Have you ever got beaten by money in realizing your dream and goal? I have ever met this issue when reading a famous magazine. The article i read talked about a young man who was compelled to give up his dream and career due to the lack of funds and who became an average worker eventually. The article did not mention whether the man got successful or not after years. The author only sighed about the cruelty of our reality. Accidentally, from my grandparents i know that my father had tried to engage in the real estate business many years ago. He was visionary then and visualized real estate must be a very hot and promising industry in the future. But also pitifully, my father did not realize his dream. When he tried to lobby and persuade his friends and relatives who were financially rich about his plan, he only got distrust and contempt. Now as we can see, the real estate industry is blooming. I am wondering what my father would think about when seeing this trend? He would sigh about his talent being neglected, or his destiny being played around? I have no idea. I only remember last year when he drove me to visit my grandmother during the Spring Festival, he said to me, “Do not lavish your money away or no one will help you when you need money to do your own business.”
你有没有曾经被钱打败过你的梦想和奋斗的目标？ 这个问题我曾经在《意林》的某一篇文章中看到过。 那篇文章讲述的是一个想创业的青年因为缺乏资金而最终被迫放弃他所钟爱的事业，最后沦为打工一族的经历。多年后这个青年究竟有没有成功，文章没有提及，文章的作者只是对现实发出慨叹。无独有偶，从爷爷奶奶的口中，我也得知多年前，父亲曾经想从事房地产的业务， 目光远大的他觉得多年后房地产必是一个热门的产业。然而同样遗憾的是，父亲没能实现他的梦想，因为他缺乏资金。当他向有资金的朋友和亲戚游说，试图和别人合作时，得到的只是别人的不屑与不信任。如今， 房地产业发展得如火如荼。不知道父亲内心会作何想法？是慨叹自己的怀才不遇？ 还是慨叹造化弄人？我不得而知。我只是记得去年春节父亲开车载着我去探望外婆时，在路上他和我说过一句话：“有钱不要随便乱花，不然以后你需要钱做事业时，没有人会帮你的。”
Until now, every time I think of that article and my father’s experience, i would still feel a bit sentimental. If there had been someone who owned enough capital to work with my father at that time, i believe with my father’s brain and talent, my family would be much better than it is today. Therefore, sometimes we have to admit that reality can shatter a person’s dream. However, not until the last moment shall we give up our dream easily. Instead, we should spare no effort to come up with the right solutions to tackle it. Actually, the reason why i would think of this issue is that some of my students in the BEC class sent me text messages telling me, “Dear teacher, i am eager to register for your grammar course this summer because i learnt from your class that my grammar is very poor and needs to be improve urgently. However, due to my lack of money, i have to give up this time .” Seeing these text messages, i replied to them, “My class will begin for sure regardless of the number of students. So if you have no money, you can take classes first and pays it back later. Or if you really have no money in the future, you do not need to pay for it because i treat you as friends. Once you are determined to learn, do not give up so easily.” Finally, one student promised me to come while others have not replied yet. But not matter what their decision is, i will not feel the least regretful as their teacher and friend because i have tried my best to help them.
时至今日，每当我想起那篇文章以及父亲的经历，我依旧感到百感交集。试想想，要是当初有人有资本和父亲一起干，凭着父亲的头脑和才干，恐怕现在我的家庭境况早就不可同日而语了。 所以，有时现实真的可以把一个人的梦想打击得支离破碎。但是，没有到最后一刻，我们都不能随意放弃自己的理想，而且要想方设法地去解决问题，而不是逃避问题。其实，我之所以想起这些东西，是因为今天一连接到几个BEC班的同学的信息。我们的BEC班上周已经上完了，这周六学生们就要参加考试了。今天早上我打开手机就接到几个学生的信息，他们的内容大致都一样： “老师，我想报你的暑假语法班，因为上了你的课我才知道自己的语法很差，需要补习，但是我暂时拿不出钱来，所以只好放弃，等下次再说了。”看完这些信息，我回复他们说：“我的班始终是要开的，不管人多人少。所以你如果没有钱，就先来上课，以后有钱再给，实在没钱，就不用给了，因为大家都是朋友了。 一旦你决定要继续学下去，就不要轻言放弃。” 结果，有一个学生确定要来了，但是另外几个学生还没回复。但是不管他们最后决定怎样，反正我觉得，不管是作为老师还是作为朋友，我都已经尽力了。
From my perspective, if you really want to learn something, do not give it up because of lack of money. If you want to go abroad to study, which needs almost half a million, and you have no money and do not want to borrow such a large sum of money from others, i think it is acceptable. But if you just want to learn a language or an employable skill and give it up because of money shortage, then it is unacceptable in my eyes. Why not think about some ways to solve this money, like borrowing money from your friends or classmates? Why not beg your teacher for payment in installments or even delaying your payment? To put it to an extreme, why not use your credit card or borrow loans from banks? I have mentioned a young man who is working in a factory in Baoan District in one of my previous diaries. He only earned a bit more than 2, 000 RMB a month, but now he is striving for his dream in my class. He has studied for nearly a month but has not paid his tuition fees due to lack of money. He had tole me clearly about this issue before he took classes and i did not urge him to pay. Every week he had to traveled a long distance in the metro from Baoan airport to my home in Luohu District to take classes. When i saw him sweating all over his face in front of my door, i could not help admiring him to the deepest of my heart!
