Day 131: On Building an Ark
第131天：关于建造方舟
It took Noah 20 years to build an ark. And people said he was being silly because the skies were beautiful. And of course, the whole time, he looked stupid — until it started raining. You can spend a long time building an ark while everybody else is out there enjoying the sun.
诺亚花了 20 年时间建造方舟。
人们说他太傻了，因为天空太美了。
当然，从头到尾，他都显得很傻——直到开始下雨。
当其他人都在外面享受阳光的时候，你可以花很长时间来建造方舟。
—Peter Bevelin
Your efforts to improve will draw criticism or ridicule from people who don’t care about self-improvement. It’s possible you’ll spend a long time doing things without a reward and start wondering whether your goal makes sense.
你努力进步会招致那些不关心自我进步的人的批评和嘲笑。
你可能会花很长时间做一些没有回报的事情，并开始怀疑自己的目标是否有意义。
Is it worth it to spend several years working so hard to get a degree, build a business, or move up the ladder in your company while others are partying and enjoying their lives on credit?
当其他人都在聚会和享受他们的生活时，花几年时间努力学习以获得学位、创业或在公司努力晋升，这值得吗？
During the process you might face doubts and even feel tempted to give up. However, five or ten years from now, the ones who were wasting time will get the short end of the stick when they realize that they wasted their time on ultimately meaningless pleasures. Now they’re in debt, worried about how to pay their bills, and doubting that they’ll ever have a successful career, while you’re enjoying the fruits of your labor.
在这个过程中，你可能会遇到怀疑，甚至有放弃的念头。
然而，五年或十年后，当那些浪费时间的人意识到他们把时间浪费在了毫无意义的享乐上时，他们就会后悔莫及。
现在，他们债台高筑，为如何支付账单而发愁，怀疑自己的事业能否成功，而你却在享受着自己的劳动成果。
Whenever you’re in doubt, remind yourself that you’re building an ark and that rain will come. Maybe now you aren’t enjoying yourself as much as others are, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s better to be prepared and suffer a little now to prosper in the future than live in sweet denial and one day realize it’s too late.
每当你心存疑虑时，就提醒自己，你正在建造一艘方舟，雨总会来的。
也许现在你不像其他人那样享受生活，但从大局出发，与其生活在甜蜜的否定中，有一天才发现为时已晚，还不如做好准备，现在吃点苦，将来才会有出息。
