It seems we have been measured almost all of our lives,

我們一輩子好像都會被量東量西，

when we are infants, with our height and our weight,

嬰兒時期要量身高體重，

and as we grew it became our speed and our strength.

長大一點要量速度和力氣。

And even in school there are test scores

甚至在學校也要用考試成績衡量，

and today with our salaries and job performance.

現在就用薪水和工作表現。

It seems as if those personal averages are almost always used

那些個人的平均水準

to measure where we are in comparison to our peers.

似乎老是用來衡量 我們在同儕中的排名。

And I think we should look at that a little differently.

我想我們應該用不同的方式 來看待這件事。

That personal average is just that, it's something very personal

個人水準是很個人的東西，

and it's for you,

專屬於你，

and I think if you focus on that and work to build that,

我認為如果你專注努力打造這個部分，

you can really start to accomplish some really amazing things.

就能開始完成一些真的非常棒的事情。

This idea started for me on a December evening in 2011.

我開始有這個想法 是在 2011 年 12 月的某個傍晚。

I had just stepped outside to do our evening chores

我才剛踏出家門，

to feed our horses.

一如往常要去餵我們的馬。

I hopped into our tractor,

我跳上拖拉機，

and a few minutes later,

沒幾分鐘，

a five foot tall, 700-pound bale of hay fell from the loader,

一捆一米五高、三百多公斤重的 稻草從裝載機上掉下來，

crushing me in the seat of the tractor

把我重壓在曳引機座位上，

and in the process shattering my T5 and T6 vertebrae.

壓碎我的第五、六節胸椎。

I didn't lose consciousness,

我沒有失去意識，

but I felt this buzz throughout my body, and I knew what had happened right away.

但感覺全身陣痛， 我馬上意識到剛發生的事。

My hands were reaching for my legs,

我伸手去摸腿，

but my legs didn't recognize anything touching them.

但我的腿感覺不到觸摸。

And in fact, I couldn't feel anything from the center of my chest down.

其實我胸部以下都沒有感覺。

So there I was, about 100 feet from the house,

所以我在離家不到三十公尺的地方，

with my arms wrapped around the steering the wheel,

用兩隻手臂環抱住方向盤，

trying to hold myself up, waiting for help.

試圖把自己拉起來，等待救援。

And unlike what you see in TV and the movies,

不像各位在電視或電影上看到的那樣，

as much as I tried to get the dogs to go to the house and get help --

儘管我一直叫狗回家求援，

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

they just stared at me.

結果牠們只是盯著我看。

Well, 45 minutes later, my wife came home,

45 分鐘後，我老婆回到家，

and I heard her step out of the house

我聽到她走出來，

and, like, normal, if I needed help, "Hey, do you need help?"

像以往一樣問我：「嘿！要幫忙嗎？」

And I said, "Yes."

我說：「要。」

And there was a brief pause and then I heard her yell,

幾秒鐘後我聽到她喊：

"Do you need 9/11 help?"

「要幫忙叫救護車嗎？」

And again I yelled, "Yes."

我回喊：「要。」

Well, not long after I was enjoying my very first helicopter ride

沒多久之後我就享受人生中 首趟直升機之旅，

all the way to the hospital.

直飛醫院。

Now, the injury wasn't very dramatic or graphic.

外表上傷勢沒有很嚇人， 也沒有血肉模糊。

I simply broke a bone or two.

只是斷了一兩根骨頭。

And in the process, I was told I'd probably never walk again.

過程中醫生說我八成不能再走路了。

It became very normal for me to use a rope to sit up in bed,

我開始習慣用繩子在床上坐起來，

because my abdominal muscles no longer work.

因為我的腹肌失能了。

Or to use a board to slide out of bed into a wheelchair,

我還要習慣用板子滑下床坐進輪椅，

or to even wait for people to reach things for me.

甚至還要習慣等人拿東西給我。

Everything that I had learned and had known about my height

以前我對自己身體的了解，

and my strength and my balance and my mobility was blown away.

像是身高、力氣、平衡感、靈活度，

My entire personal average had been reset.

都成過往雲煙。

Now you could be sure in those days I was being measured more than ever,

我的個人水平已經重置了。

by the doctors and nurses for sure

可想而知，那段時間 是我這輩子最常被衡量的時期，

but maybe more so in my own mind,

當然醫生、護理師會量，

and I found myself comparing

但也許更多是我在心裡衡量，

what I thought I was going to be able to do going forward

我發現自己在比較

with what I once was able to do.

