英语长篇美文朗读

朗诵虽是朗诵者的二度创作,但诗词本身所表现的意境美是不可忽略的,更要结合朗诵者的体会,在朗诵过程中得以升华。下面是我带来的英文经典朗诵美文，欢迎阅读!英文经典朗诵美文篇一 That's what friends do 朋友就该这么做 Jack tossed the papers on my desk—his eyebrows knit into a straight line as he glared at me. 杰克把文件扔到我桌上，皱着眉头，气愤地瞪着我。 "What's wrong?" I asked. “怎么了?”我问道。 He jabbed a finger at the proposal. "Next time you want to change anything, ask me first," he said, turning on his heels and leaving me stewing in anger. 他指着计划书狠狠地说道：“下次想作什么改动前，先征求一下我的意见。”然后转身走了，留下我一个人在那里生闷气。 How dare he treat me like that, I thought. I had changed one long sentence, and corrected grammar, something I thought I was paid to do. 他怎么能这样对我!我想，我只是改了一个长句，更正了语法错误，但这都是我的分内之事啊。 It's not that I hadn't been warned. Other women who had worked my job before me called Jack names I couldn't repeat. One coworker took me aside the first day. "He's personally responsible for two different secretaries leaving the firm," she whispered. 其实也有人提醒过我，上一任在我这个职位上工作的女士就曾大骂过他。我第一天上班时，就有同事把我拉到一旁小声说：“已有两个秘书因为他而辞职了。” As the weeks went by, I grew to despise Jack. His actions made me question much that I believed in, such as turning the other cheek and loving your enemies. Jack quickly slapped a verbal insult on any cheek turned his way. I prayed about the situation, but to be honest, I wanted to put Jack in his place, not love him. 几周后，我逐渐有些鄙视杰克了，而这又有悖于我的信条——别人打你左脸，右脸也转过去让他打;爱自己的敌人。但无论怎么做，总会挨杰克的骂。说真的，我很想灭灭他的嚣张气焰，而不是去爱他。我还为此默默祈祷过。 One day another of his episodes left me in tears. I stormed into his office, prepared to lose my job if needed, but not before I let the man know how I felt. I opened the door and Jack glanced up. “What?” he asked abruptly. 一天，因为一件事，我又被他气哭了。我冲进他的办公室，准备在被炒鱿鱼前让他知道我的感受。我推开门，杰克抬头看了我一眼。“有事吗?”他突然说道。 Suddenly I knew what I had to do. After all, he deserved it. 我猛地意识到该怎么做了。毕竟，他罪有应得。 I sat across from him and said calmly, "Jack, the way you've been treating me is wrong. I've never had anyone speak to me that way. As a professional, it's wrong, and I can't allow it to continue." 我在他对面坐下：“杰克，你对待我的方式很有问题。还从没有人像你那样对我说话。作为一个职业人士，你这么做很愚蠢，我无法容忍这样的事情再度发生。” Jack snickered nervously and leaned back in his chair. I closed my eyes briefly. God help me, I prayed. 杰克不安地笑了笑，向后靠靠。我闭了一下眼睛，祈祷着，希望上帝能帮帮我。 "I want to make you a promise. I will be a friend," I said. "I will treat you as you deserve to be treated, with respect and kindness. You deserve that. Everybody does." I slipped out of the chair and closed the door behind me. “我保证，可以成为你的朋友。你是我的上司，我自然会尊敬你，礼貌待你，这是我应做的。每个人都应得到如此礼遇。”我说着便起身离开，把门关上了。 Jack avoided me the rest of the week. Proposals, specs, and letters appeared on my desk whileI was at lunch, and my corrected versions were not seen again. I brought cookies to the officeone day and left a batch on his desk. Another day I left a note. "Hope your day is going great,"it read. 那个星期余下的几天，杰克一直躲着我。他总趁我吃午饭时，把计划书、技术说明和信件放在我桌上，并且，我修改过的文件不再被打回来。一天，我买了些饼干去办公室，顺便在杰克桌上留了一包。第二天，我又留了一张字条，在上面写道：“祝你今天一切顺利。” Over the next few weeks, Jack reappeared. He was reserved, but there were no otherepisodes. Coworkers cornered me in the break room. "Guess you got to Jack," they said. "Youmust have told him off good." 接下来的几个星期，杰克不再躲避我了，但沉默了许多，办公室里再也没发生不愉快的事情。于是，同事们在休息室把我团团围了起来。“听说杰克被你镇住了，”他们说，“你肯定大骂了他一顿。” I shook my head. "Jack and I are becoming friends," I said in faith. I refused to talk about him.Every time I saw Jack in the hall, I smiled at him. After all, that's what friends do. 我摇了摇头，一字一顿地说：“我们会成为朋友。”我根本不想提起杰克，每次在大厅看见他时，我总冲他微笑。毕竟，朋友就该这样。 