Lean in，是奶奶給我的遺產
文︱Adam Robitel翻譯︱明至 審校&編輯︱wongyang&白白
譯者說
Lean In的女子，有多大的魅力？她們不僅是自己人生的主人，她們的獨立自信和滿滿能量，還會輻射到身邊的人，激勵他們一起勇敢向前，共同成為更好的自己。著名作家Adam，便有一位這樣富有Lean in精神的奶奶。他的故事，將告訴你一位Lean in女子將會散發怎樣的能量，成為照亮自己，照亮他人的小太陽，並將這種精神代代相傳。
（以下為正文及譯文）
My grandmother, Denise, or 「Deed」 as she liked to be called, was an amazing storyteller and a master of leaning in. She was the writer of her own narrative and the author of her own story, right up until the very end. She had an indomitable spirit and absolutely loved life. As I look back on my career (and forward to my future), it』s no question that my success is largely due to her mentorship and her total devotion to the art of learning.
When Deed was a young woman she contracted polio. She was bedridden for the better part of a year and lost the use of her right leg, essentially handicapped by the virus. She was raising my young father on her own, so it felt like an impossible situation. Her family rallied around her. Slowly but surely, Deed learned to not only deal, but to thrive with her disability. People thought she was crazy when she wanted to start her own business, but she was doggedly determined. She literally had to leverage her house for collateral to get the business loan she needed; she was a woman with serious moxie! She went on to run a highly successful answering service as one of the first women entrepreneurs in the city of Revere, Massachusetts.
I truly believe polio was a gift to my grandmother. It crystallized her beliefs and made her strong and resilient, but it also forced her to slow down and become contemplative. She never complained about her condition, not once. Meanwhile, I found that my visits to her lake house were filled with my self-absorbed negativity. I sulked. I moaned. I cried 「why me」 and played the victim when things weren』t going my way. When I would launch into one of my complaining fits, frustrated by the direction of my career, Deed would turn to me and say, 「Are you done yet? Are you working in a factory, Adam?」 And then she』d counsel me on my next move.
Though far removed from Hollywood, (she lived on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire), Deed seemed to intuitively know answers to questions that seemed to baffle me. She was my trusted mentor. With each visit, she would lay seedlings to help me better myself; expand my mind and go after bigger dreams. 「Never stop learning,」 she』d say, 「never stop reaching.」 Do the right thing. Love. Forgive. Read. Exercise. Have balance. Be kind to people. Encourage them to be better. She once told me I was her 「flower」 and that my mind needed to be 「nurtured, watered and loved so that I might grow.」
And grow I did. I became confident, more driven and focused on what I wanted to achieve. Each step of the way, Deed was there to cheer me on (or to tell me I was getting a little too full of myself). The more I leaned back out of fear, the more she challenged me to lean in to the possibilities.
Within a month of selling my first screenplay, Deed passed away. She is on my mind daily. Now, whenever I deal with career issues that scare me, I invoke her calming influence. I also remind myself of her greatest piece of advice: 「Stop spinning your wheels looking for answers. Take a seat. Put a leg up and breathe, it will all work out.」
我的奶奶Denise，或者按她喜歡被稱呼為「Deed」，是一位令人驚嘆的作家，也是一位Leaniner。自始至終，她都是自己作品的撰寫者，也是她自己人生的掌舵者。她有一個不屈的靈魂，且超級熱愛生活。每當我回顧自己的事業（以及我的未來）之時，我的成功毫無疑問來源於她的啟蒙，以及她對藝術的堅持精進。
當Deed還是一個年輕姑娘時，她感染了脊髓灰質炎（俗稱小兒麻痹症）。在那一年她卧床不起，因病毒造成生理缺陷，失去了對右腿的控制。她獨自撫養我年幼的父親，這看起來是一件不可能的事兒。但她的家庭團結在她的周圍。漸漸地，Deed不僅學會面對困難，更迎難而上。當她想要開始自己的事業時，周圍的人都覺得她瘋了，但她義無反顧。她將房子抵押，以獲得所需的商業貸款。她是一位擁有真膽識的女人！作為馬薩諸塞州第一位女企業家，她運營了一個非常成功的服務業務。
我完全相信脊髓灰質炎是給奶奶的一個禮物。它明確了她的信念，讓她變得強大堅韌，也同時促使她遇事沉穩，處變不驚。她從來不抱怨自己的境遇，一次也沒有。與此同時，我發現自己去拜訪她時，充滿了自我否定。我悶悶不樂，牢騷滿腹。當事不如我所願，我哭喊著「為什麼是我」，並自動扮演著受害者的角色。當我因職業生涯受挫而沉溺於抱怨時，Deed就會轉向我說：「你抱怨完了嗎？Adam，你在工廠工作嗎？」然後，她勸導我進入到下一個階段。
儘管從好萊塢搬離很久，（她在新罕不什爾州的Lake Winnipesaukee居住），Deed似乎本能地明白那些困擾我問題的答案。她是我信任的良師益友。每一次拜訪，她都使我變成更好的自己，擴展我的思路，並追逐著更大的夢想。「學無止境，」她說，「不要停止追求。」學著做正確的事。學會愛、學會寬恕、學會閱讀、學著體驗、學著保持平衡、學著對他人友善、學著鼓勵他人變得更好。她曾說過我是她的「花朵」，我的思想需要被「養育，澆灌和關愛，如此我才能成長」。
我的確成長了。我變得自信，變得更有緊迫感，並且專註於自己想要實現的事情。這條路上的每一步，Deed都陪著我，激勵著我（或提醒我有點自我膨脹了）。我從恐懼中學到的越多，她越要求我「向前一步」。
在我第一部電影劇本的交易當月，Deed去世了。她每日都在我的腦海里。現在，無論事業問題何時令我困擾，我都會想起她處事不驚的作風。我也記著她最偉大的忠告：「不要四處尋覓去尋找答案。坐下來。抬起一隻腿，深呼吸，答案就在眼前。」
原文摘自Leanin Org.官網，本文為Leanin Shenzhen原創翻譯，轉載需註明作者及來源平台，並與Leanin Shenzhen取得聯繫。
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