I think

我想

It would be fair to say that

自己可以以中肯的态度说

my upbringing has not been the most typical.

小时我被教养的方式有些与众不同

Without getting in to too much detail

再次我不想赘述太多细节

l I have had A few hills to overcome.

我曾经经历过几次坎坷

Some have been of my own making

其中一些是我自己造成的

and some I have just been unlucky.

有一些则是因为我运气不佳

My biological father was in prison

我的父亲在监狱里

and my mum who was 18 years old when I was born,母亲生我的时候才18岁

she was often away when I was young

我小的时候她常常不在我身边

and grew up with my Grandparents.

我是与爷爷奶奶一起长大的

I left school with no qualifications

离开高中的时候我没有考取任何资格证书

and flunked¹ out of college which is no surprise毫无悬念的因为考试不及格被大学退学

as I had gone through most of my school years with undiagnosed dyslexia .

因为在学校里的这些年中，我一直患有读写障碍症，却没有得到诊断By the time I was 17

到17岁的时候

I was depressed²

我开始抑郁

and had nothing,

并且一无所有

I had moved out of my home

我从家里搬了出来

and was living with ‘friends’.

与“朋友们”住在一起

If you had asked me then

如果你那时问我

what my life would look like in another 17 years’ time再过一个17年，我的生活会是什么样子

it would be nothing how it looks now.

我的回答一定会与此刻的现状大相径庭

I got a job as a Chef,

我找到了一份厨师的工作

I worked the 100 hours a weeks

每周我工作100个小时

that are required in the industry,

这是餐饮行业所要求的

to this day I don’t know why

直到如今我也不知为何

but no matter what was going on in my life

但无论自己的生活中会发生什么

I found that I could concentrate on work

我发现自己都可以专心致志的工作

and the more I worked

我工作的越多

the less I drank.

喝酒的次数就越少

After a couple of years’,

多年之后

I tried my best at computing³,

我尽全力学习电脑技术

it is the one natural gift that I have been blessed with.

这是我与生俱来的天赋之一

I found I was quite good at it,

我发现自己很在行

my work ethic⁴ carried over from being a chef

我的工作态度从厨师的岗位上一脉相承

and I consumed more overtime⁵

我加班是时间更长了

than is legally allowable in the UK.

甚至超过了英国法律规定的时长

By this point

到了现在

the less I drank

我喝的酒越少

the more my depression lifted,

自己的抑郁症也跟着缓和了许多

this was all noticed by my employer

这些都被我的老板看在眼里

and I was picked for some extra projects,

于是我被选中去做一些额外的项目

these projects allowed me to go for better jobs.

这些项目让我可以有机会争取更好的工作

This went on for the next couple of years

这种生活在接下来的几年里持续下去

until I find myself in the position I am in now.

直到我发现，自己竟已经到了如今的位置

In my current organization

在我现在的公司里

I met my partner

我遇到了自己的终生伴侣

who helped me realize

是她让我意识到

it was OK to be a little selfish sometimes

有时人可以有一点点小自私

and that I can be happy.

我也有权快乐

Once I met her,

遇到她之后

I started finding other reasons to be happy

我有了更多的理由去让自己快乐

and the happier I became

我越是快乐

the more confident I grew.

就变得越发自信

I now have an amazing partner

现在，我有一个非常好的妻子

who was able to see past all my issues,

她能包容我所有的问题，看到我的闪光点

two amazing kids whom I love,

两个很棒的孩子，我爱他们

Quite simply the best most loving dog in the world我还有一条狗，它是这个世界上感情最热烈的狗

and some amazing friends.

我还有一群很棒的朋友

I drive now

现在我已经学会了驾驶汽车

and finally Today

而且，就在今天，终于

I was promoted for the third time in 4 years,4年以来我已经第三次升职了

I now earn just over three times the average salary in the UK.

现在我的工资比英国的平均工资水平高出两倍多

I am debt free for the first time in my adult life成年以来我第一次偿清了所有的债务

and we are looking to extend the house.

我们计划着把房屋扩建一番

I know

我知道

there are a lot of things going on in the world世界上每天都有很多事发生

and I probably should be more worried

人无远虑必有近忧

but at the moment

但此时此刻

I just cannot be sad.

我实在无法让自己冷静下来

I have more than I could ever have dreamed of我拥有的是自己连做梦也绝不敢想到的

and more than I deserve.

超过了我理应得到的