One year after our "talk," I discovered I had breast cancer. I was thirty-two, the mother of threebeautiful young children, and scared. The cancer had metastasized to my lymph nodes and thestatistics were not great for long-term survival. After my surgery, friends and loved onesvisited and tried to find the right words. No one knew what to say, and many said the wrongthings. Others wept, and I tried to encourage them. I clung to hope myself. 一年后，我32岁，是三个漂亮孩子的母亲，但我被确诊为乳腺癌，这让我极端恐惧。癌细胞已经扩散到我的淋巴腺。从统计数据来看，我的时间不多了。手术后，我 拜访 了亲朋好友，他们尽量宽慰我，都不知道说些什么好，有些人反而说错了话，另外一些人则为我难过，还得我去安慰他们。我始终没有放弃希望。 One day, Jack stood awkwardly in the doorway of my small, darkened hospital room. I wavedhim in with a smile. He walked over to my bed and without a word placed a bundle beside me.Inside the package lay several bulbs. 就在我出院的前一天，我看到门外有个人影。是杰克，他尴尬地站在门口。我微笑着招呼他进来，他走到我床边，默默地把一包东西放在我旁边，那里边是几个球茎。 "Tulips," he said. “这是郁金香。”他说。 I grinned, not understanding. 我笑着，不明白他的用意。 He shuffled his feet, then cleared his throat. "If you plant them when you get home, they'llcome up next spring. I just wanted you to know that I think you'll be there to see them whenthey come up." 他清了清嗓子，“回家后把它们种下，到明年春天就长出来了。”他挪挪脚，“我希望你知道，你一定看得到它们发芽开花。” Tears clouded my eyes and I reached out my hand. "Thank you," I whispered. 我泪眼朦胧地伸出手。 Jack grasped my hand and gruffly replied, "You're welcome. You can't see it now, but nextspring you'll see the colors I picked out for you. I think you'll like them." He turned and leftwithout another word. “谢谢你。”我低声说。杰克抓住我的手，生硬地答道：“不必客气。到明年长出来后，你就能看到我为你挑的是什么颜色的郁金香了。”之后，他没说一句话便转身离开了。 For ten years, I have watched those red-and-white striped tulips push their way through thesoil every spring. 转眼间，十多年过去了，每年春天，我都会看着这些红白相间的郁金香破土而出。事实上，今年九月，医生已宣布我痊愈了。我也看着孩子们高中 毕业 ，进入大学。 In a moment when I prayed for just the right word, a man with very few words said all the rightthings. 在那绝望的时刻，我祈求他人的安慰，而这个男人寥寥数语，却情真意切，温暖着我脆弱的心。 After all, that's what friends do. 毕竟，朋友之间就该这么做。 英文经典朗诵美文篇二 A church built with 57 cents - Anonymous 57美分建成的教堂 匿名 A sobbing little girl stood near a small church from which she had been turned away because it "was too crowded."I can't go to Sunday school," she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by. 一个小女孩被拦在一座小教堂外面，“因为里面“太拥挤了，他们不让我进星期日学校(在美国，星期日学校是指在星期天对 儿童 进行宗教 教育 的学校)。”小女孩向一位路过的牧师哭诉道。 Seeing her shabby, unkempt appearance, the pastor guessed the reason and,taking her by the hand,took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday school class.The child was so happy that they found room for her, that she went to bed that night thinking of the children who have no place to worship Jesus. 见她蓬头垢面、衣衫褴褛的样子，牧师便猜出她为何被拒之门外了。于是，牧师牵着她的小手，把她带进教堂，在星期日学校的教室里给她找到了一个位置，小女孩非常高兴。 Some two years later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement buildings and the parents called for the kindhearted pastor, who had befriended their daughter, to handle the final arrangements.As her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled purse was found which seemed to have been rummaged from some trash dump. 两年后，小女孩在一间破旧的贫民屋里离开了人世。她的父母把那位曾经善待他们女儿的好心牧师请过来料理后事。当他们挪动可怜的小女孩的遗体时，从她身上突然滑落了一个皱巴巴的、破烂不堪的、像是从垃圾堆里翻出来的红色小钱包。 Inside was found 57 cents and a note scribbled in childish handwriting which read, "This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday School. 钱包里共有57美分，还有一张小纸条，上面用歪歪扭扭的小孩字迹写道：“这些钱用来扩建小教堂，这样更多的小朋友就能够上星期日学校了。” For two years she had saved for this offering of love.When the pastor tearfully read that note, he knew instantly what he would do.Carrying this note and the cracked, red pocketbook to the pulpit, he told the story of her unselfish love and devotion. 小女孩花了两年的时间来积攒这份爱!牧师泪流满面地看完这张纸条，立刻意识到自己该做些什么。他把这张小纸条和红色钱包带到教堂的讲坛，向众人讲述这个充满了无私的爱与宗教虔诚的感人 故事 。 He challenged his deacons to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building. 牧师还向教堂的执事提议，通过募集资金来扩建这座小教堂。 But the story does not end there! 