未來可能可以做到哪些，

And I became pretty frustrated.

和曾經可以做到哪些。

It took some very consistent prodding from my wife, who kept saying,

我變得很絕望。

"Get your eyes up," before I could get moving forward.

我太太不斷激勵我，一直說：

And I soon realized that I almost had to forget about the person I was before

「擡頭向前看，」 直到我開始向前邁進。

and the things I was able to do before.

我很快了解到，我幾乎 得忘了自己過去是怎樣的人，

I almost had to pretend it was never me.

還有我以前能夠做到的事。

And I'm afraid if I had not made that realization,

我幾乎得假裝過去的我不是我。

my frustration would have turned into something much harder to recover from.

如果我沒有那個覺悟，

Now, luckily, a few weeks later,

我的挫折恐怕會轉化成 更加難以復原的東西。

I was transferred to a specialty spinal cord rehab hospital

還好過了幾個星期之後，

about 10 hours from home, and wouldn't you know,

我被轉到脊隨損傷的專科復健醫院，

the first day of rehab and the first session

離我家大概十小時。

we had something called fit class,

你們猜怎麼著？

and a group of us broke into teams

第一天第一個復健課程

to see which team could do the most reps in the weight machine.

叫健身課，

Now, we've all been there, haven't been to the gym in a year or two.

我們一群人分成幾組，

Neither had I.

看哪一組可以在重訓機上做最多下。

And so what do you do?

大家都有過一兩年沒上健身房，

You try to do what you did a couple of years ago,

我也是。

and you do a couple of sets.

那怎麼辦？

And then what do you do? A couple more.

就照著幾年前的方式做。

And you're feeling even better, so you do more.

做幾組訓練，

And the next two weeks you complain to your family about how sore you are.

然後呢？再多做幾組。

(Laughter)

你感覺更好了，所以再多做幾組。

Well, my team went all out and we won, we won big,

之後兩個星期你都在 跟家人抱怨肌肉有多痠痛。

and for the next three days I could not straighten my arms,

（笑聲）

which isn't that big a deal except when you're in a wheelchair

我們這組全力以赴，遙遙領先，

and that's really what you have to use to get around.

接下來三天我手都伸不直，

And that proved to be a very important lesson for me.

這沒什麼，問題是如果你坐輪椅，

It was one thing that I couldn't compare myself to myself,

得要靠手才能行動。

but even around people in the same situation in that hospital,

這件事對我來說是很重要的教訓。

I found that I couldn't try to keep pace or set pace with them as well,

我當然沒辦法跟過去的自己比，

and I was left with really only one choice

但即使和那些在醫院 同樣情況的人相比，

and that was to focus on who I was at that point in time

我也覺得自己跟不上他們的速度，

with where I needed to go and to get back to who I needed to be.

我別無選擇，

For the next six weeks, for seven to eight hours a day,

只能專注在那個當下的自己，

that's what I did.

以及我的目標、 回到我原來該有的狀態。

I built little by little,

接下來六週，每天七八小時，

and, as you might expect,

我就做這件事。

when you're recovering from a spinal cord injury,

每天一點一點建立起來，

you're going to have a bad day.

如你們所料，

You might have a few in a row.

脊髓損傷復健的過程中

What I found out is that good and bad really didn't have a lot of meaning

總會有不太順的日子。

unless I had the context of knowing what my average was.

可能還會連續好幾天不順。

It was really up to me to decide if something was bad or good

我發現好壞其實沒什麼意義，

based on where I was at that point in time,

除非我意識到 自己先前的水準在哪裡。

and it was in my control to determine if it really was a bad day.

事情是好是壞其實由我決定，

In fact, it was my decision on whether or not I could stop

靠的是我在當下 那個時間點的狀態，

a streak of bad days.

今天到底是好是壞全由我決定。

And what I found during that time away from home

其實能不能終結連續幾天的不順，

is I never had a bad day, even with everything going on.

都是看我自己要不要。

There were parts of my day that were certainly not as pleasant

我發現離家的那段時間，

as they could be,

我沒有一天不順， 即使日子是那樣過。

but it was never an entirely bad day.

