Caroline Casey: Looking past limits

翻译人员: Felix Chen 校对人员: Angelia King

Can any of you

各位中有人

remember what you wanted to be

能回忆起在17岁时

when you were 17?

想做什么样的人么？

Do you know what I wanted to be?

知道我的想法么？

I wanted to be a biker chick.

我想成为一个摩托飞车女。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I wanted to race cars,

我想赛车，

and I wanted to be a cowgirl,

我想成为一个女牛仔，

and I wanted to be Mowgli from "The Jungle Book."

我想成为“森林王子”里的莫格利。

Because they were all about being free,

因为我说的这些都与处于自由状态相关 --

the wind in your hair -- just to be free.

风在你的头发中穿越 -- 只要自由。

And on my seventeenth birthday,

在我17岁生日时，

my parents, knowing how much I loved speed,

我父母，他们知道我有多爱速度，

gave me one driving lesson

送给我一个驾校课程

for my seventeenth birthday.

作为我17岁生日礼物。

Not that we could have afforded I drive,

并不是说我们能负担得起我开车，

but to give me the dream of driving.

只是给我一个驾驶的梦想。

And on my seventeenth birthday,

在我17岁生日时，

I accompanied my little sister

我陪同我天真无邪的

in complete innocence,

妹妹,

as I always had all my life --

正如我在一生中一直拥有的 --

my visually impaired sister --

我那有视觉障碍的妹妹 --

to go to see an eye specialist.

去看眼科医生。

Because big sisters

因为姐姐

are always supposed to support their little sisters.

总是应该支持她们的妹妹。

And my little sister wanted to be a pilot --

我的小妹妹想成为一名飞行员 --

God help her.

上帝保佑她。

So I used to get my eyes tested

我过去曾检查眼睛

just for fun.

只是为了好玩。

And on my seventeenth birthday,

在我17岁生日时，

after my fake eye exam,

在我做完冒充的眼科检查之后，

the eye specialist just noticed it happened to be my birthday.

眼科医生注意到那天是我生日。

And he said, "So what are you going to do to celebrate?"

他说道，“你打算怎么庆祝生日？”

And I took that driving lesson,

我已经收到了那份驾校课程礼物，

and I said, "I'm going to learn how to drive."

于是我说道，“我打算去学开车。”

And then there was a silence --

接着是一片寂静 --

one of those awful silences

当你意识到有什么不对劲时

when you know something's wrong.

这是一种可怕的寂静。

And he turned to my mother,

他转向我的母亲，

and he said, "You haven't told her yet?"

说道，“你还没告诉她？”

On my seventeenth birthday,

在我17岁生日，

as Janis Ian would best say,

正如詹尼斯·伊恩最可能会说的，

I learned the truth at 17.

在17岁我发现了真相：

I am, and have been since birth,

我自从出生以来，

legally blind.

就是法律上的盲人。

And you know,

要知道，

how on earth did I get to 17

我究竟是怎么长到17岁的

and not know that?

而且还不知道这件事？

Well, if anybody says country music isn't powerful,

如果有任何人说乡村音乐影响力不强大，

let me tell you this:

让我告诉你们这个：

I got there

我爱上乡村音乐

because my father's passion for Johnny Cash

是因为我父亲热爱约翰尼·卡什

and a song, "A Boy Named Sue."

和那首“一个名叫苏的男孩”。

I'm the eldest of three. I was born in 1971.

我是三孩子中年纪最大的。我生于1971年。

And very shortly after my birth,

在我出生后不久，

my parents found out I had a condition called ocular albinism.

我父母发现我患有眼白化病。

And what the hell does that mean to you?

各位知道这意味着什么吗？

So let me just tell you, the great part of all of this?

我来告诉你们其中最重要的部分？

I can't see this clock and I can't see the timing,

我看不见这个钟，看不见时间，

so holy God, woohoo! (Laughter)

神圣的上帝啊！

I might buy some more time.

我也许能再多争取些时间。

But more importantly, let me tell you --

但更重要的是，我告诉各位 --

I'm going to come up really close here. Don't freak out, Pat.

我将很快提到这些。别紧张。

Hey.

嘿。

See this hand?

看到这只手了么？

Beyond this hand is a world of Vaseline.

