I kind of want to tell you

我想告訴你們

a little bit more of the --I don't want to say basics--

關於我的病--我不想說一些基本的--

because we really don't know anything about my syndrome.

因為所有人對這個綜合症一無所知。

I was born with this very, very rare syndrome,

我天生就患有一種很稀有的綜合症，

that only two other people in the world including myself, that we know of, have.

這世界上，只有另外兩位，包括我在內，知道我們罹患這樣的綜合症。

Basically what this syndrome causes, is that I cannot gain weight.

基本上，這個綜合症使我無法增重。

Yes, it does sound as good as it is.

是的，它聽起來的確很好。

(Laughter)

--

I could eat absolutely whatever I want, whenever I want

我可以在任何時候，任何地方，大吃大喝，

and I won't really gain any weight.

並且不會長胖。

I'm going to be 25 in March,

今年三月，我將會成為25歲，

and I've never weighed over about 64 pounds in my entire life.

而我的整個人生里，從未有體重超過64磅的時刻。

When I was in college, I hid

我在上大學的時候，我試圖掩藏-

--well, I didn't 'hide' it, everyone knew it was there--

好吧，我沒有掩藏，所有人都知道它的存在--

but it was a giant tub of Twinkies, donuts, chips, Skittles,

我所說的它是一大包的奶油夾心餅，甜甜圈，薯片以及彩虹糖。

and my roommate would say, "I could hear you at 12:30 am,

而我的室友會說：“凌晨12點半的時候，我能夠聽見你——

reaching under your bed to get food."

伸手到床底下拿食物吃。 ”

But I'm like, "You know what? It's alright, I can do these things!"

但是我說：“你知道嗎？那有什麼？我完全可以這樣做！”

Because there are benefits to this syndrome.

因為這是這個綜合症的好處之一。

There are benefits to not being able to gain weight.

無法增重有它的好處。

There are benefits to being visually impaired.

視力有缺陷有它的好處。

There are benefits to being kind of really small.

身材嬌小也有它的好處。

A lot of people think,

很多人認為，

"Lizzie, how in the world are you saying there are benefits

麗茲，你怎麼會說，

when you can only see out of one eye?"

只能用一隻眼睛也有它的好處？

Well, let me tell you what the benefits are

好，讓我告訴你那些好處是什麼。

because they are great.

因為它們真的很不錯。

I wear contacts--conTACT. Half-off conTACTS.

我能夠佩戴隱形眼鏡。一個隱形眼鏡。

(Laughter)

（大笑）

When I wear my reading glasses: half-off prescription.

我佩戴眼鏡時，也只需要一隻眼睛的度數。

If somebody is annoying me, being rude:

當有人因不禮貌而惹怒我時，

Stand on my right side.

請站在我的右邊。

(Laughter)

--

It's like you're not even there. I don't even know you're standing there.

那就像你根本不存在一樣。我不會知道你站在那裡。

Right now, if I stand like this, I have no clue

現在，如果我這樣站著，我不會知道，

that there's this whole side of the room.

這個場地裡還有這個角落。

Also, being small, I am very willing to volunteer myself

還有，因為身材嬌小，我可以——

to go to Weight Watchers, go to some gym, and say,

到健身房說：“

"Hi, I'm Lizzie. I will be your poster child.

嗨，我是麗茲，我會當你廣告的代言人。

Put my face on whatever you need, and I will say,

把我的臉放上去，而我會說，

'Hi! I used this program. Look how well it worked.'"

嗨，我使用了這個課程，看看它的效果多麼驚人。 "

(Laughter)

（大笑）

Even though there are amazing things that have come from this syndrome,

雖然這個綜合症能夠帶來很多很棒的事情，

there are also things that have been very, very difficult, as you can imagine.

但是，其中也有非常困難的事情，正如你能想像的。

Growing up, I was raised 150% normally.

在成長的過程中，我的父母一直將我像正常的小孩一樣養育長大。

I was my parents' first child.

我是家裡的第一個孩子。

And when I was born, the doctors told my mom,

我出生時，醫生告訴我母親，

"Your daughter has no amniotic fluid around her.

“你的女兒沒有羊水的保護。”

At all."

完全沒有。

So when I was born, it was a miracle that I came out screaming.

所以我能夠嚎啕大哭地來到這個世界，本身就是一種奇蹟。

The doctors told my parents,

醫生告訴我父母，

"We just want to warn you: Expect your daughter to never be able

“我們想讓你們做好心理準備，你們的女兒可能永遠無法

to talk, walk, crawl, think, or do anything by herself."

自己走路，說話，爬行或者是做任何事情。

Now, as first-time parents, you would think that my parents would say,

初為人父人母，你會認為我的父母會說：

"Oh no. Why? Why are we getting our first child

“為什麼？為什麼隨著我們第一個孩子的到來的，

with all these unknown problems?"