但是，故事并未就此结束…… A newspaper learned of the story and published it. It was read by a Realtor who offered them aparcel of land worth many thousands.When told that the church could not pay so much, heoffered it for 57 cents. Church members made large donations. Checks came from far andwide.Within five years the little girl's gift had increased to $250,000.00--a huge sum for thattime (near the! turn of the century).Her unselfish love had paid large dividend. 一家报社得知这一情况，将整个故事搬上了报纸。一个富裕的房地产商读到这篇 文章 后，把一块价值不菲的地皮以57美分的价格卖给了这个小教堂。教区的人们捐助了一大笔钱，馈赠的支票也从四面八方汇集而来。短短五年的时间，捐赠的数字已从当初小女孩的57美分增加到25万美元——这在20世纪初，可是一笔相当可观的财富! When you are in the city of Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, with a seating capacityof 3,300 and Temple University,where hundreds of students are trained.Have a look, too, at theGood Samaritan Hospital and at a Sunday School building which houses hundreds of SundaySchoolers, so that no child in the area will ever need to be left outside during Sunday schooltime. 现在，如果您到费城，请参观一下拥有3，300个座位的天普浸信会教堂(坦普尔大教堂)，也不要忘了去看一看天普大学(坦普尔大学)，成千上万的学生在那儿接受教育。同时，再到撒马利亚慈善医院瞧一瞧，以及扩建后的星期日学校，如今，教区的数百名活泼可爱的儿童都可以进入星期日学校，没人会被拒之门外。 In one of the rooms of this building may be seen the picture of the sweet face of the little girlwhose 57 cents,so sacrificially saved, made such remarkable history. Alongside of it is aportrait of her kind pastor, Dr. Russel H. Conwell, author of the book, "Acres of Diamonds" Atrue story, which goes to show WHAT GOD, CAN DO WITH 57 cents. 星期日学校里面，有一个房间专门用来陈列这个小女孩的画像，画面上的小女孩是那么可爱，这个贫穷的小女孩用节俭下来的57美分创造了一段非同寻常的历史。画像旁边陈列着那位好心牧师的肖像，《万亩钻石》的作者——鲁塞·H·康威尔( Russell H. Conwell)博士。 英文经典朗诵美文篇三 Forgiveness 宽恕的艺术 To forgive may be divine, but no one ever said it was easy. 宽恕是神圣的，但是没有人说很容易做到宽恕别人。 When someone has deeply hurt you, it can be extremely difficult to let go of your grudge. 当你被深深伤害的时候，想要不怀恨在心是很难做到的。 But forgiveness is possible -- and it can be surprisingly beneficial to your physical and mental health. 但是宽恕是可能的——而且这会给你的身心健康带来出乎意料的益处。 "People who forgive show less depression, anger and stress and more hopefulness," says Frederic, Ph.D., author of Forgive for Good. " 《宽恕的好处》一书的作者弗雷德里克博士说。 “懂得宽恕的人不会感到那么沮丧、愤怒和紧张，他们总是充满希望。 So it can help save on the wear and tear on our organs, reduce the wearing out of the immune system and allow people to feel more vital." 所以宽恕有助于减少人体各种器官的损耗，降低免疫系统的疲劳程度并使人精力更加充沛。” So how do you start the healing? Try following these steps: 那么，如何恢复自己的情绪呢?试试下面的一些步骤吧： Calm yourself. To defuse your anger, try a simple stress-management technique. " 让自己冷静下来。尝试一种简单的减压技巧来缓解你愤怒的情绪。 Take a couple of breaths and think of something that gives you pleasure: a beautiful scene in nature, someone you love," Frederic says. 弗雷德里克建议：“做几次深呼吸，然后想想那些令你快乐的事情，比如自然界的美丽景色，或者你爱的人。” Don't wait for an apology. "Many times the person who hurt you has no intention of apologizing," Frederic says. 不要等别人来道歉。弗雷德里克说：“许多时候，伤害你的人没有想过要道歉。” "They may have wanted to hurt you or they just don't see things the same way. So if you wait for people to apologize, you could be waiting an awfully long time." “他们可能是故意的，也可能只是和你看待事物的方式不一样。所以如果你等着别人来道歉，你可能会等相当长的时间。” Keep in mind that forgiveness does not necessarily mean reconciliation with the person who upset you or condoning of his or her action. 你要牢记，宽恕并不一定意味着顺从那些让你心烦意乱的人，也不意味着饶恕他或她的行为。 Take the control away from your offender. Mentally replaying your hurt gives power to the person who caused you pain. " 不要让冒犯你的人控制你的情绪。内心里总是想着自己的伤痛，只会给伤害你的人打气。 Instead of focusing on your wounded feelings, learn to look for the love, beauty and kindness around you," Frederic says. 