现代夸父 Kua Fu in the Modern Society

I believe that every Chinese people are familiar
with the story of Kua Fu, it says a braggadocio who miscalculating his
strength, conceived the vain ambition of overtaking the fleeting rays of the
sun, he died in the middle way because of thirst. This story tells us that
people should not be ignorant of one’s strength or doing something beyond one’s
ability. However, there is an alarming amount of Kua Fu in modern society.

我相信每个中国人都熟悉夸父的故事，说的是一个吹牛的人错误地估算了自己的实力，野心勃勃地想要追上阳光，他最后渴死在半路。这个故事告诉我们人们不应该无视自己的能力，或者做超出自己能力的事情。然而，现代夸父的数目大得惊人。

Why someone will become Kua Fu? I believe
that one of the main reasons for this question is that we had been educated to
be confidence in all kind of circumstance. Remember what our parents and teacher
said to us when we were young? “You can do that!” “You got it!” “You are the
best!” I didn’t mean that praise and encouragement will lead to arrogant, but
when we judge a kid, a pertinent evaluation is fine, if we praise them blindly,
it will make children understand their own ability mistakenly.

为什么有人会变成夸父？我相信这个问题的主要原因是因为我们一直被教育在任何情况下都要充满自信吧。还记得我们小时候父母和老师跟我们说过什么么？“你做得到的！” “你能行！” “你是最好的！”我不是说赞美和鼓励会造成自大，但是当我们评判一个孩子的时候，中肯地评价就好了，如果我们盲目地赞美，会让孩子错误地估计自己的能力的。

Another reason is that young people in
nowadays are eager and willing to undertake anything risky. Unlike the old
style, people usually will not do something unless they have more than 80%
success rate, but now, less than 50% is acceptable. The hunger for success
makes people wrongly estimate their strength.

另一个原因就是现在的年轻人渴望和愿意冒任何的风险。不像老一派的作风，人们通常在没超过80%的成功率的时候不会去做某件事，但是现在，50%就能接受了。成功的渴望让人们错误地估算了自己的实力。

In short, people should understand their
ability, don’t attempt to do something far more beyond one’s ability. A
successful challenge would add luster to life, but it only happen to the person
who are fully prepare and admired power and ambition.

简言之，人们应该知晓自己的实力，不要企图去做远远超过自己能力的事情。成功的挑战会给人生增添光彩，但是那只发生在充分准备和有实力有野心的人身上。