我在校门口停下来。
“拿上你的书包，宝贝，”我说。
“妈妈，我能戴着红心上学吗？”
我心里斗争了一会儿。如此当众“表演”可能一鸣惊人，也可能一片哗然。但是科迪眼里流露出的恳求让我不再犹豫。
我怎能剥夺有可能让他开心的一个大好机会呢？
“我看没有什么不可以的，小伙子。”
我又把两个红心贴在我自己的镜片上，然后我们一起走进学校，手拉着手，穿过走廊中的人群，朝他的教室走去。
“哈！快看科迪·奥利弗。他眼镜上有红心！”一个人看见了，嚷了起来。
“啊，看科迪！多酷呀！”另一个发现者也嚷着，指着我们咯咯地笑。
科迪腼腆地微笑着，紧紧地抓住我的手。
当我们来到教室门口时，同学们围住科迪，而我看到他在努力克制他的笑容，那是我在他脸上看见过的最开心的笑容。
“真有意思！眼镜上有心！”
“科迪，让我戴一下好吗？”
一个小姑娘扯了扯我的衣袖。“您是奥利弗太太？”
“是啊。你有什么事？”
“我要是戴眼镜就好了。”
就在那时，我一点也不再怀疑，科迪又重新拾回了他的自信。
很简单，就是让眼里有心。
The Eyes of the Heart，Glasses Boy Confidence
Cody started life weighing 24 ounces.
Due to extreme prematurity， our sonhad eye surgery to prevent blindness. Asa result of the surgery， he lost peripheralvision in his right eye. And his nearsightedness would mean glasses and closemonitoring by an ophthalmologist for therest of his life.
Such a small price to pay， in ouropinion， compared to the alternative.
Cody wore glasses with great pride，making it abundantly clear to his littlebrothers that Mommy and Daddy alsowore glasses， and wasnt it a shame thatthey didnt have any themselves. Thisusually prompted a round of begging fromhis siblings that it was only fair they getglasses， too.
Then kindergarten happened.
One day， a couple of kids at recessderailed Codys bright outlook on havingglasses in his possession. One boy said，your glasses look stupid， Cody. Another kidyanked them off his face and bent them.
Cody was a timid， small child. Seeingtears well up in his eyes， as he recountedthe event， wrung our hearts dry.
Just recently， though， somethingchanged his outlook.
It was the morning of Valentines Day.
I shut off the alarm and groped around inthe dark until I found my glasses. I donnedthem and without turning on the light，blindly made my way to the bathroom. Iflipped the bathroom switch， and there Idiscovered why it was extra dark in mybedroom.
My husband， Stephen， had placedtwo red heart stickers on my glasses. Andplastered all over the mismatched antiquemirrors above our bathroom basins werethe same stickers.
“VALENTINE，” my husband hadscrawled on one mirror， “I LOVE YOUTHIS MUCH！”
In one mirror was drawn a stick armwith a hand pointing west. And in theother mirror was the same thing pointingeast. I was chuckling under my breath， soas not to wake the rest of the household，while staring at my reflection.
I penned my response in the mirror，“Thanks to you， sweetie， Ive got hearts inmy eyes！”
While dressing Cody for school， hewhispered， “Mom？”
“Yes， big boy？” I whispered back.
“You got hearts on your glasses.”
“Yep， I sure do.”
“Youre funny， Mom，” he said， hiseyes sparkling. We both climbed intothe cab of the pickup truck， where otherhearts ambushed us. Stuck to the steeringwheel was a heart. Another one was onthe rearview mirror， on my truck key，on the stick shift， and on my wallet. Allcompliments of my happy husband.
I peeled the hearts from my glassesand handed them to Cody. He stuck themcarefully on his own glasses and smiled thewhole way to school.
I parked in front of his school.
“Get your book bag， sweetie，” I said.
“Mom， can I wear my hearts to class？”
I debated it for a moment. Pulling a“stunt” like this could go either way. Butthe pleading in his eyes sealed it for me.