弗雷德里克说：“与其老是关注自己受到的伤害，还不如学着去寻找你身边的真善美。” Try to see things from the other person's perspective. If you empathize with that person, you may realize that he or she was acting out of ignorance, fear -- even love. 试着从别人的角度来看问题。如果你站在别人的立场上，你也许会意识到他或她是因为无知、害怕、甚至是爱才那样做的。 To gain perspective, you may want to write a letter to yourself from your offender's point of view. 为了能够站在别人的角度来看问题，你可以从冒犯你的人的立场给你自己写一封信。 Recognize the benefits of forgiveness. Research has shown that people who forgive report more energy, better appetite and better sleep patterns. 认识到宽恕的益处。研究表明懂得宽恕的人精力更旺盛、食欲更好、睡觉更香。 Don't forget to forgive yourself. "For some people, forgiving themselves is the biggest challenge," Frederic says. "But it can rob you of your self-confidence if you don't do it." 不要忘了宽恕自己。弗雷德里克说：“对于有些人来说，宽恕自己才是最大的挑战。但是如果你不宽恕自己，你会失去自信。”

目前,随着社会经济的快速发展,英语成为了主要的国际通用语言之一,这必然引起人们对 英语学习 的兴趣日益增强。下面是我带来的高中生英语朗读美文，欢迎阅读!高中生英语朗读美文篇一 Some thoughts on building a successful marriage From my perspective, once you enter into the realm of marriage, building and maintaining a successful marriage is actually a big part of personal and financial success. A solid marriage not only results in people sharing resources together, but a marriage also provides a lot of emotional support, cheerleading, and encouragement to succeed. What follows are twelve little things I do quite regularly in my marriage. Please, use as many of these as seem reasonable. I tell my wife I love her every single day. I usually do it in the morning before she leaves the bedroom, and on weekdays I'll also tell her when I see her in the evening for the first time. I usually couple(加倍，成双) it with a kiss. It's so simple, but it's a constant reminder of the fact that I do love her, no matter what. I ask about her day, listen, and ask follow up questions. I do this not only so I can keep tabs on her professional life, but also to give her a great chance to vent about her situation. Everyone needs to talk about themselves sometimes to someone who is interested - I try to provide that for her as often as I can. I try to surprise her on a regular basis. I'll spend an hour preparing a really excellent supper when she doesn't expect it. I'll spontaneously give the kids a bath when she's comfortable on the couch under a blanket, even if it's her turn. Doing these little unexpected things not only shows her I care, but also often compels her to do similar things for me. I hold her hand. I do this all the time, whenever it crosses my mind and seems appropriate. I'll just hold her hand gently while we're talking or we're riding in the car or we're waiting for an appointment or we're sitting on the couch in the evenings. I talk about EVERYTHING with her and let her determine what's interesting. If something is concerning me, I don't hide it from her. I tell her about it. Most of the time she's interested and we'll discuss it - sometimes she's not and I let it drop . Either way, though, she gets the message that I'm making an effort to share and be open. I work on building a positive relationship with her family. Whenever I visit or see anyone in her family, I make a special effort to try to establish or build upon a strong relationship with them. This accomplishes several things: it makes her more at ease in a family situation, it helps me to build stronger ties with people that are important to her, and it helps me to understand the influences that were around her as she grew up. I send her messages during the day. About once a week, during a time where my wife is really present in my thoughts, I send her a little simple note by email. All it says is something along the lines of "I was thinking about you just now. I can't wait until I see you this evening." It's just a very simple way