晨读美文：生命不是一场竞赛，全世界最感人的家信

摘录：你的生活中一定会有并不友好的人。他们会嘲弄你，因为你与众不同，或根本不为任何原因。他们可能会欺负你或者伤害你。

亲爱的塞斯,

Dear Seth,

你现在仅仅3岁，此刻你还不识字，更不用说让你去理解我接下来想在这封信里对你所说的话了。但关于你即将面临的人生以及我至今的人生，我已经思索良久，我反思我所学会的;思考一个父亲的职责，力图让你为未来岁月中即将面临的困难做好充分准备。 [1] You’re only three years old, and at this point in your life you can’t read, much less understand what I’m going to try to tell you in this letter. But I’ve been thinking a lot about the life that you have ahead of you, about my life so far as I reflect on what I’ve learned, and about my role as a dad in trying to prepare you for the trials that you will face in the coming years.

你今天并不能理解这封信的含义，但是某一天，当时机成熟，我希望你能在我与你分享的内容当中找寻到些许的智慧和价值。

You won’t be able to understand this letter today, but someday, when you’re ready, I hope you will find some wisdom and value in what I share with you.

你还很年轻，生命还尚未开始摧残你，没有在你的人生道路上布置失望、伤心、孤独、挣扎和苦痛。你还没有被漫长的乏味工作、被日常生活的打击搞得筋疲力尽。

You are young, and life has yet to take its toll on you, to throw disappointments and heartaches and loneliness and struggles and pain into your path. You have not been worn down yet by long hours of thankless work, by the slings and arrows of everyday life.

因此，谢天谢地吧。你正处在人生一个美妙的阶段。还有很多美妙的阶段会来到你面前，但是都不是唾手可得的，你都得付出代价，经历风险。

For this, be thankful. You are at a wonderful stage of life. You have many wonderful stages of life still to come, but they are not without their costs and perils.

我希望通过分享一些我所学到的最好的道理能帮助你走好人生路。至于任何建议，倒不必全盘接受，因为适合我的并不一定适用于你。

I hope to help you along your path by sharing some of the best of what I’ve learned. As with any advice, take it with a grain of salt. What works for me might not work for you.

生活会很残酷

Life Can Be Cruel

你的生活中一定会有并不友好的人。他们会嘲弄你，因为你与众不同，或根本不为任何原因。他们可能会欺负你或者伤害你。

There will be people in your life who won’t be very nice. They’ll tease you because you’re different, or for no good reason. They might try to bully you or hurt you.

对于这种人，你只能学会和他们打交道，同时你也要学会择友，选择那些对你友善的、那些真正关心你的、那些令你感觉良好的人做朋友。当你寻找到像这样的朋友，就一定要坚守这份友谊，珍惜他们，花些时间和他们在一起，友善地对待他们并爱他们。

There’s not much you can do about these people except to learn to deal with them, and learn to choose friends who are kind to you, who actually care about you, who make you feel good about yourself. When you find friends like this, hold on to them, treasure them, spend time with them, be kind to them, love them.

有时你会遭遇挫折而非成功。生活并不总会如你所愿。这是另一件你需要学会处理的事情。但你要挺住向前，而不是让这些事让你陷入低谷。接受挫败并学会坚持，不畏困难地追求你的梦想。学会把消极转化为积极，之后你就能做得好得多。

There will be times when you are met with disappointment instead of success. Life won’t always turn out the way you want. This is just another thing you’ll have to learn to deal with. But instead of letting these things get you down, push on. Accept disappointment and learn to persevere, to pursue your dreams despite pitfalls. Learn to turn negatives into positives, and you’ll do much better in life.

你同样会面临心碎时刻以及被深爱的人抛弃。我希望你无须经历太多此类事件，但这样的事总会发生。同样，你做不了什么，只能慢慢愈合心中的创伤并继续你的生活。让这些痛苦成为你通向更美好生活的垫脚石，并学会利用它们让自己更坚强。

You will also face heartbreak and abandonment by those you love. I hope you don’t have to face this too much, but it happens. Again, not much you can do but to heal, and to move on with your life. Let these pains become stepping stones to better things in life, and learn to use them to make you stronger.

