“Everything happens for the best,” my mother said whenever I faced disappointment. “If you can carry on, one day something good will happen. And you'll realize that it wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment.”
Mother was right, as I discovered after graduating from college in 1932. I had decided to try for a job in radio, then work my way up to a sports announcer. I hitchhiked to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station—and got turned down every time.
In one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn't risk hiring an inexperienced person— “Go out in the sticks and find a small station that'll give you a chance,” she said.
I thumbed home to Dixon, Illinois. There was no radio—announcing jobs in Dixon, so my father said that Montgomery Ward had opened a store and wanted a local athlete to manage its sports department. Since Dixon was where I had played high school football, I applied. The job sounded just right for me. But I wasn't hired.
My disappointment must have shown. “Everything happens for the best,” Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to job hunt. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, a wonderful Scotsman named Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.
As I left his office, my frustration boiled over. I asked a1oud, “How can a fellow get to be a sport announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station?”
I was waiting for the elevator when I heard MacArthur calling, “What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?” Then he stood me before a microphone and asked me to broadcast an imaginary game.
On my way home, as I have many times since, I thought of my mother's words: “If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment.” I often wonder what direction my life might have taken if I'd gotten the job at Montgomery Ward.
【助读词汇】
-previous adj. 在前的，早先的
-hitchhike vi.搭便车旅行
-sticks n. 穷乡僻壤，偏远的乡村
-thumb v.（翘起拇指示意）要求搭乘便车
-athlete n. 运动员
-frustration n. 挫败，挫折
【参考译文】
每当我遇到挫折时，母亲就会说：“一切都会好的。如果你坚持下去，总有一天会有好事发生。你会认识到，如果没有以前的挫折就不会有现在的一切。”
我发现母亲是对的是在1932年我从大学毕业的时候，我当时决定试着在电台找份工作，然后争取做体育节目的播音员。我坐便车到了芝加哥，挨个电台地敲门推销自己——但每次都被拒绝了。
在一个播音室里，一位好心的女士告诉我，大的广播电台是不会冒险雇用没经验的新手的。“去乡下找一家能给你机会的小电台吧，”她说。
我坐车来到我的家乡伊利诺斯州的迪克森。在迪克森当时还没有电台播音员这样的工作，所以父亲说，蒙哥马利·沃德新开了一家商店，想雇请一个本地的运动员管理店里的体育部。因为我中学时曾在迪克森打过橄榄球，所以我去申请了这份工作。工作听起来挺适合我的，但是我没被聘用。
我一定表现得很沮丧，“一切总会好的，”母亲提醒我说。爸爸把他的汽车让给我去找工作。我试着到爱荷华州达文波特的WOC电台去求职。那里的电台节目总监是一个很棒的苏格兰人，名叫彼得·麦克阿瑟，他告诉我他们已经雇到播音员了。
当我离开他办公室时，我的挫败感达到了极点。我大声地说：“一个连在电台都找不到工作的家伙又怎么能成为体育节目的播音员呢？”
等电梯时，我听到麦克阿瑟喊道：“你说什么体育？你懂橄榄球吗？”接着他让我站到麦克风前面，请我解说一场想象中的比赛。
在回家的路上，我思考着曾经思考过很多次的母亲的那句话：“如果你坚持下去，总要一天会有好事发生。如果没有以前的挫折，就不会有现在的一切。”我常想，如果当年我得到蒙哥马利·沃德的那份工作，我的人生之路又会怎样走呢？
【人生启迪】
我们每个人都希望成功，但是并不是所有人的成功道路都会一帆风顺，有句古话叫做：“天将降大任于斯人也，必先苦其心志、劳其筋骨、饿其体肤。”可见，想要获得成功，挫折是无可避免的，不要因为小小的挫折就放弃，要知道，爱迪生在发明电灯之前失败了1000次！所以只有经历过挫折，我们才会更懂得珍惜每一次的机会，才会更好的迈向成功！