of letting her know she's on my mind and in my heart. I put careful thought into gifts I give her. Sure, it's easy to just run out and get a generic gift to cover yourself during an anniversary or a birthday. However, a gift with some real thought behind it means substantially more than an obviously off-the-cuff gift. I encourage her to follow her passions and interests, even if they don't inspire or interest me. If my wife chooses to spend significant time on a project, it's obviously something that's important to her. That doesn't imply at all that it has to be important to me. If she's involved in her own project, I give her positive encouragement and then work on my own interests instead of saying things like "that seems like a waste of time." If she needs me, I willingly contribute to(有助于，贡献) those passions. If something genuinely excites her and she wants me to experience it, I willingly involve myself in whatever it may be: a particular type of art, a craft project, a yard project, whatever. Even if I don't enjoy it, I do have the opportunity to learn more about my wife and what she's passionate about, which means that my understanding of her grows. I look for opportunities to build mutual(共同的，相互的) friendships. The idea that there is a group of people that are "my" friends and another group that is "her" friends can be a big dividing factor between us. Instead, I often focus on building friendships and relationships that we share with others so that something of a community of friendship and love grows up around us. I hold her every night, even if it's just for a moment. I might be completely exhausted when I go to bed in the evening, but I take a moment to move close to her, put my arm around her, and hold her close, even if it's just for a minute or so. That moment of physical contact(身体接触) to end the day is a simple sign of love. 高中生英语朗读美文篇二 致地球的公开信 First off, allow us to apologize for the abductions(绑架，劫持). Although it seemed like a good idea at the time, we recognize that too often you did not find the experience as satisfying as we did. We genuinely regret the way things got out of hand. It started out as just something to do, an occasional way to blow off steam(发脾气，减压) after a long day of observation. We tried not to break anybody, and we always put you back where we found you. Frankly you aren't all that interesting, and we might soon have grown tired of the whole thing. But we got such a kick out of your cute eyewitness accounts, what with the stories of our big dark eyes and little arms and all. You made us feel special, even if your tales were complete crap. The books, the movies, the T-shirts—we were like celebrities. And some of you took it all so seriously, with your conspiracy theories and everything. It was really quite a hoot(叫嚣，嘲骂声). Then this guy Whitley Strieber came along, and he sort of took the joy out of it, you know? What a killjoy shitbag he is. Today we abduct only nerdy guys who live alone in Airstream trailers, primarily because they're nerds and, truth be told, we just like to mess with their heads. Many of you have written asking about crop circles, so let's set the record straight. It ain't us. Really, it's not. Think about it. You people have trouble reaching your own moon, and even you have cell phones, satellite TV, and high-speed DSL. We sail between stars at speeds you believe impossible—you think we have to knock down veggies(蔬菜) in order to communicate? And why do you always assume we land in rural areas? Please. On a planet with New York, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, and Amsterdam, you figure we'd choose to hang out in