Part II-009

Q: Describe a person who encouraged you to achieve a goal.

A: I’m going to tell you all about Mark and how he encouraged me to keep going with my reading club, this was quite a while back(很久以前), a couple of years after graduating from university.

Mark was a friend I had met at university, and he was a total bookworm. You couldn’t tear him away from his books. I guess that was what brouht us together; our love of reading.

I’ve always loved reading, I read books like nobody’s business(=do something a lot; to a high standard). Night and day. So, after uni(大学毕业后), I decided to set up a bookclub to share new books and ideas with other people.

The trouble was, only a handful of people ever came, turning up in dribs and drabs(appear slowly a few people at a time). So, it wasn’t really taking off(=to be successful~at business, project, product). As you can imagine, I got a real sinking feeling(=feel it’s wrong) that this was a waste of time.

Despite that, Mark told me no to give up hope. He nudged(用肘轻推) me to keep going. And he quoted his Dad to me, off all people. It turns out(结果是), in times of despair(=绝望时), his Dad used to say, ‘I will, until.’ Simeple as that. Meaning ‘I will continue, until this works’.

And so, I decided to keep at it, for as long as it took. Sure enough, as if by magic(不可思议地) over the following weeks, more and more people came and suddenly the reading was on a roll.

Looking back, I think Mark’s words were intergral(完整的/必须的) to it all coming together. And I was forever grateful(感激的).

#—

I was sick and tired of making love everyday.

When things get tough, I try to hang in there.