美文赏析：笑对生活_心灵鸡汤

"everything happens for the best," my mother said whenever i faced disappointment. "if you carry on, one day something good will happen. and you'll realize that it wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment. "

mother was right, as i discovered after graduating from college in 1932, i had decided to try for a job in radio, then work my way up to sports announcer. i hitchhiked to chicago and knocked on the door of every station--and got turned down every time.

in one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn't risk hiring an inexperienced person. "go out in the sticks and find a small station that'll give you a chance, " she said. i thumbed home to dixon, illinois.

 

while there were no radio－announcing jobs in dixon, my father said montgomery ward had opened a store and wanted a local athlete to manage its sports department. since dixon was where i had played high school football, i applied. the job sounded just right for me.

but i wasn't hired. my disappointment must have shown. "everything happens for the best. " mom reminded me. dad offered me the car to hunt job. i tried woc radio in davenport, iowa. the program director, a wonderful scotsman named peter macarthur told me they had already hired an announcer.

as i left his office, my frustration boiled over. i asked aloud, "how can a fellow get to be a sports announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station." i was waiting for the elevator when i heard macarthur calling, "what was you said about sports?

do you know anything about football?" then he stood me before a microphone and asked me broadcast an imaginary game. the preceding autumn, my team had won a game in the last 20 seconds with a 65－yard run. i did a 15－minute build－up to that play, and peter told me i would be broadcasting saturday's game!

on my way home, as i have many times since, i thought of my mother's words: "if you carry on, one day something good will happen. something wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment. "