整天下來會有些不太高興的時刻，

So I'm guessing that all of you have been through a meeting

但絕對不會整天都很差。

that probably didn't go very well,

我猜大家都開過一種會，

or a commute that wasn't as great as you would like it,

過程不太順利，

or even burned dinner at night.

或是通勤路上不太愉快，

Did those things really ruin your entire day?

也可能你把晚餐煮到燒焦了。

What I found in those scenarios is the quicker you move on to what's next,

那些事真的壞了你一整天的心情嗎？

the quicker you can start attacking things.

我發現碰到那種情況， 只要越快做下一件事，

And by moving on to next as fast as possible,

就能越快開始處理事情。

you shrink the time you spend in those bad scenarios

透過儘快去做下一件事，

and it gives more time for the good.

你就能縮短花在那些不好情況的時間，

And, as a result, the good outweighs the bad,

就能把時間留給好的部分。

your average increases and that's just how the math works.

結果好的時間多於不好的時間，

It didn't matter to me if I'd spent the morning

你的水平提高了， 用數學算一下就知道。

really struggling with my medication,

我是不是早上

or at lunch my legs being very spastic,

吃藥的過程不太順。

or even if I had fallen out of my wheelchair.

午餐時腿是不是一直抽筋，

Ask my wife. It happens quite often.

甚至還掉下輪椅， 對我來說都不重要。

She's here.

可以問我老婆，這些事很常發生。

They were just small parts of my day and small parts of my average.

她在現場。

And so, in the months and years that followed,

這只是我一天之中的一小部分， 我個人平均裡的一小部分。

I continued to try to attack things in that way,

在接下來的幾個月、幾個年頭，

and before I knew it I was being presented with some pretty incredible challenges,

我繼續用這種方式來做事情，

like completing a marathon in a wheelchair.

轉眼間，我已經在挑戰 一些不可能的任務，

In early 2016, I met my physical therapist,

像是坐輪椅跑馬拉松完賽。

and after a few really grueling sessions, she must have sensed something,

我在 2016 年初 認識我的物理治療師，

because she pulled me aside and said, "You know, you should do a half marathon.

經過幾次真的很操的練習之後， 他八成察覺到什麼，

In your wheelchair. And, oh yeah, it's in 10 weeks."

因為他把我拉到旁邊說， 「你知道嗎？你應該跑半馬，

And I thought in my mind, "You're crazy." I didn't have a workout plan.

就坐在你的輪椅上跑。 喔對啊，只剩十週。」

I didn't have any way of knowing how fast I needed to go

我心想，「你瘋了。」 我沒有訓練計畫。

or how far I was supposed to go.

我完全不知道我應該「跑」多快，

But I simply got to work,

或應該「跑」多遠。

and I started tracking every workout, every day,

但我就是得做，

and I simply wanted to be as good as or as fast as I was the prior day.

我開始每天記錄每次訓練，

And in the end I really created that average for myself

我只想跟前一天一樣好、一樣快。

and I tried to build on that as much as I could.

最後我真的為自己建立了基準，

Well, I finished that race right in time with what my average should have been,

我竭盡所能再往上努力。

and somewhere along the way

我完成比賽的時間剛好達到那個水準，

I kind of closed the door on who I once was.

不知道從什麼時候開始，

That person who I was before

我不再去看過去的我是誰。

and all those things I thought I was able to do really didn't matter.

過去的我，

In fact, walking again really didn't matter.

還有我以為可以做的那些事 真的都不重要了。

It became much less of a goal for me in terms of where I was going to go.

其實能不能再走路也不重要了。

And besides, like, you guys are so slow when you walk.

從我要努力的方向來看， 走路對我來說不太像是目標了。

In crowds like this, it is so difficult.

再說，你們這些人走得實在很慢。

I'm like, "Get out of the way. We're going places."

在人群裡有夠麻煩，

(Laughter)

我會想：「讓開，我們要贏了！」

And all I wanted to do was go fast.

（笑聲）

And so I did what I thought I should do.

我一心只想快一點。

I started researching wheelchair racing.

所以我做了我認為該做的事，

And I went online and I found the best of the best,

我開始研究輪椅競速 。

I learned their technique, I learned about the equipment,

我上網找出最厲害的強者，

and I was lucky to have a coach that offered me a way to get started.