但无论如何，都要张开双臂拥抱生活

But Be Open to life Anyway

是的，在你的生命历程中你会遇到残酷、煎熬……但不要因此拒绝接受新鲜事物。不要逃避生活，不要躲藏，抑或封闭自己。拥抱新鲜事物，经历全新体验，接触新的人。

Yes, you’ll find cruelty and suffering in your journey through life … but don’t let that close you to new things. Don’t retreat from life, don’t hide or wall yourself off. Be open to new things, new experiences, new people.

你或许心碎了10次，但是在第十一次找到至爱。如果你把自己关在爱的门外，你就会错过这个女子，错过你生命中最快乐的时光。

You might get your heart broken 10 times, but find the most wonderful woman the 11th time. If you shut yourself off from love, you’ll miss out on that woman, and the happiest times of your life.

你可能会被你遇到的人耻笑欺负伤害……而在碰到无数这样的家伙后，你会找到一个真正的朋友。如果你拒绝接触新人群，并不向他们敞开心扉，你会避免受伤…… 但是同时也失去了认识一些很棒的人的机会，他们会在你生命最困难的时刻陪伴着你，并带给你人生当中最美好的时光。

You might get teased and bullied and hurt by people you meet … and then after meeting dozens of jerks, find a true friend. If you close yourself off to new people, and don’t open your heart to them, you’ll avoid pain … but also lose out on meeting some incredible people, who will be there during the toughest times of your life and create some of the best times of your life.

你会失败多次但是如果你让失败打到了你，不再努力，你就会错过那种当你达到成就新高度时的那种绝妙的成就感。失败是成功之母。

You will fail many times but if you allow that to stop you from trying, you will miss out on the amazing feeling of success once you reach new heights with your accomplishments. Failure is a stepping stone to success.

生命不是一场竞赛

Life Isn’t a Competition

你会遇到一些人他们总是试图超过你，在中学，在大学，在工作中。他们想要拥有更好的车，更大的房子，更好的衣物，更酷的小玩意。对他们来说，生命就是一场竞赛——他们不得不比同辈做得更好来让自己感到快乐。

You will meet many people who will try to outdo you, in school, in college, at work. They’ll try to have nicer cars, bigger houses, nicer clothes, cooler gadgets. To them, life is a competition — they have to do better than their peers to be happy.

这里有一个秘诀：生命并不是一场竞赛，而是一段旅程。如果你在途中一直都试图给他人留下深刻印象，超过别人，那你就浪费了这段旅程。与之相反，学会享受这段旅程，让它成为快乐之旅，永恒的学习之旅，持久的进步之旅以及爱之旅。

] Here’s a secret: Life isn’t a competition. It’s a journey. If you spend that journey always trying to impress others, to outdo others, you’re wasting your journey. Instead, learn to enjoy the journey. Make it a journey of Happiness, of constant learning, of continual improvement, of love.

不要操心拥有一辆更好的车或一所更好的房子或者任何物质的东西，即便是一份薪水更高的工作。这些根本无足轻重，也无一会使你更快乐。你得到这些东西之后只会想要更多的。与之相反，学会知足而乐——然后学会利用你原本想要浪费去挣钱买这些东西的时间去做你真正热爱的事。

Don’t worry about having a nicer car or house or anything material, or even a better-paying job. None of that matters a whit, and none of it will make you happier. You’ll acquire these things and then only want more. Instead, learn to be satisfied with having enough — and then use the time you would have wasted trying to earn money to buy those things … use that time doing things you love.

找到你的激情，坚持不懈地追求它。别让自己被一个还债的的工作所累。生命如此短暂，不可将之浪费在你所厌恶的工作上。

Find your passion, and pursue it doggedly. Don’t settle for a job that pays the bills. Life is too short to waste on a job you hate.

Love, Your Dad