Put the effort in every day

  As a young boy, I grew up with my eight siblings¹ in a tin-roofed shack² in Summerfield, Louisiana. I didn't see my circumstance as an obstacle, even though we didn't even have a real toilet in the house. I saw my life more as a card that had been dealt to me and I tried to make the most of it.

每一天都要努力

    姓名：卡尔-马龙
英文：Karl Malone
生日：1963年7月24日
身高：210厘米
体重：116公斤
位置：大前锋
效力球队：犹它爵士

童年时代的我住在位于路易斯安那州萨墨菲尔德的一间简陋的以铁皮为屋顶的房子里，有8个兄弟姐妹，连一个像样的厕所都没有。但是，我并没有把这样的家庭环境看成是一个障碍，而是把它当作发到自己手里的一张牌，我所做的努力是要让这张牌发挥出它最大的用处。

      我是家里5兄弟中最小的男孩子，还有4个相依为命的姐妹。父亲已经不在人世，他在我3岁的时候就自杀了，我对他几乎没有什么印象。父亲死后，抚养9个孩子的重担就落在了母亲的肩上。母亲是锯木厂里开叉车的工人，每星期有50美元的收入，此外，她在家禽加工厂还有一份差事。我母亲是个非常吃苦耐劳的女人，为了养家糊口，她拼命工作，从不休息。

My mom believed in doing all she could do to take care of her responsibilities, so no matter what, she never asked for a handout⁵. You can imagine; we kids didn't get what we wanted, but we always got the things we needed. With my mom as my example, I learned that hard work is the best way to get what you want.

     她坚信只要自己努力就一定能够养活全家，所以她从不接受任何施舍。你可以想象我们姊妹兄弟的生活状况：尽管从来买不起自己想要的东西，但是日常生活的必需品总是能够得到满足。从母亲身上，我懂得了勤奋是获得一切的最佳途径。

While growing up, I was surrounded with temptations to do negative things like drugs, alcohol and all that. I chose not to go there, even as a little boy, I knew I was going to be successful. Some people take that to be cocky or conceited⁶, but I wasn't going to let anybody tell me that I couldn't do whatever I set out to do.

      随着年龄的增长，我逐渐遇到各种不良行为的诱惑，比如吸毒、酗酒，凡此种种。我从不去那些地方，因为我从小就相信自己长大以后一定能大有作为。有些人将我的这种想法视为骄傲或自负，但我不这么认为。只要我确定了自己想做的事情，就不允许别人说我做不到。

Of course, I dreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up. At first, I wanted be a state trooper, then I wanted to be in the Special Forces. After a while, I decided⁷ that I wanted to drive eighteen-wheelers. There was even a period of time that I wanted to be in construction. I wanted to play football in high school; in fact, I still do. But regardless of what I chose, I wanted to make my brothers, sisters and mom proud of me -- not only by being successful in what I chose to do, but also as a person who could be looked up to for the right reasons.

           当然，我也梦想过长大以后想做什么。起初，我想当国民警卫队员，还想过进特种兵部队。后来，我想当一名售装箱大卡车司机。还有一段时间，我甚至想当一名建筑工人。上高中的时候，我喜爱美式足球，直到现在我还时常玩玩。但不管我选择做什么，我的最终目的是要让母亲和兄弟姐妹们为我骄傲--不仅要为我在事业上获得成功而骄傲，更要为我成为了一个受人尊重的人而骄傲。

Surprising as it might seem, basketball wasn't in my plans. One day, my mom cut a rim⁸ off an old water barrel and then held it up for me to throw an old rubber ball through. By junior high, I started playing basketball on a team． I loved to compete．There was a positive high I got by going out and playing against other people and working hard to win. For me, it paid off. I just let my success in basketball take its course but I always put the effort in every day. No matter what I've done, some people wait for my down fall, saying, “ Karl Malone can't do it.” Instead of letting people like that get to me, they are actually my motivation and I continue to prove them wrong every single day. I try to do the best job I can in a positive way on and off the court. I realize that no matter what I'm dealing⁹ with, there's somebody else out there who has it a littel bit worse off. I've been there. And I know that without continued hard work, I could be there again.

I am grateful for the life I've enjoyed as a basketball star. But when I see these shirts that say “ Basketball is life,” I think Yeah, right! It is not life. It can be exciting. But the important thing about basketball is that it gives me a way to do good things for others as I move through this journey called life．

      作为一个篮球明星，我很感谢生活赐予我的这一切。当我看见这些T恤衫上写着"篮球就是生命"时，我要说"是啊，对啊"。但其实篮球并不等于生命，尽管它很刺激。篮球能够让我在这段所谓“生命”的旅程中为别人做一些好事，我认为这才是最重要的。

Success is really about choosing right from wrong, making a positive contribution to the world around you and valuing the things that are really important -- like family and friends.

While everyone else was looking to popular atheles, actors and musicians as positive role models, my mom was my inspiration¹⁰, and she continues to be all these years later. She taught me that hard work never killed anybody. My mom is my hero. She, my family and friends bring me more joy than anything else in life does.

       当人们都去选择某个著名的运动员、演员或者歌星作为自己崇拜的偶像时，我却选择母亲作为我的偶像。她是我全部灵感的来源，这些年来一直如此。她教导我说，勤奋工作从来不会累死人，她是我心目中的英雄。母亲、我的家庭以及朋友所给予我的快乐是生活中其他任何事物所不能及的。

At the end of my life, I don't want to be remembered as the kind of person who just sat on his rear¹¹ end and said, “ I've made it.” I don't ever want to have to say that I didn't give it everything that I've got. Sure there are days that I don't feel like working hard． ． ． but I do it anyway， cause that's who I am.

       在我离开人世的那一天，我不愿意在人们记忆中是这样一种人，这种人只是一屁股坐在那里对人说：“我功成名就了”,也永远不想说对我所取得的一切没有尽到自己最大的努力。当然，我也有过放松懈怠的日子...但无论如何我还是努力去干，因为那毕竟是真实的我。