I teach economics at UNLV three times per week. Last Monday, at the beginning of class, I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been so good. He had his wisdom teeth removed. The young man then proceeded to ask me why I always seemed to be so cheerful.

我每周三次在拉斯维加斯大学讲经济学。上周一，在刚开始上课的时候，我问我的学生周末过得怎么样。一个年轻人说他的周末过得不太好。他去拔智齿了。年轻人问我为什么我看上去总是那么高兴。

His question reminded me of something I'd read somewhere before: 'Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about how you want to approach life that day,' I said. 'I choose to be cheerful.''Let me give you an example,' I continued, addressing all sixty students in the class. 'In addition to teaching here at UNLV, I also teach out at the community college in Henderson, 17 miles down the freeway from where I live. One day a few weeks ago I drove those 17 miles to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive another quarter mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again, but the engine wouldn't turn over. So I put my flashers on, grabbed my books, and marched down the road to the college.'

他的问题使我想起了我以前在什么地方看到过的一些东西：“每天早晨当你醒来，你就有权利选择想要怎样度过这一天，”我说，“我选择快乐地过。”“让我给你举一个例子，”我在全班60个学生面前接着说道，“除了在拉斯维加斯大学教课，我也在亨德森社会学院教课，从我住的地方到那儿走高速公路有17英里。几周前的一天我开了17英里的车去亨德森。我出高速公路以后转到学院路。我只要沿着这条路再开四分之一英里就到学校了。但是就在那时我的车坏了。我又试着发动了一次，但是引擎根本转不起来。所以我只好打开闪光灯，拿起我的书，沿着路往下走去学校。”

'As soon as I got there I called AAA and arranged for a tow truck to meet me at my car after class. The secretary in the Provost's office asked me what has happened. 'This is my lucky day,' I replied, smiling.'' 'Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day?' She was puzzled. 'What do you mean?''' 'I live 17 miles from here.' I replied. 'My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway. It didn't. Instead, it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, within walking distance of here. I'm still able to teach my class, and I've been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class. If my car was meant to break down today, it couldn't have been arranged in a more convenient fashion.'''The secretary's eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class.' So ended my story.

“我一到学校就啊地叫了起来，课后才安排拖车来把我和我的车拖走。院长办公室的秘书问我发生了什么事情。‘这是我幸运日’ 我笑着回答。”“你的车都抛锚了，今天还是你的幸运日？” 她疑惑不解，“你是什么意思？ ”“我住在17英里以外”我回答说，“我的车可能在高速公路的任何一处抛锚。但是它没有。而是在一个最理想的地方抛锚：下了高速公路，到这儿只有几步路远。我还能来教课，课后我还能安排拖车找到我。如果我的车今天注定要坏掉，那这样子已经被安排得不能再方便了。”“那个秘书瞪大了眼睛，然后笑了。我也朝她笑了一下，然后去上课了。” 这就是我的故事。

I scanned the sixty faces in my economics class at UNLV. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be asleep. Somehow, my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasn't the story at all. In fact, it had all started with a student's observation that I was cheerful.

我扫视了一下在拉斯维加斯大学我的经济课上的这60张脸。尽管还是一大早，却没有一个看起来有困意。不知为什么，我的故事打动了他们。或者可能不完全是因为这个故事。实际上，这一切都是从学生对我的注意开始使我快乐的。