可能

and that's why I believe

这就是为什么我相信

that our imaginations can be used as tools

想象可以成为工具

for breaking through borders,

用来冲破障碍

because in our minds, we can do anything

因为在脑子里 我们可以做任何事

and we can be anything.

可以成为任何人

It's believing in those dreams

相信梦想

and facing our fears head-on

直面恐惧

that allows us to live our lives

能够让我们的生活

beyond our limits.

超出局限

And although today is about innovation without borders,

虽然今天在讲无边界创新

I have to say that in my life,

但我不得不说 在我的生命里

innovation has only been possible

是我自身的种种局限

because of my borders.

让不可能变成可能

I've learned that borders are where the actual ends,

我知道这些局限 才是现实结束

but also where the imagination

想象产生

and the story begins.

故事开始的地方

So the thought that I would like to challenge you with today

所以 今天我想让你们挑战的是

is that maybe instead of looking at our challenges and our limitations

与其把挑战、局限看做

as something negative or bad,

不利或者坏事

we can begin to look at them as blessings,

我们可以把它们看做恩惠

magnificent gifts that can be used to ignite our imaginations

可以点亮想象的神奇礼物

能帮助我们走得更远 远到我们从未想过

and help us go further than we ever knew we could go.

It's not about breaking down borders.

这不是要打破局限

It's about pushing off of them

而是把局限推得更广

and seeing what amazing places

然后看看它们能把我们带到

they might bring us.

怎样美好的地方

Thank you.

谢谢 （掌声）