在这手后面是一片模糊的世界。

Every man in this room, even you, Steve,

屋子内的每个男人，即使是你，史蒂夫

is George Clooney.

都是乔治·克鲁尼。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And every woman, you are so beautiful.

每一位女性，都非常美丽。

And when I want to look beautiful, I step three feet away from the mirror,

当我想看看美丽时，我站在镜子前三英尺，

and I don't have to see these lines etched in my face

我一辈子都无法眯着眼从

from all the squinting I've done all my life

昏暗的灯光下

from all the dark lights.

看见我脸部的轮廓。

The really strange part is

真正奇怪的是

that, at three and a half, just before I was going to school,

在三岁半时，就在我要去上学之前，

my parents made a bizarre, unusual

我父母做出了一个奇异的、不寻常的、

and incredibly brave decision.

难以置信地勇敢的决定。

No special needs schools.

不去特种学校。

No labels.

不被贴上标签。

No limitations.

不受限制。

My ability and my potential.

我的能力和我的潜力。

And they decided to tell me

他们决定告诉我

that I could see.

我能看见。

So just like Johnny Cash's Sue,

就像约翰尼·卡什的苏，

a boy given a girl's name,

一个有着女孩名字的男孩，

I would grow up and learn from experience

我将长大并从经历中学习

how to be tough and how to survive,

如何坚强如何生存

when they were no longer there to protect me,

当他们不能再保护我，

or just take it all away.

或是带走一切时。

But more significantly,

但更重要的是，

they gave me the ability

他们给予了我

to believe,

信任的能力，

totally, to believe that I could.

完全信任自己能够做到。

And so when I heard that eye specialist

因此，当我听到眼科医生

tell me all the things, a big fat "no,"

告诉我所有的事情时，一个巨大的“不”，

everybody imagines I was devastated.

所有人都认为我被击垮了。

And don't get me wrong, because when I first heard it --

别误会我，因为我第一次听到这些时 --

aside from the fact that I thought he was insane --

除了我觉得他疯了以外 --

I got that thump in my chest,

感觉我胸口受到重击 --

just that "huh?"

只发出“啊。”

But very quickly I recovered. It was like that.

但很快我就恢复了。就这样。

The first thing I thought about was my mom,

我首先想到的是我妈妈

who was crying over beside me.

在为我哭泣。

And I swear to God, I walked out of his office,

我向上帝发誓，我走出医生的办公室，

"I will drive. I will drive.

“我要开车。我要开车。

You're mad. I'll drive. I know I can drive."

你疯了。我要开车，我知道我能。”

And with the same dogged determination

带着我父亲从我还是孩子时

that my father had bred into me since I was such a child --

就注入给我的同样顽强的决心 --

he taught me how to sail,

他教我如何航海，

knowing I could never see where I was going, I could never see the shore,

尽管他知道我无法辨别方向，无法看到海岸，

and I couldn't see the sails, and I couldn't see the destination.

无法看到帆，无法看到目的地。

But he told me to believe

但他告诉我要相信

and feel the wind in my face.

和感觉吹拂过我脸庞的风。

And that wind in my face made me believe

吹拂过我脸庞的风让我相信

that he was mad and I would drive.

他疯了并且我能驾驶。

And for the next 11 years,

在随后的11年间，

I swore nobody would ever find out that I couldn't see,

我发誓没人曾发觉我看不见，

because I didn't want to be a failure,

因为我不想成为一名失败者，

and I didn't want to be weak.

我不想成为弱者。

And I believed I could do it.

我相信我能做到。

So I rammed through life as only a Casey can do.

我只是在做凯西能做到的。

And I was an archeologist, and then I broke things.

我曾是名考古学家，接着我打碎了东西。

And then I managed a restaurant, and then I slipped on things.

接着我管理一家餐馆，我又摔碎了东西。

And then I was a masseuse. And then I was a landscape gardener.

接着成了一名女按摩师。接着我成了一名庭园美化师。

And then I went to business school.

接着我去了商学院上学。

And you know, disabled people are hugely educated.

残障人士接受了很多教育。

And then I went in and I got a global consulting job with Accenture.

接着我加入了埃森哲并有了一份全球性的咨询工作。

And they didn't even know.

