I was studying chemistry at college because my family thought it was the key to success. One day, my professor took me aside and asked a very simple question, “Why are you in my class when it’s obvious that you have little or no ____1____ in chemistry?”
I came up with an explanation by ____2____ pressure from my dad, but he knew it was just a /an ____3____ excuse. He gave me the following advice.
“Success can only be measured by oneself, and each of us is ____4____. Your success will not be the same as mine, as your neighbor’s or your parents’. There is no secret formula(公式), no examination you have to ____5____, and no guarantee, but there is a secret ingredient- ____6____. To be successful in life in the broadest sense, you must pursue your passion. ____7____ it is fixing cars or exploring the world, you must be passionate about your ____8____ and set a path to achieve it. Only then will you find true ____9____.”
Since I was just nineteen years old, that was pretty profound advice to ____10____, but I knew instinctively (本能地) that he was ____11____. I made a conscious self-examination of my short life to ____12____ where my passion was hiding. It was so ____13____ that even my kid sister could have told me my true passion was music. It was in my genes. I could play the piano by ear, but had ____14____ considered music as a hobby.
Could I be a successful musician? Or a songwriter? Or a music critic? There was only one way to find out, so I took my professor’s ____15____ and switched to the university’s music school. I studied harmony and composition, learned how to play a clarinet(单簧管) and ____16____ the symphony orchestra. I felt as though I was on top of the world, and that ____17____ has never left me.
symphony orchestra
I’m now fifty-four years old, and a very happy and ____18____ man. As I look at the walls of my small office, I still get a thrill at seeing the records I ____19____, the photos of the famous musicians I was lucky enough to play with, and the praises from many of the finest instrumentalists in the world who I am honored to call my friends.
Life was a long journey, and not a/an ____20____ one, but I followed my passion and succeeded.