At a young and tender age，Patti Wilson was told by her doctor that she was an epileptic．Her father，Jim Wilson，is a morning jogger．One day she smiled through her braces and said，“Daddy what I'd really love to do is run with you every day，but I'm afraid I'll have a seizure．”

epileptic［,epi'leptik］ n．癲癇癥患者adj．癲癇癥的

Her father told her，“If you do，I know how to handle it，so let's start running！”

That's just what they did every day．It was a wonderful experience for them to share and there were no seizures at all while she was running．After a few weeks，she told her father，“Daddy，what I'd really love to do is break the world's long－distance running record for women．”

Her father checked the Guiness Book of World Records and found that the farthest any woman had run was 80miles．As a freshmanin high school，Patti announced，“I'm going to run from Orange County up to San Francisco．”（a distance of 400miles）“As asophomore，”she went on，“I'm going to run to Portland， Oregon．”（over 1，500miles）“As a junior I'll run to St．Louis．”（about 2,000miles）“As a senior I'll run to the White House．”（more than 3,000miles away）

freshman ［'fre?m?n］ n．（大學(xué)）新生，新手

sophomore［'s?f?m??］ n．（大學(xué)）二年級學(xué)生

In view of her handicap，Patti was as ambitious as she was enthusiastic，but she said she looked at the handicap of being an epileptic as simply“an inconvenience”．She focused not on what she had lost，but on what she had left．

handicap［'h?ndik?p］ n．（身體或智力的）缺陷；障礙v．妨礙

enthusiastic ［in,θju?zi'?stik］adj．滿腔熱情的，熱心的，極感興趣的

That year，she completed her run to San Francisco wearing a T－shirt that read，“I Love Epileptics．”Her dad ran every mile at her side，and her mom，a nurse，followed in a motor home behind them in case anything went wrong．

In her sophomore year，Patti's classmates got behind her．They built a giant poster that read，“Run，Patti，Run！”（This has since become her motto and the title of a book she has written．）On her second marathon，en route to Portland，she fractured a bone in her foot．A doctor told her she had to stop her run．He said，“I've got to put a cast on your ankle so that you don't sustain permanent damage．”

“Doc，you don't understand，”she said．“This isn't just a whim of mine，it's a magnificent obsession！I'm not just doing it for me， I'm doing it to break the chains on the brains that limit so many others．Isn't there a way I can keep running？”He gave her one option．He could wrap it in adhesive instead of putting it in a cast．He warned her that it would be incredibly painful，and he told her，“It will blister．”She told the doctor to wrap it up．

She finished the run to Portland，completing her last mile with the governor of Oregon．You may have seen the headlines：“Super Runner，Patti Wilson Ends Marathon for Epilepsy on Her 17th Birthday．”

After four months of almost continuous running from West Coast to the East Coast，Patti arrived in Washington and shook the hand of the President of United States．She told him，“I wanted people to know that epileptics are normal human beings with normal lives．”

I told this story at one of my seminars not long ago，and afterward a big teary－eyed man came up to me，stuck out his big meaty hand and said，“Mark，my name is Jim Wilson．You were talking about my daughter，Patti．”Because of her noble efforts，he told me，enough money had been raised to open up 19multi－million－dollar epileptic centers around the country．

If Patti Wilson can do so much with so little，what can you do to outperform yourself in a state of total wellness？

在年幼時(shí)，派蒂·威爾森被醫(yī)生告知她患有癲癇。她的父親吉姆·威爾森每天都晨跑。一天帶著牙套的她笑著說： “爸爸，我真想每天和你一起跑步，但我擔(dān)心我的病會(huì)中途發(fā)作?！?/p>

她的父親告訴她：“如果發(fā)作了，我知道怎么處理，所以我們開始跑步吧！”

這就是他們每天所做的。這是他們共享的美好經(jīng)歷，在跑步期間派蒂的病從來沒有發(fā)作過。幾周后，她告訴父親： “爸爸，我最想做的就是打破女子長跑的世界紀(jì)錄?！?/p>

父親查了 《吉尼斯世界紀(jì)錄》，發(fā)現(xiàn)女子長跑的紀(jì)錄是80英里。作為高一的新生，派蒂宣布：“我要從橘郡跑到舊金山?！保ň嚯x為400英里）“高二的時(shí)候，”她接著說，“我要跑到俄勒岡州的波特蘭?！保? 500多英里）“高三的時(shí)候，我要跑到圣路易斯?！保ù蟾? 000英里）“高四的時(shí)候，我要跑到白宮”（3 000多英里）。

盡管她的身體有殘疾，派蒂仍然雄心勃勃，滿懷夢想。但她說對她而言，癲癇這種殘疾只是 “不便”。她看重的不是自己失去的，而是還擁有的。

那年，她穿著寫著 “我愛癲癇患者”的襯衫，完成了跑到舊金山的路程。她的爸爸陪她跑完全程，她做護(hù)士的媽媽則開著房車尾隨父女兩人，以防萬一。

高二的時(shí)候，派蒂的同學(xué)成為她的支持者。他們舉著寫有“跑啊，派蒂，向前跑！”（這后來也成為她的座右銘和所寫的書的書名）的巨幅海報(bào)。在她跑往波特蘭的第二次馬拉松途中，她一只腳骨折了。醫(yī)生告訴她必須終止跑步。他說：“我要給你的腳踝打上石膏，否則會(huì)對你造成永久的傷害?！?/p>

“醫(yī)生，你不了解，”她說，“這不是我一時(shí)的沖動(dòng)，這是一種瘋狂的著迷！我這么做不單是為了自己，同時(shí)我要打破很多其他人頭腦里限制的枷鎖。有沒有什么方法讓我跑完？”他給她提供了一個(gè)選擇。他可以用黏合劑代替石膏，把傷處接合。他警告說這將會(huì)疼痛難忍，并告訴她說：“這會(huì)起水泡?！彼嬖V醫(yī)生幫她包好。

她跑完了到波特蘭的路程，俄勒岡州的州長還陪她跑完了最后一英里。也許你看到了報(bào)紙頭條：“超級長跑女將——派蒂·威爾森17歲生日跑完對抗癲癇馬拉松?！?/p>

在四個(gè)月里，派蒂幾乎沒有停過，從西海岸跑到了東海岸，最后抵達(dá)華盛頓，和美國總統(tǒng)握了手。她告訴總統(tǒng)：“我想讓世人知道，癲癇患者和正常人一樣，也能過正常的生活?！?/p>

不久前，我曾在一個(gè)研討會(huì)上講了這個(gè)故事。會(huì)后，一個(gè)雙眼含淚的高大男士來找我，向我伸出他厚實(shí)的大手，對我說：“馬克，我名叫吉姆·威爾森。你剛才提到的是我的女兒，派蒂?！彼嬖V我說，因?yàn)榕畠撼绺叩男袆?dòng)，全國籌集了大筆基金，用于建立19所數(shù)百萬美金的癲癇病治療中心。

如果派蒂·威爾森這樣的人都能有如此成就，那么身心健康的我們該怎樣超越自己呢？