英语专业晨读美文-励志篇 7 The Power of Us

[00:01.95]The Power of Us
[00:03.81]Sometimes I think that if I could change the world,
[00:08.73]and run everything the way I want, then the world would be a better place.
[00:12.78] I'm a good guy. I have good intentions.
[00:16.17]I want the best for everyone; so it sounds like a good plan, right?
[00:20.65]Why not just make me the king of the world?
[00:24.04]I would have the smartest people in the world serving in my cabinet
[00:28.85]to solve all the important issues that I don't know much about.
[00:32.03] The rest will work itself out.
[00:34.54]The truth of the matter is that
[00:36.62] we've all had that thought in our minds at one point or another.
[00:39.68] It's our ego¹'s natural yearning². If only I got my way.
[00:44.72]If only I ruled the world.
[00:46.79]An even greater truth is that
[00:49.08]none of us is going to become the king of the world anytime soon.
[00:52.91] It would probably be a very lonely job, anyway.
[00:56.08]Too many responsibilities, too much on one person's shoulders.
[01:00.90]So how do we go about changing the world
[01:03.74]if we don't have supreme³ reign⁴ over everything?
[01:06.26]The bad news is that it's still our individual responsibility.
[01:10.63] Despite not being the kings of the world,
[01:13.37] the changes we make as individuals can
[01:16.10]and will impact the rest of the world
[01:18.51] if executed with great precision and passion.
[01:21.02]Where We Make the Most Impact
[01:23.54]I am convinced that we can create the most change in the world
[01:27.59] by concentrating our resources where we can have the most potential impact.
[01:31.74] This focus, unlike spreading our resources thin,
[01:35.78]allows us to have a more direct impact on individuals.
[01:38.96]The part of the world in which we make the most impact,
[01:42.35]whether we like it or not, is within our families and small circles of friends.
[01:47.38] We may be successful in converting our family into believers,
[01:51.10] and they may even turn out to be our biggest group of supporters, or not.
[01:56.02]The point, however, does not lie in the way they treat us,
[01:59.63]but rather it's in our behavior,
[02:02.03] and the actions we exhibit from our end; the way we treat them!
[02:06.52]Being able to express compassion⁵, patience, love,
[02:09.91]and understanding for the people in our families,
[02:12.43]despite opposing views belief systems,
[02:14.94]allows us to expand our ability to empathize with others.
[02:18.55] These abilities, which in my opinion are critical in interpersonal relationships,
[02:23.91]will become ingrained in us as second nature.
[02:27.08]The fact that we have such a high level of influence on the people closest to us,
[02:31.37]our families and close friends,
[02:33.66]will make them more susceptible⁶ to picking up on these behaviors
[02:37.06]and adopting them as their very own.
[02:39.79]Thus, we spread compassion, patience, love and understanding.
[02:44.71] From one person leading by example to another.
[02:48.21]Taking Impact to The Next Level
[02:50.72]While transforming the world for our own families can be very fulfilling,
[02:55.10]many of our egos⁷ will strive for prolific⁸ change in the world.
[02:58.93] In one sense, our egos' mission is to conquer the world.
[03:02.87] Whether it conquers it with a message of love or destruction
[03:06.25] depends on the individual ego.
[03:08.55]You may think that family does not need to be a first step,
[03:11.84]and that you are perfectly⁹ capable of changing the entire world
[03:15.33]without such a close social bond.
[03:17.74]You'll soon find out that human beings do not operate on such a paradigm¹⁰.
[03:22.12] Whether blood related or not, people tend to gravitate to others,
[03:26.49]and eventually form a family unit. It's a survival mechanism¹¹.
[03:31.19]This is why I say to first work on yourself, then your family,
[03:35.24]and then the rest of the world.
[03:37.42] From this powerful core and support system you will have better resources,
[03:41.80] mental, material, and spiritual, in order to make breakthroughs
[03:46.28]with hundreds, thousands, or millions of people around the globe.
 

1 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

2 yearning   

a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的

参考例句：

• a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
• He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

5 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

6 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

7 egos   

自我，自尊，自负( ego的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their egos are so easily bruised. 他们的自尊心很容易受到伤害。
• The belief in it issues from the puerile egos of inferior men. 这种信仰是下等人幼稚的自私意识中产生的。

8 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

10 paradigm   

n.例子，模范，词形变化表

参考例句：

• He had become the paradigm of the successful man. 他已经成为成功人士的典范。
• Moreover,the results of this research can be the new learning paradigm for digital design studios.除此之外，本研究的研究成果也可以为数位设计课程建立一个新的学习范例。

11 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。