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．癫痫症患者adj．癫痫症的
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 ［'freʃmən］ n．（大学）新生，新手
sophomore［'sɔfəmɔː］ n．（大学）二年级学生
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［'hændikæp］ n．（身体或智力的）缺陷；障碍v．妨碍
enthusiastic ［in,θjuːzi'æstik］adj．满腔热情的，热心的，极感兴趣的
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？
在年幼时，派蒂·威尔森被医生告知她患有癫痫。她的父亲吉姆·威尔森每天都晨跑。一天带着牙套的她笑着说： “爸爸，我真想每天和你一起跑步，但我担心我的病会中途发作。”
她的父亲告诉她：“如果发作了，我知道怎么处理，所以我们开始跑步吧！”
这就是他们每天所做的。这是他们共享的美好经历，在跑步期间派蒂的病从来没有发作过。几周后，她告诉父亲： “爸爸，我最想做的就是打破女子长跑的世界纪录。”
父亲查了 《吉尼斯世界纪录》，发现女子长跑的纪录是80英里。作为高一的新生，派蒂宣布：“我要从橘郡跑到旧金山。”（距离为400英里）“高二的时候，”她接着说，“我要跑到俄勒冈州的波特兰。”（1 500多英里）“高三的时候，我要跑到圣路易斯。”（大概2 000英里）“高四的时候，我要跑到白宫”（3 000多英里）。
尽管她的身体有残疾，派蒂仍然雄心勃勃，满怀梦想。但她说对她而言，癫痫这种残疾只是 “不便”。她看重的不是自己失去的，而是还拥有的。
那年，她穿着写着 “我爱癫痫患者”的衬衫，完成了跑到旧金山的路程。她的爸爸陪她跑完全程，她做护士的妈妈则开着房车尾随父女两人，以防万一。
高二的时候，派蒂的同学成为她的支持者。他们举着写有“跑啊，派蒂，向前跑！”（这后来也成为她的座右铭和所写的书的书名）的巨幅海报。在她跑往波特兰的第二次马拉松途中，她一只脚骨折了。医生告诉她必须终止跑步。他说：“我要给你的脚踝打上石膏，否则会对你造成永久的伤害。”
“医生，你不了解，”她说，“这不是我一时的冲动，这是一种疯狂的着迷！我这么做不单是为了自己，同时我要打破很多其他人头脑里限制的枷锁。有没有什么方法让我跑完？”他给她提供了一个选择。他可以用黏合剂代替石膏，把伤处接合。他警告说这将会疼痛难忍，并告诉她说：“这会起水泡。”她告诉医生帮她包好。
她跑完了到波特兰的路程，俄勒冈州的州长还陪她跑完了最后一英里。也许你看到了报纸头条：“超级长跑女将——派蒂·威尔森17岁生日跑完对抗癫痫马拉松。”
在四个月里，派蒂几乎没有停过，从西海岸跑到了东海岸，最后抵达华盛顿，和美国总统握了手。她告诉总统：“我想让世人知道，癫痫患者和正常人一样，也能过正常的生活。”
不久前，我曾在一个研讨会上讲了这个故事。会后，一个双眼含泪的高大男士来找我，向我伸出他厚实的大手，对我说：“马克，我名叫吉姆·威尔森。你刚才提到的是我的女儿，派蒂。”他告诉我说，因为女儿崇高的行动，全国筹集了大笔基金，用于建立19所数百万美金的癫痫病治疗中心。
如果派蒂·威尔森这样的人都能有如此成就，那么身心健康的我们该怎样超越自己呢？
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