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COMMITMENT

I will never forget what my old headmaster told me. Normally when you are only 15 years of age you may not remember most of the things that are preached by your teachers. But, this particular story is one such lesson that I will never forget. Every time I drift off course, I get reminded of this story.

It was a normal Monday morning at an assembly, and he was addressing the students on important things in life and about committing ourselves to what is important to us. This is how the story went:

An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway. He would get the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and beg. He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.

His house was filthy, and a stench came out of the house and it smelled horribly. The neighbors could not stand the smell anymore, so they asked the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.

The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire. They waited outside his house in anticipation to share the good news with him. When he arrived home that evening, he was met by one of the officers who told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.

He said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, got into the train, and sat at the street corner and continued to beg.

Obviously, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than staying focused on the things we enjoy doing, commitment. We should remain true to our course, although it may mean committing ourselves to things that people around us would normally disapprove. Just keep it in mind that Commitment attracts wealth.

【助讀詞匯】

◇preach v. 講，反復灌輸，說教

◇assembly n. 集會

◇filthy adj. 不潔的，污穢的，骯臟的

◇stench n. 惡臭，臭氣

◇commitment n. 致力，獻身

【參考譯文】

專注

我永遠忘不掉老校長的那席話。一般說來，當你只有15歲的時候，老師講的大部分教導都可能無法記住，但是他講述的這個故事卻是令我終生難忘的重要一課。每次當我偏離正軌時，就會想起這個故事。

那是一次普通的星期一早晨集會，他對學生發言，講述人生中重要的事情和如何投身其中。故事是這樣的：

有一個老人住在倫敦的某個地方，每早醒來后便前往地鐵站。他會搭去市中心的地鐵，然后坐在街角落乞討。日復一日，每天如此。他坐在同一個角落，乞討了近20年。

他的家很臟，從房子里飄出的臭味很難聞。鄰居受不了這個氣味了，所以他們請來警察把那房子清理清理。警察打開門進去，把房子打掃干凈。里面到處都是小袋子，裝著他這些年來乞討回來的錢。

警察數了數這些錢，發現這位老人其實是個百萬富翁。他們滿心期待，在房子旁邊等著他回來告訴他這一好消息。晚上他到家的時候，看到了其中一位警察。警察告訴他不用再乞討了，他已經是一個很有錢的人，一個百萬富翁了。

他什么都沒說，走進房子鎖上了門。第二天，他像平常一樣起床，去地鐵站，搭地鐵，坐在街邊繼續乞討。

很顯然，這位老人對他的人生沒有什么宏偉的計劃或夢想。這個故事教給我們一個道理那就是，全心投入我們熱衷的事情。我們應該忠實于自己的道路，即使這意味著旁人可能不認同我們專心致志做的事。但是記住專注帶來財富。

【人生啟迪】

中國有句警句：常立志不如立長志。我們總是心血來潮一下子要干這個，一下子要干那個，到頭來白白蹉跎了歲月，一事無成。我們誰都明白滴水穿石的道理，不管你的目標多么遠大，不管你的力量多么渺小，只要你堅持不懈地努力，就有成功的那天。