莉斯·默里，成长于纽约最烂的街道，却毕业于常春藤联盟学校，已成为一名国际演说家。她被称为感动全美的“奇迹女孩”，她出生于贫民窟，她以奋斗自强考上哈佛的经历激励人们跨越困境去追寻自己心中的梦想，人们称她拥有世界上最阳光的笑容。但回忆起小时候，则是她父母把她们的福利金花在可卡因和海洛因上而她和姐姐却在一旁挨饿：“我们那时吃冰块因为这样我们会有”吃到食物“的感觉。我们把一条牙膏分成一人一半，当作晚饭吃。”

下面是演讲全文：

“我们并不活在以后，而是活在当下。”一个曾经失魂落魄，无家可归，甚至需要领取救济才能维持生活的人是怎样从一个差生就是凭借着这句话拿到了哈佛的奖学金。这就是《风雨哈佛路》作者Liz Murray的故事。

I don't know. I don’t know how long can you know that there is something bigger for you, and yet you ignore that.

我不知道。我不知道你要多久才能知道你有很重要的事要做，而你却仍旧忽视它。

Don’t we do that? We tell ourselves what? I’m gonna take on a bigger picture in myself, I really will recess my career, relationship, health.

我们不这样吗?我们不是这样告诉自己吗?我真得对我的人生有个大计划，我真的会好好工作，好好处理人际管理，好好保持健康。

When? Later! Right?

什么时候呢?以后吧!是吗?

We always do this. I am. I just can’t because I’m busy right now, and we get so wrapped up in the moment we make this promise to ourselves later.

我们经常这么做。我是这样的。我可以做，只是我现在很忙。我们作出这样的反应，然后我们对自己保证“以后……”。

I pushed away school to later. I pushed away taking, stepping into my life in the biggest sense. I push that away later. And when you push that away, you’ll push away even the most important things.

我推后了上学的时间，也推后了开始有意义的人生的时间。我把这件事拖后得太晚了。当你这样做时，你也会把最重要的事都拖后。

Cause I sat on my friend’s coaches and I realized they were complaining, and complaining and complaining, and I sat down and I said to myself. You know what, and I just stood up and look at my friends and say, “Guess what guys, I don’t know where I’m sleeping tonight, one of your houses maybe, maybe outside. I don’t know what I’m gonna eat, I don’t have... I don’t have... I don’t have...

所以我坐在我朋友的沙发上，我意识到，他们一直在抱怨、抱怨，不断地抱怨。我坐下对自己说。然后，你们知道吗，我站起来看着我的朋友，我说：“伙计们，你们猜怎么着，我不知道我今晚应该睡哪，也许住你们家，也许住外面。我不知道我该去哪吃饭，我没有这个……我没有那个……”

“But you know what I do have: two hands and two feet. I have a brain in my head and air in my lungs, and what else do I really need?”

“但是你知道，我自己有手有脚，我有大脑，我还在呼吸，那我还需要其他什么东西吗?”

Like what else do you really need to begin a today to lead the life you know you are meant to lead? You know in your heart what it is. And what more do you need to change before you step into that? I stood up, and I looked at them, and then next feeling which has been the biggest resource in my life since - “gratitude”.

你知道你想要什么样的生活，你要开始这样的生活，要做成这件事你难道还需要什么别的东西吗?。我站起来，看着他们，接下来我的感受是：感恩。这后来也成为了我人生中最强大的品质。

You can either pick one thing in life, resentment or gratitude, get on the side, I promise you. I looked at that moment and realized I may not have my mother ever again, but I had these resources. I had myself and I could go forward.

你可以选择靠愤恨或是靠感恩来生活，你务必要选择一个立场，我保证。那一刻，我意识到我再也没有妈妈了，但我有这么多精神力量，我有自己，我还可以继续向前走。

I remember that the feeling inside of me, and a need to change my life, and that voice at the back of my head - it took on the specific question, and the question was “What if ...?”

我记得我内心的感受，我知道我需要作出改变，我记得我背后有一个声音一直在问我一个同样的问题：“如果……?”

You know that voice in the back of your head and said “what if……”? “What if I tried that much harder?” “What if I pushed one more time?” “What if ...?” It’s the part of you that dreams.

你背后也出现过这样对你说“如果……”的声音吗?“如果我再多努力一些呢?”“如果我再努力试一次会怎么样?”“如果……?”这就是你内心还怀揣着的梦想。

A disempowered conversation will do a couple of things that will look for blame, and it’s concerned with the past. It’ll go, “What happened before? Why didn’t it work out?” It will count what is not there.

让人失去动力的自我对话只会让你找个能责怪的人，这种对话永远只是关于过去的。对话里面只会说：“过去发生了什么?没什么没有成功?”这种对话里只有虚的东西。

An empowered conversation is unconcerned with blame. It simply says, “what’s next?” and it steps forward with a willingness to be responsible for what happens next. That is the difference between empowered and disempowered conversation. And I stood at that doorway and I knew nothing in my history took away from the fact that I still had a choice.

让人有动力的自我对话中不会出现你想要责怪的人。对话里只是说：“接下来怎么办?”并且你会为接下来发生的事情负责任。这就是让人有动力的自我对话和让人没有动力的对话之间的区别。我站在门铃前，我知道，我过去所有的经历都不会剥夺这个事实，那就是我还是有选择的。

Life is a miracle. You don’t have to be stuck in a situation that you are in. If there is something in your life that is holding you back, you have to identify what that is, because, I promise you, there is a way to break pasted.

人生就是一场奇迹。你不必受困于现在的处境。如果在你的生活中有些东西使你停滞不前，去认清那是什么。因为，我敢保证，必定会有一条出路。

I want you to identify that voice inside of yourself and begin to trust it. And ask yourself what is it that has been in my way and how do I unblock that? Dig deep inside.

我希望你能听从你内心的声音，相信这个声音。问问你自己，是什么在阻挡我前进?我应该怎么跨过这个障碍?更深地挖掘自己的内心。

Life does not wait for anyone, and your life isn’t later. Your life is right now.

人生不会等待任何人，你也不生活在“以后”。你就活在现在。