他们并不知道我的眼睛有问题。

And it's extraordinary

信仰能带你走

how far belief can take you.

这么远真是太非凡了。

In 1999,

在1999年，

two and a half years into that job,

获得这一工作两年半之后，

something happened.

事情发生了 --

Wonderfully, my eyes decided, enough.

精彩的事，我的双眼决定不干了。

And temporarily,

暂时性的，

very unexpectedly,

非常出乎意料，

they dropped.

它们罢工了。

And I'm in one of the most competitive environments in the world,

我处于世界上最具竞争性的环境之中，

where you work hard, play hard, you gotta be the best, you gotta be the best.

在这种环境中，需要努力工作、不择手段、必须做到最好、必须做到最好。

And two years in,

过了两年，

I really could see very little.

我确实只能看见一点点。

And I found myself in front of an HR manager

我发现自己来到一位人力资源经理的面前

in 1999,

这是1999年

saying something I never imagined that I would say.

说一些我从未想过自己会说的话。

I was 28 years old.

我28岁了。

I had built a persona all around what I could and couldn't do.

我在我能做什么和我不能做什么之间制作了一个面具。

And I simply said,

我只是说，

"I'm sorry.

“我很抱歉。

I can't see, and I need help."

我看不见，我需要帮助。”

Asking for help can be incredibly difficult.

寻求帮助可能会难以置信地困难。

And you all know what it is. You don't need to have a disability to know that.

大家都能理解；并不需要身患某项残疾就能了解到。

We all know how hard it is

我们都知道承认

to admit weakness and failure.

软弱和失败有多么困难。

And it's frightening, isn't it?

这令人恐惧，不是么？

But all that belief had fueled me so long.

但所有的信仰让我坚持了很久。

And can I tell you, operating in the sighted world when you can't see,

我能告诉各位，当你生活在一个视觉世界时，你却对此看不见，

it's kind of difficult -- it really is.

这有点困难 -- 确实是这样。

Can I tell you, airports are a disaster.

我可以告诉各位，去机场会是场灾难。

Oh, for the love of God.

哦，看在上帝的份上。

And please, any designers out there?

拜托，在场的每一位设计师。

OK, designers, please put up your hands, even though I can't even see you.

设计师们，请伸出你们的手，即使这样我也看不到你们。

I always end up in the gents' toilets.

我总是误入男士盥洗室。

And there's nothing wrong with my sense of smell.

我的嗅觉没任何问题。

But can I just tell you,

但我只是想告诉你们，

the little sign for a gents' toilet or a ladies' toilet

那个标明了男士盥洗室或女士盥洗室的小标志

is determined by a triangle.

是一个三角形。

Have you ever tried to see that

你们有没有试过眼前有一层

if you have Vaseline in front of your eyes?

凡士林的情况下看看这些标志？

It's such a small thing, right?

真是太小了，不是么？

And you know how exhausting it can be

各位知道，当你并不完美时尝试

to try to be perfect when you're not,

做到完美，或做一个不是自己的人，

or to be somebody that you aren't?

这是多么的让人筋疲力尽啊？

And so after admitting I couldn't see to HR,

因此在我给人力资源经理承认我看不见之后，

they sent me off to an eye specialist.

他们送我去看眼科医生。

And I had no idea that this man was going to change my life.

我还没有意识到这个人将会改变我的一生。

But before I got to him, I was so lost.

但在我见他之前，我非常不知所措。

I had no idea who I was anymore.

我不知道我到底是谁。

And that eye specialist, he didn't bother testing my eyes.

而那名眼科医生，他没有对我的眼睛做检查。

God no, it was therapy.

上帝啊，没有，那是治疗。

And he asked me several questions,

他问了我几个问题，

of which many were, "Why?

问题大多是，“为什么？

Why are you fighting so hard

为什么你这么努力地抗争

not to be yourself?

而不是做你自己？

And do you love what you do, Caroline?"

你喜欢你所做的么，卡洛琳？”

And you know, when you go to a global consulting firm,

各位知道，当进入一家全球性的咨询公司时，

they put a chip in your head, and you're like,

他们会在你脑子里放一块芯片，并且你喜欢这样，

"I love Accenture. I love Accenture. I love my job. I love Accenture.