是這些如此棘手的問題？ ”

But that's not what they did.

但是他們並沒有這麼說。

The first thing they told the doctor was,

他們告訴醫生的第一件事，就是

"We want to see her, and we are going to take her home

”我們想見她。我們會把她帶回家。

and love her, and raise her to the best of our abilities."

好好愛她，並儘所能撫養她長大。 ”

And that's what they did.

他們真的這樣對待我。

I credit pretty much everything that I've done in my life to my parents.

我將我這一生的成就都歸功於我的父母。

My dad is here with me today, and my mom is at home watching.

我的父親今天就在現場，而我的母親在家裡看著。

Hi mom! (Laughter)

嗨，媽媽！

She's recovering from surgery.

她正從手術中恢復。

She has been the glue that's held our family together,

我母親一直是維繫家庭的粘合劑。

and she's given me the strength to see that she's going through so much,

看見她經歷這麼多事情，給了我很多的力量

but she has this fighting spirit that she's instilled in me,

因為我繼承了她那勇於奮鬥的精神，

so that I have proudly been able to stand in front of people and say,

所以今天我才能自豪地站在眾人的面前，說：“

"You know what? I've had a really difficult life.

你知道嗎？我的日子過得很艱難。

But that's okay."

但是沒關係。

That's okay. Things have been scary, things have been tough.

沒關係。事情是很可怕，很煎熬。 ”

One of the biggest things

其中一樣事情

that I had to deal with growing up

在我的成長過程中，我必鬚麵對——

was something I'm pretty sure

我確定——

every single one of us in this room has dealt with before.

在這個房間裡的每一個人都曾經經歷過的——

Can you guess what that is?

你們能猜出來那是什麼嗎？

It starts with a 'B'. Can you guys guess it?

它是以'B'字母開頭的。

(Audience) Boys! (Lizzie) Boys?

觀眾：“Boys(男孩）!”麗茲：“Boys(男孩）?”

(Laughter)

（大笑）

Bullying!

欺凌！

(Laughter)

（大笑）

I know what you all are thinking.

我知道你們在想什麼。

(Laughter)

（大笑）

Why can't I sit here with them? (Laughter)

為什麼我不能和他們坐在一起？ （大笑）

I had to deal with bullying a lot, but as I said, I was raised very normally,

我常常會面對欺凌事件，但正如我所說的，我像正常人一樣被撫養長大，

so when I started kindergarten,

所以當我開始上幼兒園時，

I had absolutely no idea that I looked different.

我完全沒有意識到，我長得和別人不一樣。

No clue.

完全沒有。

I couldn't see that I looked different from other kids.

我看不見，我和其他小孩有什麼不同之處。

I think of it as a big slap of reality for a five year-old,

對於一位五歲的小孩，我覺得那是來自現實的一巴掌。

because I went in to school the first day, decked-out in Pocahontas gear.

因為在入學的第一天，我穿著寶嘉康蒂風的服裝。

I was ready!

我已經準備好一切！

(Laughter)

（大笑）

I went in with my backpack

我帶著我的背包，

that looked like a turtle shell because it was bigger than me,

因為它的體積比我還大，所以看起來像烏龜殼——

and I walked up to a little girl and smiled at her,

我走到一個小女孩的面前，向她微笑，

and she looked up at me like I was a monster,

她抬頭看了看我，彷彿看見了魔鬼——

like I was the scariest thing she had ever seen in her life.

好像我是她在生命裡看過最可怕的東西一樣。

My first reaction was,

當下，我的反應是——

"She is really rude.

她真沒禮貌。

(Laughter)

（大笑）

I am a fun kid, and she's the one missing out.

我是一個非常有趣的小孩，沒能和我成為朋友，是她的損失。

So I'll just go over here and play with blocks. Or boys."

所以，我乾脆到另一邊玩積木，或者和男生一起玩。

(Laughter)

（大笑）

(Lizzie laughs)

（麗茲也一起笑）

I thought the day would get better, and unfortunately, it didn't.

我以為，日子會變得更好，但是不幸地，並沒有。

The day got worse and worse. A lot of people just wanted to have

日子越來越難過。很多人只想

absolutely nothing to do with me, and I couldn't understand why.

和我沒有任何關係，而我無法理解當中的原因。

Why? What did I do? I didn't do anything to them!

為什麼？我做了什麼？我什麼也沒對他們做過！

In my mind I was still a really cool kid.

在我心裡，我依舊是一個很酷的小孩。

I had to go home and ask my parents,

我只好回家問我的父母，

"What's wrong with me?

“我身上有什麼不對勁的嗎？”

What did I do? Why don't they like me?"

