睡前看到 Kobe 這封信 覺得很有意義 就簡單翻譯一下
文筆不好見諒~
原文出處: http://goo.gl/A3BntQ
Dear 17-year-old self,
When your Laker dream comes true tomorrow, you need to figure out a way
to invest in the future of your family and friends. This sounds simple,
and you may think it’s a no-brainer, but take some time to think on it
further.
親愛的 17 歲小夥子，
當你的湖人夢終成真，你得花點心思找出未來該如何投資家人與朋友。聽起來簡單，
好似不用花什麼腦筋，但請再深切地思考一下吧。
I said INVEST.
I did not say GIVE.
Let me explain.
我說"投資"，沒有說"給予"喔! 讓我解釋一番。
Purely giving material things to your siblings and friends may appear to
be the right decision. You love them, and they were always there for you
growing up, so it’s only right that they should share in your success
and all that comes with it. So you buy them a car, a big house, pay all
of their bills. You want them to live a beautiful, comfortable life, right?
But the day will come when you realize that as much as you believed you were
doing the right thing, you were actually holding them back.
純粹送個實質東西給兄弟姊妹、朋友，看起來是不錯的決定。而你成長的過程他們
未曾離去地伴隨著你，自然而然地，他們也該一起分享成功的喜悅。所以，你買了
車子、碩大的房子給他們、把他們的開銷也都結了，你希望他們過得美好舒適，對吧?
但總有一天你會發現，當你一直認為自己在做正確的選擇時，其實只是綑綁著他們，
而不是讓他們前進著。
You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it
made YOU feel good, it made YOU happy to see them smiling and without a
care in the world — and that was extremely selfish of you. While you were
feeling satisfied with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own
dreams and ambitions. You were adding material things to their lives, but
subtracting the most precious gifts of all: independence and growth.
Understand that you are about to be the leader of the family, and this
involves making tough choices, even if your siblings and friends do not
understand them at the time.
Invest in their future, don’t just give.
然後你發現，你如此照顧著他們，只是因為"你"感覺這樣很棒。看著他們笑了因此感到
開心，卻沒有一絲對世界的關心，這還真是自私阿。當你對這種模式感到滿意，其實，
你正一步步地侵蝕著他們的夢想和野心。你為這些親密的人添加許多物質生活，卻稀釋了
最珍貴的兩個東西-獨立與成長。
意識到自己將成為家庭裡的領袖後，這也意味著將充滿艱難的選擇，即便你的兄弟姊妹
與朋友當時並不能理解。
"要投資發掘他們的未來，而不是只給他們什麼。"
Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to
realize their own dreams and find their true purpose. Put them through
school, set them up with job interviews and help them become leaders in
their own right. Hold them to the same level of hard work and dedication
that it took for you to get to where you are now, and where you will
eventually go.
善用你的成功、財富與影響力，讓這些親近的人也找到自己最合適的位置，能夠體會
自己的夢想到底是什麼，而真正的目的又在哪。譬如讓他們接受教育、去面試一份工作，
或者成為一個好的領導者。試著幫助他們成長到與你一般，追隨你的勤奮努力以及奉獻-
也能達到你的成就；走上最終該走的路。
I’m writing you now so that you can begin this process immediately, and
so that you don’t have to deal with the hurt and struggle of weaning them
off of the addiction that you facilitated. That addiction only leads to
anger, resentment and jealousy from everybody involved, including yourself.
As time goes on, you will see them grow independently and have their own
ambitions and their own lives, and your relationship with all of them will be
much better as a result.
There’s plenty more I could write to you, but at 17, I know you don’t have
the attention span to sit through 2,000 words.
我寫這封信給你，是期望你能立馬著手計畫這樣的未來，這樣你就不必受傷；也不會
掙扎著如何讓他們戒掉由你親手加持、依賴物質的癮。如此成癮只會帶給相關的人憤怒
、怨恨和忌妒-還包括了你自己。
時光流逝，你將看見他們獨立地成長著，並且伴隨對自己人生的憧憬和野心。最終你
與他們的關係將會更完善親近。
還有很多話我可以對你說，但 17 歲這樣的年紀，我猜你也沒有太多的關注力去讀我
落落長的千言萬語。
The next time I write to you, I may touch on the challenges of mixing blood
with business. The most important advice I can give to you is to make sure
your parents remain PARENTS and not managers.
Before you sign that first contract, figure out the right budget for your
parents — one that will allow them to live beautifully while also growing
your business and setting people up for long-term success. That way, your
children’s kids and their kids will be able to invest in their own futures
when the time comes.
下次再寫信給你，大概會觸及商業性質的挑戰。至此我可以給的最重要建議是，確保
你的父母親一直是個父母親，而不是管理你的人生。
在你簽下職業生涯的第一個合約前，就可以設立好該給父母多少，才能使他們活的美妙，
在此同時，兼顧著自己的事業與如何幫助他人得到長遠的成就。這樣的榜樣，讓時候到
之際，每一代孩子都能好好投資對待自己的未來。
Your life is about to change, and things are about to come at you very fast.
But just let this sink in a bit when you lay down at night after another
nine-hour training day.
Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of
tears and heartache, some of which remains to this day.
你的人生將迎來改變，重要的事情接踵而至。但就請在每個歷經九小時訓練後的夜晚，
把這些話好好地想一遍。
相信我，最開始時便先計畫好，會讓你少流些眼淚、少心痛幾回-而其中某些痛楚與淚水，
時至今日，仍未消散而去。
Much love,
Kobe
滿滿的愛，老大。