If and When
IF and WHEN were friends. Every week they met and had lunch together. Their conversation usually centered on all the things they were going to achieve. They both had many dreams and they loved to talk about them.
This particular Saturday when they met, WHEN sensed that IF was not in a great mind. As usual they sat at the table reserved for them and ordered their lunch. Once they placed their order, WHEN questioned IF,”IF, what is wrong with you? You don’t seem your usual cheery self?”
IF looked at WHEN and replied, ”I’m not sure. I just don’t feel like I am making any progress. This last week I saw a course I wanted to take if only I had the time to take it.”
WHEN knew exactly how IF felt.”Yeah,” replied WHEN, “I too saw a course ND I m going to register when I get enough money together.” WHEN then said, “Well, what about that new job you were going to apply for? You were so excited about it last week. Did you apply?”
IF replied，”If my computer didn’t break down last week, I would have applied. But my computer is still not working, so I could not type my resume.”
“Don’t worry about it IF, when you are ready, another job will come through. I have thinking about looking for another job also, but I will wait and when the weather gets nicer I will look then.”WHEN then went on to tell IF about his week, hoping that it would cheer him up a bit.
The man at the next table couldn’t help but overhear WHEN and IF. They both were talking about when this and if that, and finally he couldn’t take it anymore.”Excuse me gentleman,” the man said. IF and WHEN both looked at the man and wondered what he wanted. The man continued, “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help hearing your conversation. I think I know how you could solve your problems.”
IF smiled and thought, how could a complete stranger know how to solve all of their problems. If only he knew, when he realized the challenges they faced, there was no way he could solve their problems! Curiously, IF asked the gentleman, “How do you think you can solve our problems?”
The gentleman smiled and said, “You only need to listen to yourselves. It remains me of an old proverb: If and When were planted, and Nothing grew.”
IF and WHEN both looked at surprised, and suddenly realized that what the gentleman had said was so true. Both of them were guilty of thinking, acting and living their life for the “ifs” and “when”. The gentleman left and IF and WHEN’s conversation changed. They made a pact that when they met for lunch next week, there would be no “ifs” or “whens”; they would only talk about what they had accomplished!
“如果”和”等到”
“如果”和”等到”是一对好朋友。她们每周都见面共进午餐。她们的谈话内容总是围绕着各自的打算展开。两人都有许多梦想，也都喜欢谈论各自的梦想。
这次周六他们见面时，“等到”发觉“如果”心情不是很好。像往常一样，他们坐在预定的桌前，点菜吃午饭。一点完菜，“等到”便问“如果”：“‘如果’，你怎么了？你看起来可不像平时的那个快乐的人呀！”
“如果”看了看“等到”，答道：“我也不知道。我只是觉得自己毫无长进。上周我看见一门很想学的课程，如果我有时间就好了。”
“等到”十分理解“如果”的感受。“是啊，”“等到”说，“我也看到了一门课程，等有了足够的钱，我就去报名。”“等到”接着说：“对了，你先前打算申请的那份新工作怎么样了？上周你说起它的时候可是十分兴奋呀。你申请了么？”
“如果”答道：“如果上周电脑没坏，我就申请了。可电脑坏了，所以我没法写简历。”
“别担心，‘如果’。等你一切就绪，又会有其他工作的。我也在考虑找份别的活儿，但我会等上一阵儿，等天气转好我就去找。”“等到”继续向“如果”讲述自己这一周的情况，希望能让“如果”高兴起来。
临桌的一个人无意间听见了“等到”和“如果”的谈话。他们一直在讨论“等到……如果……”，这个人终于忍无可忍：“打扰一下，先生们，”他说。“如果”和“等到”看着这个人，不知道他想干什么。这个人接着说：“很抱歉，我无意间听到了你们的谈话。我想我知道该如何解决你们的问题。”
“如果”笑了笑，暗想，一个完全陌生的人怎么可能知道如何解决他们所有的问题呢。即便他知道，一旦他体会到他们所面临的压力，也会变得束手无策！“如果”好奇地问这位先生：“您怎么就认为您能解决我们的问题呢？”
这个男人笑了笑，说道：“你们只需听听你们自己的谈话。这让我想起了一句古谚：种下‘如果’和‘等到’，看不到收获。”
他看见“如果”和“等到”满脸困惑，就笑着解释说：“数数你们用了多少次‘如果’和‘等到’这两个词。与其坐想‘如果’和 ‘等到’，不如马上行动，付诸实施，停止空谈。”
“如果”和“等到”十分惊讶，但猛然意识到这位先生说的对。他们二人都为只会空想并只靠“如果”和“等到”过活而感到内疚。那位先生离开以后，“如果”和“等到”的话题有了改变。他们达成了一项协议：下周见面吃饭时，不许再说“如果”和“等到”，而只能聊“做了”和“实现”！ |