How could I deny him what may turn outto be a fun opportunity？
“I dont see why not， big boy.”
I placed two hearts on my ownglasses， and together we entered hisschool， hand in hand， parting the crowd inthe hallway on our way to his classroom.
“Ha！ Look at Cody Oliver！ Hes gothearts on his glasses！” One observer calledout.
“Oh， look at Cody！ How cute！”
Shouted another， pointing and giggling.
Cody smiled shyly， gripping my handfor dear life.
When we arrived at the doorway，classmates gathered around my little guy，while I saw him trying to shake off thebiggest grin Id ever seen on his face.
“Thats neat！ Hearts on your glasses！”
“Cody， can I try them on？”
One little girl tugged at my sleeve.
“Mrs. Oliver？”
“Yes？”
“I wish I had glasses.”
I knew then without a doubt thatCodys outlook was back on track.
Just by having hearts in his eyes.
生活是一个亲自动手的项目
一个年迈的木匠准备退休了。
他告诉老板，他准备放弃盖房子的营生，和他的妻子去过一种更悠闲的生活，安享家庭之乐。
他说，他会怀念这里的酬劳，但他想要退休了。
他们会慢慢适应这一切的。
老板因为这位优秀工人的离去而倍感遗憾，于是询问他能否再盖一栋房子，算是以私人的名义帮他一个忙。
木匠答应了，但很显然，他这个时候做事已经有些心不在焉了。
他的手工有些粗糙，用的材料也是次品。
他的职业生涯竟然以这种不幸的方式结束了。
当木匠最后完成他的工作，老板前来验收房子时，把房子的前门钥匙交到了木匠手里。
“这是你的房子，”他说，“是我送给你的礼物。”
如此震惊！
如此羞愧！
如果他早知道是在给自己盖房子，他肯定不会这样做的。
现在，他必须住在自己盖得不是很好的房子里了。
这个故事对我们同样有启示。
我们在营造自己的生活时，往往三心二意，被动的因素大于主动的因素，总是没有尽全力去营造自己的生活。
在关键的问题上，我们也没有尽最大的努力做好自己的工作。
于是，当我们惊讶地发现是自己创造的处境，发现住在自己建造的房子里时，才意识到，早知道是这样，我们绝对不会这样做。
把你自己当成那个木匠。
想想你自己的房子。
每天，你钉一个钉子，放一块木板或者砌一面墙。
明智地营造你的房子。
这是你唯一可以营造的生活。
哪怕只能再活一天，你也要优雅、高贵地活着。
墙上的匾写着，“生活是一个亲自动手的项目。”
还有比这更明确的表达吗？你今天的生活就是你过去的态度和选择的结果。
你未来的生活就是你今天的态度和选择的结果。
Life Is a Do-It-Yourself Project
An elderly carpenterwas ready to retire.
He told his employercontractor of his plans toleave the house buildingbusiness and live a moreleisurely life with his wifeenjoying his extendedfamily.
He would miss thepaycheck， but he needed toretire.
They could get by.
The contractor wassorry to see his good workergo and asked if he couldbuild just one more house asa personal favor.
The carpenter said yes，but in time it was easy to seethat his heart was not in hiswork.
He resorted to shoddyworkmanship and usedinferior materials.
It was an unfortunateway to end his career.
When the carpenterfinished his work and thebuilder came to inspectthe house， the contractorhanded the front door key tothe carpenter.
“This is your house，” hesaid， “my gift to you.”
What a shock！
What a shame！
If he had only known hewas building his own house，he would have done it all sodifferently.
Now he had to live inthe house he had built nonetoo well.
So it is with us.
We build our lives ina distracted way， reactingrather than acting， willing toput up less than the best.
At important points wedo not give the job our besteffort.
Then with a shock welook at the situation we havecreated and find that we arenow living in the house wehave built.
If we had realized thatwe would have done itdifferently.
Think of yourself as thecarpenter.
Think about yourhouse.
Each day you hammer anail， place a board or erect awall.
Build wisely.
It is the only life youwill ever build.