“我做了什麼？為什麼他們都不喜歡我？”

They sat me down and said,

他們讓我坐下，然後說：

"Lizzie, the only thing different about you

“麗茲，你和他們唯一不同的地方，

is that you're smaller than the other kids.

只是你比其他的小孩嬌小。

You have this syndrome, but it's not going to define who you are."

你的確罹患了一種綜合症，但它無法定義你是誰。

They said, "Go to school, pick your head up, smile,

他們說：“到學校去，抬起頭，微笑。

continue to be yourself, and people will see

繼續當一個真正的自己，人們就會看見

that you're just like them."

你和他們其實是一樣的。 ”

And so that's what I did.

所以，我真的這麼做。

I want you to think, and ask yourself this in your head, right now:

我想在座的各位想想，然後自己問自己：

What defines YOU?

“什麼能夠定義你自己？”

Who are you?

你是誰？

Is it where you come from? Is it your background? Is it your friends?

是你出生的地方嗎？是你的背景嗎？是你的朋友嗎？

What is it?

到底是什麼？

What defines who you are as a person?

作為一個獨立的人，是什麼能夠定義你自己？

It's taken me a very long time to figure out what defines me.

我花了很長的時間，才找到我的定義。

For so long I thought what defined me

有很長一段時間，我一直認為，能夠定義我的

was my outer appearance. I thought that my little tiny legs,

是我的外表，我以為是我那弱小的雙腳，

and my little arms, and my little face was ugly.

弱小的胳膊，和我醜陋的面孔。

I thought I was disgusting.

我覺得自己令人厭惡。

I hated when I'd wake up in the morning when I was going to middle school,

每天醒來，我非常討厭準備上學的時刻。

and would be looking in the mirror getting ready, and thinking:

我會看著鏡子，想著：

"Can I just scrub this syndrome off?

“我可以將這個綜合症除掉嗎？

It would make my life so much easier if I could just scrub it off.

如果能夠將它除掉，我的生活會輕鬆很多。

I could look like other kids; I wouldn't have to buy clothes

我可以長得像其他小孩一樣。我不需要購買

that had Dora the Explorer on them. I wouldn't have to buy stuff

印著‘征服者朵拉’的衣服，

that was 'Bedazzled', when I was trying to be like the cool kids."

我不需要為了成為很酷的小孩而買一些能取悅別人的物品。

I would wish, and pray, and hope, and do whatever I could

我會祈禱，希望

so I would wake up in the morning and be different,

有一天，當我早上醒來的時候，我會變得有所不同，

and I wouldn't have to deal with these struggles.

那我就不必為這些困難所煩惱。

It's what I wanted every single day,

每一天，我都如此祈求。

and every single day I was disappointed.

而每一天，我所擁有的，只有失望。

I have an amazing support system around me,

我的身邊，有著很強大的，支持我的力量

who never pity me, who are there to pick me up if I'm sad,

他們從來不會同情我，但是當我難過時，他們會在我身邊。

who are there to laugh with me during the good times,

會和我一同歡笑，

and they taught me that, even though I have this syndrome,

他們教會我，即使患有這個綜合症，

even though things are hard, I can't let that define me.

即使日子很難過，我也不能讓這些事物定義我。

My life was put into my hands, just like your lives are put into yours.

如何生活下去是由我掌控的，就像你們才是掌控自己如何生活的人。

You are the person in the front seat of your car.

坐在前座駕駛汽車的是你，

You are the one who decides

只有你自己才能決定

whether your car goes down a bad path, or a good path.

車子到底往對或是錯的方向行走。

You are the one who decides what defines you.

只有你，才能決定是什麼能夠定義你自己。

Now let me tell you: it could be really hard to figure out

要找到什麼能夠定義你自己，真的很難

what defines you, because there were times

因為，有時候

when I'd get so annoyed and frustrated, and say:

當我真的很憤怒時，我會說：

"I don't CARE what defines me!"

“我不在乎到底什麼能夠定義我自己!"

When I was in high school I found a video,

高中的時候，我發現了一個視頻，

unfortunately, that somebody posted of me,

很不幸的，那是關於我的視頻，

labeling me the world's ugliest woman.

視頻上對我的定義是'世界上最醜的女人'。

There were over four million views to this video; eight seconds long,

這個8分鐘的無聲視頻有超過4萬的點擊量，

no sound, thousands of comments; people saying,

上千的留言，其中有的網民說：

"Lizzie, please--PLEASE-- just do the world a favor,

”麗茲，請你，請求你，為這個世界做一件好事，

put a gun to your head, and kill yourself."

請你把槍放在你的太陽穴，然後一槍崩了自己。 ”

Think about that, if people told you that,

你們想想，如果有人告訴你們這一番話，

if strangers told you this.