“我爱埃森哲。我爱埃森哲。我爱我的工作。我爱埃森哲。

I love Accenture. I love Accenture. I love my job. I love Accenture." (Laughter)

我爱埃森哲。我爱我的工作。我爱埃森哲。”

To leave would be failure.

离开就是失败。

And he said, "Do you love it?"

他问道，“你爱它么？”

I couldn't even speak I was so choked up.

我太激动了，根本无法开口。

I just was so -- how do I tell him?

我太激动了 -- 我怎么跟他说呢？

And then he said to me, "What did you want to be when you were little?"

接着他对我说，“你小时候想成为什么样的人？”

Now listen, I wasn't going to say to him, "Well, I wanted to race cars and motorbikes."

听我说，我还不打算告诉他，“嗯，我想开车和骑摩托。”

Hardly appropriate at this moment in time.

很难描述那一时刻的情形。

He thought I was mad enough anyway.

他会认为我有够疯狂。

And as I left his office,

我离开他的办公室时，

he called me back

他叫住我

and he said, "I think it's time.

说到，“我想是时候了。

I think it's time

我想是时候

to stop fighting and do something different."

停止内心的抗争并做点不同的事情了。”

And that door closed.

那扇门关上了。

And that silence just outside a doctor's office,

医生的办公室外一片寂静，

that many of us know.

正如我们很多人都知道的那样。

And my chest ached.

我胸口觉得疼痛。

And I had no idea where I was going. I had no idea.

我不知道要去哪儿。完全不知道。

But I did know the game was up.

但我知道一切都结束了。

And I went home, and, because the pain in my chest ached so much,

我回到家，胸口疼的非常厉害，

I thought, "I'll go out for a run."

我想到，“我要出去跑跑步。”

Really not a very sensible thing to do.

这不是什么非常明智的做法。

And I went on a run that I know so well.

我非常熟悉跑步。

I know this run so well, by the back of my hand.

非常熟悉，通过我的手背熟悉的。

I always run it perfectly fine.

我总是跑的非常好。

I count the steps and the lampposts and all those things

我数着步数、街灯柱和其他一些

that visually impaired people have a tendency to have a lot of meetings with.

有视觉障碍的人容易碰到的东西。

And there was a rock that I always missed.

那儿有块我总是会避过的石头。

And I'd never fallen on it, never.

我从未摔倒在它上面，从来没有。

And there I was crying away,

我边哭边跑

and smash, bash on my rock.

猛的撞到那块石头上。

Broken, fallen over

砰的一下，摔倒

on this rock

在这块石头上，

in the middle of March in 2000,

那是2000年的三月中 --

typical Irish weather on a Wednesday --

一个周三，典型的爱尔兰天气 --

gray, snot, tears everywhere,

世界灰暗，涕泪横流 --

ridiculously self-pitying.

可笑地自怨自艾。

And I was floored, and I was broken,

我差点晕过去，我被击倒了，

and I was angry.

我很生气。

And I didn't know what to do.

我不知道该做什么。

And I sat there for quite some time going,

我坐在那儿好一会儿，

"How am I going to get off this rock and go home?

“我怎么才能离开这块石头回家？

Because who am I going to be?

我要成为谁？”

What am I going to be?"

我要成为什么？”

And I thought about my dad,

我想到了我爸爸，

and I thought, "Good God, I'm so not Sue now."

我想，“上帝啊，我现在不是苏了。”

And I kept thinking over and over in my mind,

我就在那儿想啊想啊，

what had happened? Where did it go wrong? Why didn't I understand?

发生了什么？我做错了什么？为什么我不明白？

And you know, the extraordinary part of it

最特别的地方是，

is I just simply had no answers.

我没有答案；

I had lost my belief.

我失去了自己的信仰。

Look where my belief had brought me to.

看看我的信仰把我带到了哪儿。

And now I had lost it. And now I really couldn't see.

现在我失去了它。现在我真的看不见了。

I was crumpled.

我倒下了。

And then I remember thinking about that eye specialist

然后我想到了眼科医生问我的

asking me, "What do you want to be? What do you want to be?

问题，“你想成为什么样的人？你想成为什么样的人？

What did you want to be when you were little? Do you love what you do?