學習他們的技巧、了解他們的設備，

And after talking with him

很幸運我有教練幫我開始準備。

and having him help me get those things underway,

我和他談過之後，

as I was leaving, he says, "You know, you should do the 2017 Chicago Marathon."

讓他幫我開始打點那些事，

And he's the coach, I can't tell him no.

我要離開前，他說：

So with that guidance, I went back home, and I got to work,

「你應該參加 2017 芝加哥馬拉松賽。」

much like in the prior way.

他是教練，我不能對他說不。

And I continued researching, but I had learned my lesson.

我帶著他的指示回家，開始準備，

I was really careful not to compare

就像之前那樣。

with how accomplished those people on the internet were

我繼續研究，謹記之前學到的教訓。

and how fast they were,

我很小心，不要拿自己和別人比較，

because if I had, I probably never would have continued

跟網路上那些人比強、比快，

going through with it.

因為跟他們比，

Well, the weekend of the race arrived,

我大概就永遠不會堅持下去。

and it was just like going to college for the first time.

到了比賽的那個週末，

You're dumped off,

感覺就像第一天上大學。

there's a whole bunch of people around you,

你被送到學校，

you don't really know very many of them,

一大堆人在你旁邊，

somebody's got the cool stereo and the cool TV

你認識沒幾個人，

and they're smart and they're pretty and they're cute and they're handsome

有人有很酷的音響和電視，

and you don't know if you really belong.

他們聰明、漂亮、可愛、帥氣，

But then somebody says, "Hey, let's go get food."

你不知道自己是不是真的夠格在那。

And all of a sudden, that friend group happens

但是有人說：「嘿！來去吃飯。」

and you start to settle in.

突然之間你有了朋友圈，

Well, that weekend of the race,

然後你開始安頓下來。

we had a meeting called the Wheelers Meeting,

比賽的那個週末，

and there were 60 wheelchairs in that room the night before the race.

我們有一個叫「輪友會」的見面會，

And wouldn't you know it,

比賽前一晚大概有 60 張輪椅在那間會議室裡，

all of the people that I had been researching were there,

你們猜怎麼著？

the best in the world.

所有我之前研究過的人都在那，

There must have been over 50 Paralympic medals in the room that day.

世界上最強的那些人。

And I felt pretty small and I fell back into that trap of comparing myself.

現場那些人得過的帕奧獎牌 加起來絕對超過 50 面。

I knew that my averages that I had been tracking during my workouts

我覺得自己很渺小， 又落入和別人比較的陷阱。

were over 90 seconds slower per mile than theirs.

我知道我平常訓練的水準

And the coach was the only one there that I knew,

每公里比他們慢超過 55 秒。

and he reached out and noticed something, and I think he sensed my anxiety,

教練是我在場唯一認識的人，

and he invited me to get food with his team.

他靠過來注意到不對勁， 我猜他發現我很焦慮，

And with that, everything settled down.

就邀請我和他的隊伍一起吃東西。

I realized really quick that they didn't care about my average, surely,

這個舉動讓一切都安頓下來。

and I had forgotten about theirs.

我馬上發現他們根本不在乎我的水準，

Well that next day,

我也忘了他們的。

I finished the race about 45 minutes after the person that won it.

隔天我比第一名 晚了大概 45 分鐘完賽。

But as I was leaving, those new friends, who are very close today,

我準備要離開，那些當年才剛認識， 現在很親近的好朋友，

challenged me to stay involved

要我保持下去，

and to keep working through different races and competitions.

繼續參加不同比賽。

And so I did what I knew how. I went home, and I got busy.

我做了該做的事，回家開始忙。

Now, as you can imagine, being in a wheelchair,

你們可以想像，

let alone training for a marathon in a wheelchair,

光是坐在輪椅上就是相當寂寞的事，

is a pretty lonely thing.

更不用說是在輪椅上訓練馬拉松。

I have an incredible group of friends

我有一群很棒的朋友會騎單車陪我，

that will ride bikes with me and keep track of pace and help me out.

記錄我的配速、提供協助。

But in the end, it's still five to six days a week,

但最後，每個星期還是有五六天，

it's 50 to 60 miles of effort, and it's a lot of alone time.

大概八九十公里路程，

And for the most part,

孤單的時間還是很多。

you really have nothing to rely on but yourself in those times.

大多數時間，