Roswell, New Mexico? Have any of you actually been there? We would be remiss if we failed to mention the anal(肛门的，直肠的) probing. For the longest time, we swear we thought those were data ports. We meant no harm, and hope that you will, like us, try to forget this unfortunate chapter in our history. Inretrospect(回顾往事) it was simply a bad idea. Now we don't want to be seen as whiners(哀诉者，哭诉者), but there are a few things we wish to discuss. For one thing, we are troubled by the way we have been portrayed in the media. We represent an array of life whose richness and sheer scope would astound you. Yet for the most part, on this planet we are typecast as either hairless dweebs with foreheads like watermelons, or else giant insects who want to eat you. No offense, but this is especially hard to take from a backwater planet most beings have never heard of. The very word “alien” is plagued(折磨，苦恼) by negative associations. According to our latest focus groups, the term conjures up(使人想象出) images of slimy, parasitic(寄生的) creatures who spring onto the faces of unsuspecting beings in order to plant their young inside, or people picking cabbages. We've discussed this among ourselves, and we no longer wish to be called aliens. Henceforth, we prefer to be called “Chuck Norris®.” Please do not shorten,hyphenate(用连字符连接), or alter this in any way. The plural form(复数形式) is the same, as in, “Hey, there goes a Chuck Norris®. Wait, there goes another one." Finally, some advice. Look, from where we sit, you're all the same. We appreciate that human beings come in slightly different models and colors, and to you these nearly imperceptible differences seem to cause no end of trouble. But honestly, we're astounded that you can even tell yourselves apart. In blind taste tests, in fact, the average Chuck Norris® cannot detect any difference whatsoever. So chill, people of Earth, and try to get along. While you're in a reflective mood, take a closer look at what you're doing to your planet. You are ruining it: depleting(耗尽) your natural resources, polluting your air, sickening your oceans, and destroying unique species forever. This is just plain wrong, not to mention completely irrational(不合理的，荒谬的). Everyone knows that the logical thing is to find somebody else's planet and ruin that. Noobs. How can you possibly expect to survive in the coming interstellar economy? By the way, we've elected you to come up with the new shared unit of galactic currency. Just pick something small and ubiquitous(到处存在的), something of nominal value that you won't miss much. It's your call, but we suggest hamsters(田鼠，仓鼠). In closing, much of what you do befuddles us. Many of your core concepts—such as guilt, selflessness, and David Hasselhoff—simply have no counterparts in non-Terran cultures. You're what galactic sociologists call “a bunch of strange ducks." Yet for reasons not entirely clear, we have developed a certain affection for you. We'd just as soon keep you around, if only for the entertainment value. We're going away for a bit now, and when we return, we expect to find that you have made significant progress toward sitting at the adults’ table. This will, of course, mean fewer senseless military conflicts, less reality television, and no more Sudoku. Don't make us come down there. 