你小时候想成为什么样的人？你喜欢你所做的么？

Do something different. What do you want to be?

做点不同的事情吧。你想成为什么样的人？

Do something different. What do you want to be?"

做点不同的事情吧。你想成为什么样的人？”

And really slowly, slowly, slowly,

非常非常慢地，

it happened.

事情发生了。

And it did happen this way.

以这种方式发生了。

And then the minute it came,

它出现的时候

it blew up in my head

就像在我脑袋里爆炸

and bashed in my heart --

冲进我心里，

something different.

不同的事情，

"Well, how about Mowgli from 'The Jungle Book'?

“嗯，“森林王子”里的莫格利怎么样？

You don't get more different than that."

不会有比这更不同的了。”

And the moment, and I mean the moment,

这一刻，我说这一刻

the moment that hit me,

是指我想通的那一刻，

I swear to God,

我向上帝发誓，

it was like woo hoo! You know -- something to believe in.

我松了口气！有了我可以相信的事。

And nobody can tell me no.

没人能告诉我不。

Yes, you can say I can't be an archeologist.

是的，你可以说我成为不了一名考古学家。

But you can't tell me, no, I can't be Mowgli, because guess what?

但你不能告诉我，我不能成为莫格利，你猜是因为什么？

Nobody's ever done it before, so I'm going to go do it.

之前从来没人这么做过，所以我打算去做。

And it doesn't matter whether I'm a boy or a girl, I'm just going to scoot.

无论我是男是女，我就是要去试试。

And so I got off that rock, and, oh my God, did I run home.

我离开了那块石头，哦，上帝，我跑回了家。

And I sprinted home, and I didn't fall, and I didn't crash.

我奋力跑回家，没有摔倒，没有撞到什么东西。

And I ran up the stairs, and there was one of my favorite books of all time,

我跑上楼梯，那儿总是放着本我喜欢的书，

"Travels on My Elephant" by Mark Shand -- I don't know if any of you know it.

马克·山德所著的“骑大象走印度”（繁体中文译名） -- 不知道各位知不知道这本书。

And I grabbed this book off, and I'm sitting on the couch

我抓起这本书，坐到沙发上，

going, "I know what I'm going to do.

接着想，“我知道我要做什么。

I know how to be Mowgli.

我知道怎么能成为莫格利。

I'm going to go across India

我要坐在大象的背上

on the back of an elephant.

穿越印度。

I'm going to be an elephant handler."

我要成为一名大象驾驭者。”

And I had no idea

我不知道

how I was going to be an elephant handler.

怎么才能成为一名大象驾驭者。

From global management consultant to elephant handler.

从全球管理顾问到大象驾驭者。

I had no idea how. I had no idea how you hire an elephant, get an elephant.

我不知道该怎么做。我不知道怎么去雇一头大象，怎么去得到一头大象。

I didn't speak Hindi. I'd never been to India. Hadn't a clue.

我不会说北印度语。我从未去过印度 -- 毫无头绪。

But I knew I would.

但我知道我行。

Because, when you make a decision at the right time and the right place,

因为，当在正确的地方正确的时间做出决定时，

God, that universe makes it happen for you.

上帝，一切都会水到渠成的。

Nine months later, after that day on snot rock,

在那块石头上痛哭的九个月后，

I had the only blind date in my life

我迎来了人生中的第一次约会，

with a seven and a half foot elephant called Kanchi.

对方是一头七英尺半高的大象，名叫完治。

And together we would trek a thousand kilometers

我们将一起跋涉一千公里

across India.

穿越印度。

(Applause)

（掌声）

The most powerful thing of all,

其中最棒的事情是，

it's not that I didn't achieve before then. Oh my God, I did.

不是我之前从未做到过，而是 -- 哦，上帝，我做到了。

But you know, I was believing in the wrong thing.

但各位知道，我所相信的是错误的。

Because I wasn't believing in me,

因为我不是相信自己 --

really me, all the bits of me --

真实的自己，我的每一部分 --

all the bits of all of us.

我们所有人的每一部分。

Do you know how much of us all pretend to be somebody we're not?

各位知道我们中有多少人在装扮成一个不是我们的人么？

And you know what, when you really believe in yourself and everything about you,

你知道吗，当你真的相信自己，相信你所有的一切时，

it's extraordinary what happens.

