I lost my sight progressively over time; my photoreceptor cells of my retina kind of ceased to function.
随着时间的推移 我的视力渐渐退化 视网膜上的光感细胞功能逐渐减弱
So if you picture like a Jumbotron screen at an arena, and imagine the bulbs on that
对我来说 这就像是舞台上放了一个超大屏的电视机
screen kind of slowly and randomly break over time, that's what happened to me.
随着时间的流逝 屏幕上的灯慢慢地坏了
So at first maybe you don't even notice it, then maybe it gets a little annoying.
一开始你可能没注意 渐渐地你就会感到困扰
Eventually you have some issues sort of making out the image.
最后会产生超出预期的问题
For me sight became this sort of bizarre experience where objects would appear and then morph
世界在我眼中渐渐变得奇异起来
into other objects and then disappear, kind of depending on what information I had or what kind of clues I had.
物体会突然出现 然后变成别的东西 再消失 这要看我得到了什么信息或线索

It was this conscious, arduous process to see.
在我有意识的过程中 看清一样东西是很费力的
What was amazing is, given that experience, I literally saw firsthand how powerful our
令人惊奇的是 由于这段经历 我直接体会到
minds are to create the reality we experience, to create this immersive experience of sight,
我们的精神创造我们所经历过的现实的能力有多强大 尤其是视野的浸入式体验
for example, which I always thought was objective and true and not much to it.
比如 一些我认为十分客观真实简单的东西
But I saw that's not the case at all right, sight is this unique personal virtual experience that our minds create.
实际上并不是那样 视力只是我们每个人的精神所创造的独特的虚拟环境
So that was sort of the profound insight for me in terms of how I went blind.
这是在我成为盲人的过程中 产生的深厚见解
That was then really a gift in my life in many other ways, because I realized that all
在其他方面 这也成为了我生命中十分珍贵的礼物
of us really shape our reality, shape our experience of the world in all sorts of ways that we're not necessarily so aware of.
我认识到我们通过种种方式塑造我们的现实 我们眼中的世界 但我们本身并不清楚
For me recognizing this power, our ultimate power, understanding it, embracing it, committing
对于我来说 完全认识 理解 拥抱 致力于
to it 1000 percent is an endless source of hope and optimism.
追求这种最终的力量 是永无止境的希望之源
Your life is not happening to you, you are creating it, and that's liberating.
你的人生并不是偶然发生的 你能够自由地创造一切
It's yours to make of it what you want.
是你创造了你想要的一切
Much of life requires a tremendous amount of effort and skill and discipline.
大部分人生需要巨大的努力 技巧和自律
So merrily believing or wanting something for yourself doesn't mean you're going to
因此想要得到某些东西并不意味着你就能得到
make it happen for yourself, you actually have to put the hard work in and make it happen.
实际上你需要付出努力来实现你的愿望
We all confront circumstances in our lives that are unfortunate: setbacks, failures,
我们都经历过不幸 挫折 失败
end of a relationship, loss of career, et cetera, et cetera.
一段关系的结束 事业不顺等等
Now, unfortunately we very often criticize ourselves and kind of beat ourselves up for
不幸的是 我们总在责备自己 因为那些
those failures or setbacks, which there's no good in that.
挫折失败不断打击自己 可这对我们并没有好处
The key is what do we do with those circumstances?
关键是面对这些困难我们应该怎么做
How do they manifest themselves in our lives? What do you make of them?
它们会怎样影响我们的人生？你了解它们吗？
To my mind that's really about introspection on how you want to internalize the circumstances
我认为 当你身处一个特定时刻时
you find yourself in in a given moment.
对这种情况的反思非常重要
And with awareness you can then take control and really work to create the life, the reality that you want for yourself.
在这种意识的帮助下 你可以控制你的人生 创造出你想要的现实生活