I believe in the 50-percent theory. Half the time things are better than normal; the other half, they are worse. I believe life is a pendulum swing. It takes time and experience to understand what normal is, and that gives me the perspective to deal with the surprises of the future.

Let’s benchmark the parameters: yes, I will die. I’ve dealt with the deaths of both parents, a best friend, a beloved boss and cherished pets. Some of these deaths have been violent, before my eyes, or slow and agonizing. Bad stuff, and it belongs at the bottom of the scale.

Then there are those high points: romance and marriage to the right person; having a child and doing those Dad things like coaching my son’s baseball team, paddling around the creek in the boat while he’s swimming with the dogs, discovering his compassion so deep it manifests even in his kindness to snails, his imagination so vivid he builds a spaceship from a scattered pile of Legos.

But there is a vast meadow of life in the middle, where the bad and the good flip-flop acrobatically. This is what convinces me to believe in the 50-percent theory.

Although plantings past may have fallen below the 50-percent expectation, and they probably will again in the future, I am still sustained by the crop that flourishes during the drought.

                             生活理论半对半
                       史蒂夫·波特

我信奉对半理论。我觉得生活就像来回摆动的钟摆，时而比一般情况要好，时而比一般情况要糟，好坏参半。读懂生活的常态需要时间和阅历，而读懂它也练就了我面对未来荣辱不惊的生活态度。

让我们来确定一下好坏的基准：是的，我注定会死去。我已经经历了双亲、一位好友、一位敬爱的老板和心爱宠物的死亡。有些突如其来，有些却缓慢煎熬。这些都是糟糕的事情，它们属于最坏的部分。

生活中也不乏高潮：坠入爱河缔结良缘；身为人父养育幼子，诸如训练指导儿子的棒球队，当他和狗在水中嬉戏时摇桨划船前瞻后顾，感受他如此强烈的同情心——即使对蜗牛也善待有加，发现他如此丰富的想象力——即使用零散的乐高玩具积木也能堆出太空飞船。

但在生活最好与最坏部分之间有一片巨大的中间地带，其间各种好事坏事像耍杂技一样上下翻滚，轮番出现。这就是让我信服对半理论的原因。

尽管过去的播种可能没有达到50%的期望收获，而且将来也可能是这样，但我仍然要为在旱季依然繁茂生长的庄稼而坚持下去。