Care your dream 呵护你的梦想

当梦想遭到现实的撞击时 ，总会发出凄美的破碎声 。心灵被梦想的碎片刺痛
，散落的碎片上还残留着斑斓的颜色
。然而，心灵的疼痛却有着催人成长的力量。梦想的幻灭 ，是因为它没有得到精心的照料 。去呵护你的梦想吧！勇敢地站在舞台中央
，跳一曲快乐的人生芭蕾
。

My dream ended when I was born. Although I never knew it then, I just held on to something that would never come to pass. Dreams really do exist. But in the morning when you wake up, they are remembered just as a dream. That is what happened to me.

I always have the dream to dance like a beautiful ballerina twirling around and around and hearing people applaud¹ for me. When I was young, I would twirling around and around in the fields of wildflowers that grew in my backyard². For hours I would dance as if people were watching me. I would dance so fast that I would forget where I was, until I would hear sounds that reminded me of where I really was. I thought that if I twirled faster everything would disappear and I would wake up in a new place. Reality woke me up when I heard a voice saying, "I don't know why you bother trying to dance. Ballerinas are pretty, slender³ little girls. Besides, you don't have the talent to even be a ballerina." I remember how those words paralyzed⁴ every feeling in my body. I feel to the ground and wept⁵ for hours.

We lived in the country by a nearby lake and I would sometimes go there to hide. My parents were never home anyway and I did not like to be at home where I could hear the walls talking of pain. When they were home, my mother just yelled⁶ and criticized⁷ because nothing was ever perfect in her life. She dreamed of a different life but ended up living in a country far away from the city where she believed her dreams would have come true.

I enjoyed hanging out by the water. I would sit there for hours and stare at my reflection⁸. There I was, looked nothing like a pretty ballerina dancer. Reflections⁹ don't lie. Once the waves would come, my reflection was gone. Washed away just like my dream to dance. I sat there staring at the water, hoping that my reflection would reappear and be different.

As I grew older, I began to realize that the reason my dream was even born in the first place, was because it was something that was inside of me. The dream I had was never nurtured¹⁰ and cared for, so it slowly died. It's not that I wanted it to die, but I allowed it to die the day I started listening to the words, "You can't do it." When I finally woke up from many years of dreaming, I realized that you can't settle¹¹ for dancing in the wildflowers, you have to move on to the platform. I still go to the lake sometimes and sit there. Looking at my reflection is different now too. When I was young, I looked at how others saw me, now that I am older and wiser; I look at how God sees me.Vanessa Sanchez

1 applaud
vt.鼓掌欢迎，赞同；vi.鼓掌欢迎 ，欢呼
参考例句：
The pupils that had been watching started to applaud.一直在一旁观看的小学生们开始鼓起掌来。 Please don't applaud until everyone has performed.请在每个人表演完毕后再鼓掌 。

2 backyard
n.后院，后庭
参考例句：
I parked the car in the backyard.我把汽车停在后院。 The residents didn't want a new factory in their backyard.居民不希望在他们住地附近建新工厂 。

3 slender
adj.苗条的 ，修长的；微薄的，微弱的
参考例句：
Everybody of us admired her slender figure.我们人人都羡慕她的苗条身材。 The girl was pretty and slender.那姑娘长得美丽苗条 。

4 paralyzed
adj.瘫痪的
参考例句：
He is paralyzed as the result of a would-be assassin's bullet years ago. 几年前有人对他行刺未遂 ，但子弹使他瘫痪了 。 But the very imminence of the emergency paralyzed his invention. Good! 常言说得好 ，急中生智，可汤姆这回却束手无策 ，对 ，就这么办。

5 wept
（通常因悲伤）哭泣( weep的过去式和过去分词 )； 流泪； 悲哀； 哀悼
参考例句：
She was unable to keep back her tears, and wept freely. 她抑制不住泪水，痛痛快快地哭了起来 。 She wept bitter tears over the loss of her lover. 她为失去了恋人而哭泣 。

6 yelled
v.叫喊 ，号叫 ，叫着说( yell的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He yelled at the other driver. 他冲着另一位司机大叫。 The lost man yelled, hoping someone in the woods would hear him. 迷路的人大声喊着，希望林子里的人会听见 。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 criticized
vt.批评(criticize的过去式)v.评论 ，批评( criticize的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The decision was criticized by environmental groups. 这个决定受到了环保团体的批评 。 The movie has been criticized for apparently legitimizing violence. 这部电影因明显地美化暴力而受到了指责。

8 reflection
n.映象 ，倒影；反射；反映；非议；深思
参考例句：
The reflection of the sun on the glass wall was blinding.玻璃墙上反射的太阳光令人目眩 。 One can see the reflection of the tower in the water.塔的影子倒映在水中 。

9 reflections
反映( reflection的名词复数 )； （关于某课题的）思考； （声、光 、热等的）反射； 映像
参考例句：
Her eyebrows had the aspect of hills in spring, and her eyes -- reflections of an autumn stream. 眉似青山，眼如秋水 Since there are four reflections, the exiting image will be right-handed. 因为共有四次反射 ，出射的像将是右手座标系。

10 nurtured
养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长
参考例句：
She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物 。 Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

11 settle
vi.安家；定居；停留；vt.使定居；安排；解决
参考例句：
I have to settle my affairs before leaving here.离开这儿以前，我得把一些私人的事情安排妥当 。 She has decided how she should settle the matter.她已做出决定如何来了解这件事。