是陌生人告訴你們的一番話。

I cried my eyes out of course, and I was ready to fight back

當然，我哭紅了雙眼，我也準備好如何反擊，

and something kind of clicked in my head,

忽然，我的腦海裡閃過一個念頭，

and I thought, "I'm just going to leave it alone."

我想：“我不會執著在這件事上。”

I started realizing that my life is in my hands.

我開始發現，我的生命掌控在我自己的手裡。

I could either choose to make this really good,

我可以選擇，讓我的生活變得很好，

or I could choose to make this really bad.

或是讓它變得很糟糕。

I could be grateful, and open my eyes

我可以心懷感恩的張開眼睛，

and realize the things that I do have,

珍惜我所擁有的，

and make those the things that define me.

然後讓那些我擁有的定義我自己。

I can't see out of one eye, but I can see out of the other.

或許我的一隻眼睛無法看見這世界。那又怎樣？我還有另一隻。

I might get sick a lot, but I have really nice hair.

我或許常常生病，但是我擁有很健康的頭髮。

(Laughter)

（大笑）

(Audience) You do, you do!

觀眾：你的確有！

Thanks.

麗茲：謝謝！

You guys are like the best little section right here.

你們是這個房間裡最好，最貼心的一群。

(Laughter)

（大笑）

(Lizzie laughs) You made me lose my train of thought!

你們甚至讓我忘了下一句要說什麼！

(Laughter)

（大笑）

Okay...where was I?

好的。 。 。我剛剛說到哪了？

(Audience) Your hair!

觀眾：你的頭髮!

Hair! Hair. Ok, ok, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

頭髮！對，對，對，謝謝。

So I could either choose to be happy or I could choose

所以，我可以自己選擇要很快樂，還是

to be upset with what I have and still kind of complain about it,

為我所擁有的感到難過，並且抱怨。

but then I started realizing:

但是，我想：

Am I going to let the people who called me a monster define me?

“我要讓那些喊我是魔鬼的人定義我嗎？

Am I going to let the people who said, "Kill it with fire!" define me?

我要讓那些喊著“用火把她燒掉”的人定義我嗎？

No; I'm going to let my goals, and my success, and my accomplishments

不，我會讓我的目標，我的成就，

be the things that define me-- Not my outer appearance,

成為定義我的事物——不是外形，

not the fact that I'm visually impaired,

不是我的視力問題，

not the fact that I have this syndrome that nobody knows what it is.

不是這個根本沒人知道的綜合症。

So I told myself I'm going to work my butt off

所以我告訴自己，我會拼了命的努力，

and do whatever I could to make myself better,

做任何我能夠做的，讓自己變得更好，

because in my mind, the best way that I could get back at all those people

因為對我而言，能夠報復那些

who made fun of me, who teased me,

取笑我的，嘲諷我的，

who called me ugly, who called me a monster

說我長得很醜的，說我是魔鬼的人的最佳方法，

was to make myself better, and to show them:

就是讓我自己變得更好，從而證明給他們看，

You know what?

你知道嗎？

Tell me those negative things,

你們對我的那些負面想法，

I'm going to turn them around,

我會反過來利用他們，

and I'm going to use them as a ladder

把它們當階梯一樣使用，

to climb up to my goals.

好讓我能夠更接近我的目標。

That's what I did.

我是這麼做的。

I told myself that I wanted to be a motivational speaker,

我告訴自己，我想成為一個激勵別人的講師，

I wanted to write a book,

我想寫一本書，

graduate college, have my own family, and have my own career.

我想從學院畢業，擁有自己的家庭，擁有自己的事業。

Eight years later, I’m standing in front of you,

八年後，我站在你們的面前，

still doing motivational speaking.

依然到處舉辦講座。

First thing, I accomplished it.

第一件事，我做到了。

I wanted to write a book; in a couple of weeks

我想寫一本書的目標，幾個星期後，

I will be submitting the manuscript for my third book.

我將會交上我的第三本書的手稿。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

I wanted to graduate college, and I just finished college.

我說過我想從學院畢業。不久前，我畢業了。

(Cheers and applause)

（鼓掌）

I'm getting a degree in Communication Studies

我將從聖馬科斯的德克薩斯州立大學獲得傳播學的學士學位，

from Texas State University in San Marcos,

我將從聖馬科斯的德克薩斯州立大學獲得傳播學的學士學位，

and I have a minor in English.

而我副修的專業是英文。

I really, really tried to use real-life experience

我嘗試用​​我真實生活的經歷，

while I was getting my degree, and my professors were not having it.

來拿到學位，但是我的教授沒有因此而讓我輕鬆過關。

But, I wanted to have, lastly, my own family and my own career.

最後，我想擁有自己的家庭和事業，