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.
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."
"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.
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.
我每周在拉斯維加斯大學教三堂經濟課。上個星期一，在上課之前，我愉快地問我的學生周末過得怎么樣。一個年輕人說他的周末從來沒這么好過。 他拔掉了他的智齒。然后這個年輕人又繼續問我，為什么我總是看起來這么愉快。
他的問題使我想起了我以前在什么地方看到過的一些東西：“每天早晨當你醒來，你就有權利選擇想要怎樣度過這一天，”我說，“我選擇快樂地過。”
“讓我給你舉一個例子，”我在全班60個學生面前接著說道，“除了在拉斯維加斯大學教課，我也在亨德森社會學院教課，從我住的地方到那兒走高速公路有17英里。幾周前的一天我開了17英里的車去亨德森。我出高速公路以后轉到學院路。我只要沿著這條路再開四分之一英里就到學校了。但是就在那時我的車壞了。我又試著發動了一次，但是引擎根本轉不起來。所以我只好打開閃光燈，拿起我的書，沿著路往下走去學校。”
“我一到學校就啊地叫了起來，課后才安排拖車來把我和我的車拖走。院長辦公室的秘書問我發生了什么事情。‘這是我幸運日’ 我笑著回答。”
“ ‘你的車都拋錨了，今天還是你的幸運日？’ 她疑惑不解，‘你是什么意思？’ ”
“ ‘我住在17英里以外’ 我回答說，‘我的車可能在高速公路的任何一處拋錨。但是它沒有。而是在一個最理想的地方拋錨：下了高速公路，到這兒只有幾步路遠。我還能來教課，課后我還能安排拖車找到我。如果我的車今天注定要壞掉，那這樣子已經被安排得不能再方便了。”
“那個秘書瞪大了眼睛，然后笑了。我也朝她笑了一下，然后去上課了。” 這就是我的故事。
我掃視了一下在拉斯維加斯大學我的經濟課上的這60張臉。盡管還是一大早，卻沒有一個看起來有困意。不知為什么，我的故事打動了他們。或者可能不完全是因為這個故事。實際上，這一切都是從一個學生注意到我快樂開始的。
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