翻译《儿时的梦想》

   When I was young, I wanted to be an astronaut. I had posters from the space program on my wall and I could recite factoids about astronauts and various missions. I remember coming home after school the day Space Shuttle Challenger blew up in 1986 and sitting on the couch watching the footage over and over and just crying my eyes out. I wanted to be an astronaut to badly, I even went to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama when I was in the 7th or 8th grade. I was so proud, I wore my flight suit to school the first day back. Most people thought I was a dork, but I didn't care...I was going to be an astronaut and I was proud of it.

Recently, someone asked me why I wanted to be an astronaut. Ironically, considering what I do for a living, I'd never actually thought about it. Why I wanted to be an astronaut was simple. I wanted to see the world from a perspective most people don't, then come home and share all the amazing stories with others so they could see what I saw.

As the words came out of my mouth, I caught myself. And that's when I realized it. I never went to space, but I am an astronaut. I am living my childhood dream.

For years, I did as I was told, followed a path others said I should follow. All those years, I wasn't living my childhood dream, I was just making a living. It wasn't until I lost my passion that I was forced to try something new. It was then that I discovered the concept of WHY. What I do now is different from floating in space, but WHY I do it is exactly the same. This explains the reason I love getting out of bed every morning. I get to be an astronaut.

Think about what you dreamed of being when you were 10 years old. Then ask yourself WHY you wanted to be that? Then the questions is, are you living your childhood dream now?

I strongly recommend being what you wanted to be when you were 10. It's a lot better than growing up.