My son Joey was born with club feet. The doctor assured us that with treatment he would be able to walk normally—but would never run very well. The first three years of his life were spent in surgery, casts and braces. By the time he was eight, you wouldn't know he had a problem when you saw him walk.
The children in our neighborhood ran around as most children do during play, and Joey would jump right in and run and play, too. We never told him that he probably wouldn't be able to run as well as the other children, so he didn't know.
In seventh grade he decided to go out for the cross-country team. Every day he trained with the team. He worked harder and ran more than any of the others—perhaps he sensed that the abilities that seemed to come naturally to so many others did not come naturally to him. Although the entire team runs, only the top seven runners have the potential to score points for the school. We didn't tell him he probably would never make the team, so he didn't know.
He continued to run four to five miles a day, every day—even the day he had a 103-degree fever. I was worried, so I went to look for him after school. I found him running all alone. I asked him how he felt. “Okay,” he said. He had two more miles to go. The sweat ran down his face and his eyes were glassy from his fever. Yet he looked straight ahead and kept running. We never told him he couldn't run so long with a 103-degree fever, so he didn't know.
Two weeks later, the names of the team runners were called. Joey was number six on the list. Joey had made the team. He was in seventh grade—the other six team members were all eighth-graders. We never told him he shouldn't expect to make the team. We never told him he couldn't do it. We never told him he couldn't do it...so he didn't know. He just did it.
【助读词汇】
-club feet畸形足，先天性足畸形
-assure v. 向……保证，担保
-surgery n. 手术
-cast n. 石膏
-brace n. 支撑物，支架
-potential n. 潜在性，可能性
【参考译文】
我儿子乔伊先天性双足畸形。医生很确切地告诉我们，经过治疗他可以正常行走——但是不可能跑得很快。他生命的头3年都是在手术、石膏模具和支架上度过的。到了8岁，你看他走路绝不会知道他的腿有问题。
就像大多数孩子一样，邻里的孩子们在玩耍的时候都跑来跑去。乔伊也会加入他们，一起跑一起玩。我们从没对他说他可能没其他孩子跑得快，所以他不知道。
七年级的时候，他决定为加入越野赛跑队全力以赴。每天他都和其他队员一起训练。他比其他人更努力，跑得也更多——也许他感觉到了自己不具备别人自然就有的能力。虽然整个队都要跑，可是只有前7名才能为学校得分。我们没有对他说，他可能不能加入越野赛跑队，所以他不知道。
他依然每天跑4到5公里，即便在他高烧103度的那天。我很担心，所以放学后到学校去找他，发现他一个人正在跑。我问他感觉怎么样。他说：“还行。” 他说，还剩下最后两英里。汗水流过他的脸颊。因为发烧，他的视线有点模糊。但是他直视着前方继续跑着。我们没有对他说高烧到103度不能跑那么远，所以他不知道。
两周后，赛跑队队员的名单公布了。乔伊排在第六。他成功了。他还在读七年级，而其他六名成员全是八年级学生。我们从没有对他说不应该期望加入赛跑队，我们从没有对他说他会失败，我们从没有对他说他做不到……所以他不知道。所以他做到了。
【人生启迪】
强大的精神力量总会带来奇迹。不管身体上有什么不足和缺陷，只要你信念坚定，并坚持不懈地奋斗，终有一天你也会创造另一个奇迹。