所发生的一切将非同凡响。

And you know what, that trip, that thousand kilometers,

你知道吗，那一千公里的旅程中，

it raised enough money for 6,000 cataract eye operations.

筹到的钱足够做六千次白内障眼科手术。

Six thousand people got to see because of that.

六千人将能因此复明。

When I came home off that elephant,

当我离开那头大象时，

do you know what the most amazing part was?

各位知道最神奇的是什么么？

I chucked in my job at Accenture.

我辞去了在埃森哲的工作。

I left, and I became a social entrepreneur,

我离开了，我成为了一名社会企业家，

and I set up an organization with Mark Shand called Elephant Family,

我与马克·山德一起建立了一个名为大象之家的组织，

which deals with Asian elephant conservation.

致力于亚洲象的保护。

And I set up Kanchi,

我成立了名为完治的组织，

because my organization was always going to be named after my elephant,

因为我的组织总是以我的大象命名，

because disability is like the elephant in the room.

因为残障就像是在房子里的大象。

And I wanted to make you see it in a positive way --

我希望让你们以积极的方式看待它 --

no charity, no pity.

不带施舍，不带怜悯。

But I wanted to work only and truly

但我想只以并真正的以

with business and media leadership

商业和媒体领导力

to totally reframe disability

用一种令人激动的可行的

in a way that was exciting and possible.

方式来完全重建残障。

It was extraordinary.

这非同凡响。

That's what I wanted to do.

这就是我想做的。

And I never thought about noes anymore, or not seeing,

我从未再想过别的，没想过看不见，

or any of that kind of nothing.

或者任何这类事情。

It just seemed that it was possible.

这看起来是可行的。

And you know, the oddest part is,

要知道，最古怪的是，

when I was on my way traveling here to TED,

当我在来这儿参加TED的路上时，

I'll be honest, I was petrified.

说实话，我有点吓呆了。

And I speak,

我要演讲，

but this is an amazing audience,

有那么棒的听众，

and what am I doing here?

我在这儿做什么？

But as I was traveling here,

但我来这儿的路上，

you'll be very happy to know,

你们会很高兴的知道，

I did use my white symbol stick cane,

我用了我的白色手杖，

because it's really good to skip queues in the airport.

因为在机场它能帮我免于排队。

And I got my way here

因我无法看见

being happily proud that I couldn't see.

而开心自豪地来到这里。

And the one thing is that a really good friend of mine,

还有件事儿，一名我真正的好朋友，

he texted me on the way over, knowing I was scared.

在中途他短信我，他知道我感到害怕。

Even though I present confident, I was scared.

尽管我表现的很自信，但我很害怕。

He said, "Be you."

他说，“做你自己。”

And so here I am.

因此我到这儿来了。

This is me, all of me.

这就是我，全部的我。

(Applause)

（掌声）

And I have learned, you know what,

我学习到，你知道吗，

cars and motorbikes and elephants,

汽车、摩托和大象，

that's not freedom.

都不是自由的。

Being absolutely true to yourself is freedom.

做绝对真实的自己，才是自由的。

And I never needed eyes to see -- never.

我不在需要眼睛来看 -- 绝不。

I simply needed vision and belief.

我仅需要愿景和信仰。

And if you truly believe --

如果你真正地相信 --

and I mean believe from the bottom of your heart --

我是说发自内心地相信 --

you can make change happen.

你就能促使变化发生。

And we need to make it happen,

我们需要让它发生，

because every single one of us --

因为我们中的每个人 --

woman, man, gay, straight,

女人，男人，同性恋，异性恋，

disabled, perfect,

残障的，完美的，

normal, whatever --

正常的，不论是什么 --

everyone of us

我们中每个人

must be the very best of ourselves.

必须是最好的自己。

I no longer want anybody to be invisible.

我不再希望任何人是隐形的。

We all have to be included.

我们都要参与其中。

And stop with the labels, the limiting.

停止给自己贴标签，设限制 --

Losing of labels,

抛开标签。

because we are not jam jars.

因为我们不是果酱罐；

We are extraordinary, different, wonderful people.

我们是非凡的、与众不同的、精彩的人。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）