在我看来，一个人如果想学习，千万不要因为缺钱而放弃了学习。 如果你说是出国留学需要几十万的，自己没钱也难向别人借，这还说得过去。但是如果说学一门外语或者一门技术却因为缺钱放弃了，那在我的眼里，是怎么也说不过去的。难道自己没有钱了就不能想想办法？比如说向同学朋友借？向培训老师要求分期甚至延迟付款？甚至说得夸张点，刷信用卡或者向银行贷款？我之前日记中提到过一个在宝安的工厂里打工，一个月才挣二千多的青年，如今他正在我这里勇敢地向梦想前进，从上课至今已经差不多一个月了，他因为缺钱还没有交学费，他明确地和我说了他需要慢慢付清，我也没催他交。他每周要坐地铁从宝安机场那边坐到罗湖我家来上课。每次看到他大汗淋漓地赶到我家门口，我都禁不住从心底里佩服他。
Many people give up studies because of money, but they have not got the realization that they need studies more than ever because of their poverty. Without studying, how could you change your fate? The final result may be that you are always short of money . I have been long holding a view that you can save money in every aspects in your life but not in your study. I used to save every penny when i was studying abroad and bought everything as cheap as possible. When it came to textbooks, i would never thing about saving money but bought it without the least hesitation even though it might cost me almost 70 Euros. My classmates might borrow my books to copy, but i thought it to be time-consuming and would easily get some pages lost. Besides, it was because i knew that the book was bought at a high price that i would try my best to finish it, while my classmates might put it away after flipping through a few pages. It is the same with studies. When you use a lot of money trying to learn a language or a skill, and the money was earned with your hard work or was even borrowed from others, would you give it up easily? For a rich student and a poor student who spent the same money for a course, will their attitudes towards the course are the same? Definitely not! And i can claim for sure that the poor student would study harder than the rich student.
很多人因为缺钱放弃学习，是因为他们没有认识到，正是因为自己缺钱，所以才更要学习。不通过学习，如何能改变自己的命运？最后的结果中会是永远缺钱。我一直都有这么一个理念：生活中什么都可以省，唯有放在学习上的投资是万万省不得的。曾经我在国外时因为缺钱而省吃俭用，买什么都是买最便宜的，但是关于买学校的教材，我是从来不会吝啬的，六七十欧元（当时接近六七百块钱人民币）的一本书我也会毫不犹豫把它买下。别的同学可能经常借我的书去复印，但是这样麻烦而且会浪费很多时间，另外也容易遗失个别页码。另外，正是因为我知道书是自己花了高价买回来的，所以更有把它读完的欲望。所以别的同学可能看了几页就不想看了，我却可以从头到尾把书都读完，原因很简单：我为它花了太多的钱了。 其实学习何尝不是如此呢？ 当你花了很多钱去学习某一门语言或者技能，而且这些钱都是你辛辛苦苦存下来或者是借来的，你能不认真吗？ 一个富家子弟和一个穷学生在对待同样花了几千块钱的课程上的态度会是一样的吗？ 肯定是不同的，而且我几乎可以肯定地说：穷学生的态度一定会比富家子弟更认真。
Moreover, from my students’case i also see a common problem in our society: when coming across difficulties, the first thing popping up in our mind is not to think about how to try them, but to give up. Giving up is our instinct and needs not be taught, but it is by no means what we need. Many people would feel headache when meeting a small problem and then amplify the problem to find an excuse of giving up. Actually what we need to do is not fearing the problem but trying every means to solve it. If we fear it, it will be amplified by us unconsciously and we would get defeated in the very beginning. This common wisdom can also apply to our study, life and work. When you get addicted to this habit, no matter what you do, you will not succeed, because everything you do will have its own problems, whether small or big.
另外，从学生因为没有钱而放弃学习这件事情也可以看出我们普遍存在的一个问题：遇到困难首先想到的不是如何解决困难，而是先想到放弃。想放弃永远是我们的天性，这是不需要人教的，但是却不是我们所需要的。很多人遇到一点困难就开始头痛，想到前路漫漫，荆棘遍野，然后就开始打退堂鼓。其实我们遇到困难首先想到的不是害怕它，而是想办法克服它！ 如果我们害怕它，它就无形中被我们无限地放大，然后我们也就不战而败。学习如此，生活如此，工作也是如此。一个人养成了遇到困难就放弃的习惯，那么他不管做什么事情都不会成功，因为世间上没有任何事情是没有困难的，只在于困难的大小难易而已。
What is dream? Dream is what we are thinking and desiring. But if we want to turn our dream into reality, we need unyielding bravery and perseverance. If we fear difficulties and give up easily, then our dream will only remain as a dream.
什么叫梦想？ 梦想就是要敢梦敢想，但是梦想要想成为现实，还需要不屈不挠的勇气和毅力。害怕困难而轻言放弃，梦想也仅仅只是梦想而已。