Unit 12 The Butterfly 第12单元 蝴蝶

I had had it with life. My career was unexciting. 我受够了这样的生活，我的生活枯燥乏味，

My marriage was on the rocks and I didn't like the direction my figure was going. 我的婚姻濒临破裂，我不喜欢渐渐走样的身材，

I felt life was boring and meaningless. 我觉得生活既无聊又没意义。

One day, I saw a butterfly trying to escape from my home. 有天，我看到一只蝴蝶打算从家里逃脱，

It kept flying into the window. Clearly, it thought that was its way out. 它飞啊飞一直撞向窗户，显然它认为那是出口。

Instead of finding¹ freedom, it became tired and ended up stuck in a spider's web. 可是非但没有获得自由，还累得困在蜘蛛网间。

I learned² something from that butterfly. I decided³ to take charge of my life. 我从蝴蝶身上学到一些事，我决定对生活负责。

I wrote a list with different headings: marriage-work-me. Under them, I listed what I didn't like. 我写了张列有不同标题的清单，包括婚姻、工作和我自己，在底下我列出讨厌的事情。

Each day when I woke up, I picked something from the list. 每天早上起床，我会从清单挑选其中一样，

Throughout the day, I learned to love it, got rid of it or changed it. 并在当天学会喜欢、摆脱或改变这件事。

It took almost a year but, eventually, I had changed everything on the list. 我花了将近一年的时间，最后终于改变了清单上的所有事。

I realized, like the butterfly, I just kept going in the same direction. 我了解我过去就像那只蝴蝶，一直往相同方向前进；

I simply took a different direction and dealt with life one step at a time. 其实我只需要换个方向，一次解决生活上的一个课题。