day16-The road less traveled

                 At the age of thirty-seven I learned how to fix things.Prior to that time almost all my attempts to make minor plumbing repairs, mend toys or assemble boxed furniture according to the accompanying hieroglyphical instruction sheet ended in confusion,failure and frustration.Despite having managed to make it through medical and support a family as a more or less successful executive and psychiatrist,I considered myself to be a mechanical idiot.I was convinced I was deficient in some gene,or by curse of nature lacking some mystical quality responsible for mechanical ability.Then one day at the end of my thirty-seven year,while taking a spring Sunday walk,I happened upon a neighbor in the process of repairing a lawn mower.After greeting him I remarked,"Boy,I sure admire you.I've never been able to fix those kind of things or do anything like that."My neighbor,without a moment's hisitation,shot back,"That's because you don't take the time."I resumed my walk,somehow disquieted by the gurulike simplicity,spontaneity and definitiveness of his response."You don't suppose he could be right,do you?"I asked myself.Somehow it registered,and the next time the opportunity presented itself to make a minor repair I was able to remind myself to take my time.The parking brake was struke on a patient's car,and she knew that there was something one could do under the dashboard to release it,but she didn't know what.I lay down on the floor below the front seat of her car.Then I took the time to make myself comfortable.Once I was comfortable,I then took the time to look at the situation.I looked for several minutes.At first all I saw was a confusing jumble of wires and tubes and rods,whose meaning I did not know.But gradually,in no hurry,I was able to focus my sight on the brake apparatus and trace its course.And then it became clear to me that there was a little latch preventing the brake from being released.I slowly studied this latch until it became clear to me that if I were to push it upward with the tip of my finger it would move easily and would release the brake.And so I did this.One single motion,one ounce of pressure from a fingertip,and the problem was solved.I was a master mechanic.

                在我37岁是我学会了如何修复东西。在此之前，几乎所有我尝试做小的管道修理，修补玩具和组装盒装家具根据附带的象形指令表都在混乱、失败和挫折中结束。尽管成功地通过了医疗养家和作为一个或多或少成功的管理者和精神病学家，我认为自己是个机械白痴。我确信我缺乏某些基因，或是由于天然的诅咒缺乏负责机械能力的神秘品质。然后有一天，在我37岁的末尾，漫步在一个春天的周日里，我偶然发现一个邻居正在修理割草机。问候他之后，我说,"小伙子，我真佩服你。我从来没有能够修复这样的事情或做任何类似的事情。"我的邻居，没有一刻犹豫，回击道：“那是因为你没有花时间。”我重新开始散步，不知何故被他的专家般的简单、自发、明确的回复所困扰。“你不认为他是对的，是吗？”我问我自己。不知何故它记录了，下一次小修理时我能提醒自己慢慢来的机会它自己出现了。一个病人的汽车的刹车罢工了，而且她知道在仪表板下面可以做点什么来释放它，但是她不知道是什么。我躺在她前排座位下面的地板上。然后我抽出时间让自己舒服。一旦我感到舒服了，然后我花时间看看情况。我找了几分钟。起初，我所看到的只是混乱的电线、管子和杆子，我不知道是什么意思。但渐渐地，我不再着急，把视线集中在刹车装置上，追寻它的轨迹。然后我就明白了其中有一个小插销阻止了制动器松开。我慢慢地研究这个插销，直到我明白如果我用手指尖把它往上推它会很容易移动并释放刹车。所以我这样做了。单次运动，指尖一盎司的压力，然后问题解决了。我成了一名机修大师！