Like everyone else in my graduating class, I had watched the economy turn from bad to worse during my senior year. We graduates had degrees, but very limited prospects[前景]. I packed up my car and drove to Southern California to find work. But what I thought would take a week dragged[拖] into two, and then four, and 100 job applications[申请] later, I found myself in the exact same spot as I was before.
就像毕业班的其他人一样，我在大四那年眼见着经济由不景气转为萧条。毕业生虽然有学位，却前途渺茫。我收拾好自己的汽车，开车去南加利福尼亚找工作。我原以为只需要一周，却拖成了两周，接着变成四周；申请了上百份工作之后，我发现自己依然停留在之前的原点上。
You know that feeling when you wake up and you are just consumed with dread[恐惧]? Days felt like weeks, weeks like months, and those many months felt like an unending eternity[永恒] of destitution[穷困].
你知道那种当你一觉醒来，内心充满恐惧的感觉是怎样的吗？一天像一周那么漫长，一周仿佛过去了一个月，当时好几个月就像穷困潦倒一直没有尽头似的。
So what did I do to maintain my sanity[神志正常]? I wrote. Something about putting words on a page made everything seem a little clearer—a little brighter. I channeled my frustration[沮丧] into a children’s book. Beyond the River was the story featuring a little fish who simply refused to give up on his dream.
那么我如何防止自己发疯呢？我写作。将言语写在纸面上会让事情更为明晰——稍微明朗起来。我将沮丧转化为一本儿童书。《逆流而上》讲的是一条小鱼永不放弃梦想的故事。
And then one day, I was offered a publishing contract for my first book! After that, things slowly began to fall into place. Things change. If you work hard, give it time, and don’t give up, things will always get better. Our dreams lie in wait[隐蔽静候] just a little further upstream…all we need is the courage to push beyond the river.
后来有一天，我得到了一份出版合约，要出版我的第一本书！自此以后，情况开始慢慢走向正轨。阳光总在风雨后。如果你为之努力，保持耐心，永不放弃，事情总会好转。梦想就在上流不远处静候我们……我们需要的不过是奋力逆流而上的勇气。