高中生英语朗读美文篇三 Don’t Allow Your Weaknesses to Limit You We all have weaknesses and strengths – no matter who we are. Sometimes the weaknesses seem to outweigh the strengths and sometimes it’s the other way around. Some people get sick easily. Some struggle to manage their finances properly. Some people are hopeless communicators and struggle with relationships. Many people leave it and that and accept it as just bad luck – but not everyone. Some people facing huge limitations still manage to achieve tremendous things. They rise above their weaknesses and do not allow them to limit their possibilities. It's Your Choice I attended a school prize-giving ceremony not so long ago and the guest speaker was Andrew Becroft, who had a severe stutter as a child. Instead of allowing this to limit him, he chose to to work hard to overcome it. He is now the Principal Youth Court Judge for New Zealand. Not only did he become successful, but he did so in a profession where he had to speak in front of others regularly — where his weakness is front and center for all to see. If he hadn’t worked on his speaking ability, it would have been very limiting to his life and career prospects. You can find similar people on New Zealand News channels, and I suspect the same in other countries. There are a number of presenters and reporters who have a noticeably unusual manner of speaking. Perhaps they have a lisp, or they have a peculiar accent or pitch of voice. These people have succeeded in spite of what would be appear to be a weakness in their profession. Lots of people face far more significant limitations than you do. They may be missing limbs or are born into extreme poverty. But no matter what the limitation, you will always find people who have overcome it. Here are some more examples: Brett Eastburn has no arms or legs and yet is an inspirational speaker and and also a very good wrestler. He shares his story in a brief video on his site. Lance Armstrong’s bout with cancer meant he lost one testicle and had to go through chemotherapy which has a horrific effect on the body. Yet he went on to win the Tour de France, one of the most grueling sports events there is, a record 7 times. Ringo Starr, drummer for the Beatles, came from a very poor background. He was constantly plagued with illness as a child and spent large amounts of time in hospital. At 19 months old, Helen Keller became ill and lost her sight and hearing . She went on to become a world famous author and speaker, and an advocate of many social causes. Grant Calder is a tetraplegic and yet he still works outdoors on a large sheep farm in New Zealand’s rugged South Island. Here is his inspiring story. Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. As a child she suffered measles, mumps, scarlet fever, chicken pox, double pneumonia and eventually polio, leaving her left leg and foot weak and deformed. Doctors said she would never walk again. She went on to win 3 gold medals in track during the 1960 Olympic games. Mark Inglis lost both of his legs below the knees in a mountaineering accident, but has since climbed Mt Everest. Bill Wilson was an alcoholic who wanted to help other alcoholics and founded what was to become Alcoholics Anonymous, a movement that has helped millions of people. No One Would Have Predicted These Successes These above are cases involving individuals with significant limitations, and it can be easy to write them off as exceptions to the rule, but that’s not the case. They were just people with problems. If one of these people had told you what they hoped to achieve you would have nodded kindly while quietly thinking to yourself that they had no chance. And yet the results speak for themselves. We All Face Challenges in Life Most of us will never have to face the kinds of challenges these people faced. Yet most of us will never achieve to the degree that these people have either. Unless we choose to. If Mark Inglis can climb the highest mountain in the world without legs, what can you do?