What I Learned from 100 Days of Rejection | Jia Jiang | TED · TED
Jia Jiang通过100天主动寻求拒绝，学会如何面对被拒绝的痛苦与羞耻。适合练习自信表达、请求与应对拒绝的英语口语。
When I was six years old, I received my gifts.
我六岁的时候，收到了我的礼物。
My first grade teacher had this brilliant idea.
我的一年级老师想出了一个非常聪明的主意。
She wanted us to experience receiving gifts but also learning the virtue of complimenting each other.
她希望我们既能体验收到礼物的喜悦，也能学会互相赞美、互相鼓励的美德。
So she had all of us come to the front of the classroom, and she bought all of us gifts and stacked them in the corner.
于是她让我们所有人都走到教室的前面，然后给我们每个人都买了一份礼物，并把那些礼物堆放在教室的一个角落里。
And she said, "Why don't we just stand here and compliment each other?
然后她说：“我们为什么不就站在这里，互相赞美一下呢？
If you hear your name called, go and pick up your gift and sit down."
如果你听到有人叫你的名字，就去领取你的礼物，然后坐下来。
What a wonderful idea, right?
这真是个绝妙的主意，对吧？
What could go wrong?
还能出什么错呢？
Well, there were 40 of us to start with, and every time I heard someone's name called, I would give out the heartiest cheer.
嗯，一开始我们一共有 40 个人；每当听到有人被叫到名字时，我都会发出最热烈的欢呼声。
And then there were 20 people left, and 10 people left, and five left ...
然后剩下20个人，接着又剩下10个人，最后只剩下5个人……
and three left.
还剩下三个。
And I was one of them.
而我，就是其中之一。
And the compliments stopped.
那些赞美之词也停止了。
Well, at that moment, I was crying.
嗯，就在那一刻，我正在哭泣。
And the teacher was freaking out.
老师当时简直吓坏了。
She was like, "Hey, would anyone say anything nice about these people?"
她说：“嘿，有没有人能说些关于这些人的好话呢？
"No one?
没有人吗？
OK, why don't you go get your gift and sit down.
好吧，你去拿你的礼物，然后坐下来吧。
So behave next year -- someone might say something nice about you."
所以明年要好好表现吧，说不定会有人夸你几句呢。
Well, as I'm describing this you, you probably know I remember this really well.
嗯，当我向你们描述这件事的时候，你们应该也知道，我对这件事的记忆非常清晰。
But I don't know who felt worse that day.
但我不知道那天谁的感受更糟糕。
Was it me or the teacher?
是只有我有这种感觉，还是所有学生都有这种感觉？或者是只有老师有这种感觉？
She must have realized that she turned a team-building event into a public roast for three six-year-olds.
她肯定意识到了自己的行为：原本旨在促进团队凝聚力的活动，竟然变成了对三个六岁孩子的公开“嘲讽”（即让他们成为众人的笑柄）。
And without the humor.
当然，这里也不包含任何幽默元素。
You know, when you see people get roasted on TV, it was funny.
你知道吗，当你在电视上看到人们被严厉批评或嘲笑时，其实还挺有意思的。
There was nothing funny about that day.
那天没有任何有趣的事情发生。
So that was one version of me, and I would die to avoid being in that situation again -- to get rejected in public again.
那就是我曾经的“样子”；我绝对不愿意再经历那种情况——再次在公开场合被拒绝。
That's one version.
这只是其中一个版本而已。
Then fast-forward eight years.
然后，快进到八年后。
Bill Gates came to my hometown -- Beijing, China -- to speak, and I saw his message.
比尔·盖茨来到了我的家乡——中国北京，进行演讲，我也看到了他传达的信息。
I fell in love with that guy.
我爱上那个男孩了。
I thought, wow, I know what I want to do now.
我想：“哇，我现在知道自己想做什么了。
That night I wrote a letter to my family telling them: "By age 25, I will build the biggest company in the world,
那天晚上，我给家人写了一封信，告诉他们：“到25岁时，我一定会创建出世界上最大的公司。
and that company will buy Microsoft."
那家公司将会收购微软。
I totally embraced this idea of conquering the world -- domination, right?
我完全接受了“征服世界”这个想法……也就是所谓的“统治世界”，对吧？
And I didn't make this up, I did write that letter.
这可不是我编造出来的，那封信确实是我写的。
And here it is --
瞧，它就在这里——
You don't have to read this through --
你不必把这段话全部读完。
This is also bad handwriting, but I did highlight some key words.
这字写得确实很糟糕，不过我确实标出了其中一些关键词。
You get the idea.
你应该明白我的意思了。