介绍:
Sometimes in life, we find ourselves at a dead end. Or a crossroads. Or on a path that seems to go nowhere. No matter what stage you are at in life, if you are unhappy with it, or unsure as to how to proceed, then you need to reevaluate.
在生活中，有的时候我们会发现自己已陷入死胡同，或是徘徊在十字路口，又或是在一条不知去往哪里的小道上。不论你正处于哪个阶段，如果你对生活不满意，或不知道该如何继续，那么你需要重新审视自己了。
When I was in high school, I remember thinking that I had to pick a career at which I would be happy for the next 50 or so years of my life.
上高中的时候，我常常会想，我得找份工作愉快度过接下来约50年的生活。
What a daunting task. How do you know what’s going to make you happy for the rest of your life, especially if you’re only 16 and you’re still getting a thrill out of watching “The Breakfast Club?”
这是一项多么艰巨的任务啊！你是怎么知道剩下来的生命中，什么会让你开心呢？尤其是当你还只有16岁，那时的你，看起电影“早餐俱乐部”还会异常兴奋呢。
You can’t know. You can’t know what’s going to make you happy even five years from now. But you can know what makes you happy now and if you’re current position isn’t it, then you need to move on.
你不会知道，也不可能知道从现在开始的今后五年中，会有哪些能让你感到快乐的事情。但是知道现在有什么事情令你开心，如果你现在所处的位置并不能带给你快乐，那么你需要继续前行了。
When my oldest children were contemplating their college careers and job prospects, I often told them to just go and take classes or try things they thought might be interesting and if they didn’t like the class or workshop or whatever, then cross that off your list. Life is often about trying things and realizing what you don’t want to be when you “grow up.”
当我的大孩子们考虑他们的大学和就业前景时，我经常告诉他们，去上课或者尝试他们认为有趣的事物，如果他们不喜欢那项课程或是讲习班，那就把这些从列表里删除掉。生活往往就是不停尝试，然后等你长大后，知道自己不想成为什么。
I spent a year substitute teaching in an effort to see if I wanted to become a public school teacher. I enjoyed that year immensely, but after talking with teachers and doing some of their job for a year, I realized that was a career that was not for me.
我花了一年时间去教学，为了看看自己是否想成为一名公立学校的老师。我非常享受那一年，但是和其他老师聊过，又做了部分他们的工作之后，我意识到我并不适合教师这个职业。
You can’t figure out the whole future.
你不会知道未来的样子
Remember, you don’t know what’s coming next. Life is full of interesting twists and turns, but if we continually pursue things that we enjoy doing whether for a job or hobby, it will make the journey interesting and more fun. Maybe you enjoy making jewelry right now. Maybe you can sell it.
记住，你不知接下来会发生什么。生活充满有趣的曲折，倘若我们一直追求自己喜欢的工作或是爱好，这会让生活之旅变得有趣，我们会拥有更多的乐趣。也许你现在喜欢做珠宝，你还可以拿来卖。
In five years, you might be a successful jewelry designer or you might have moved on to another craft. It doesn’t matter. You have the experience of your jewelry design to fall back on and help you with other projects in the future.
五年之后，你或许成为一位成功的珠宝设计师，也有可能转做其他工艺。这没关系。你有了设计珠宝的经验，这将来可以在其他项目上帮到你。
Try to be comfortable with discomfort.
尽量在不适中寻找舒适
Sometimes life is uncomfortable. Sometimes we don’t have enough money to do all of the things we want to do. If you have something you really want to pursue, then you must be able to live with some amount of discomfort in order to do that.
有时，生活不会太舒适。有时我们没有足够的金钱去做所有自己想做的事情。如果你真有想追逐的事情，，那么为了实现愿望，你必须能带着一些不适生活。
For example, I want to mush sled dogs and run the Iditarod. In order to do that, I had to give up my neat, tidy suburban home and move my family to a cabin in Alaska.
例如，我想带着艾迪塔罗德狗在雪上滑行，于是就不得不放弃干净整洁的家，和家人搬往阿拉斯加郊区的小屋里。
We don’t have running water or regular electricity and our cabin is much smaller than our old house, but we don’t mind the discomfort of those things because we live in a beautiful place and I get to pursue my dream.
我们没有自来水，也没有电，那座小屋要比以前的家小很多，但是我们丝毫不在意这些东西带给我们的不适，因为我住在一个漂亮的地方，也实现了我的梦想。
Life is uncertain. Go with it.
生活充满不确定，大胆去做吧。
Stuff happens. I thought I had it all. I had a great job and a great house in the woods. Then I got fired, lost my house and turned 40 all in the same week. Then I found out I was pregnant.
生活总有不确定的事情发生。我原本以为已拥有所有。我有好工作，在树林里有座大房子。不过我被炒鱿鱼，失去了房子，那个星期我正要过40岁生日。接着又发现怀孕了。
Quite the week. I laid on the couch for a couple of days, depressed, but then we made a plan and moved to Alaska. Take uncertainty and turn it on its head. Every bad thing is an opportunity to make something good happen.
那周，我在沙发上躺了几天，很郁闷，然后就制定了计划，决定搬到阿拉斯加。接受不确定并且换个角度去想。每件糟糕的事情背后都会有好事情发生。
Overcome distractions. Stop procrastinating.
克服干扰。停止拖延。
You’re not getting younger. Sorry, but it’s true. If you don’t start taking the time to pursue your dreams, you might find yourself at the end of your life with nothing to show for it but a lot of Facebook posts and a bunch of TV shows you just had to watch.
你不会越来越年轻。对不起，我说的是大实话。如果不花时间去追逐梦想，你会发现生命结束之时你只有脸书上的状态和一些你看过的电视节目。
If you are serious about pursuing a dream — whether it’s designing jewelry, professional skateboarding or being a rich and famous computer guru, you better get on it. Take those first steps. Turn off your Facebook notifications and get working. You won’t get anywhere merely thinking about how great you could be.
如果你有很认真地追梦，无论是设计珠宝、专业去滑板或是成为富裕又有名气的计算机专家，你最好不断去做。先实施这些初始的步骤，关掉脸书上的通知，开始工作吧！如果只是想想你会变得如何成功，你不会到达任何地方。
Ask yourself questions.
扪心自问
Take some time for yourself. Ask yourself big questions. And small ones. Learn about yourself. Meditate. Write down the things that interest you and things you could see yourself doing if time and money were no object. Dream big. Quiet your mind and really imagine yourself doing those things.
给自己留些时间。问几个大问题，也要问小问题。了解自己。冥想。写下你所感兴趣的事情，还有如果时间和金钱允许，你会做的事情。要有大梦想。让你的大脑平静下来，真正想象自己做着那些事情。
Volunteer
志愿者
If there is a job or hobby you are interested in — from grooming dogs to being a zookeeper — volunteer or job shadow and see if it’s an occupation you really want to do. All the dreaming in the world isn’t going to help you if you don’t go and get your hands dirty.
如果你对某个工作或爱好感兴趣—从打理狗狗到成为动物园管理员—志愿者或是工作见习生，你要看这个工作是不是你想做的。如果不去用双手打拼，这个世界上的任何工作都不会对你有帮助。
Sometimes, we think we want to do something and then once we try it, we realize it might not be the kind of work we like after all. Or it might be more involved than we realized. It’s important to get hands-on experience and do a lot of reading by those with first-hand experience before we give up our current life to pursue a dream.
有时，我们想做一些事，但是一旦去尝试了，又发现这可能不是我们喜欢的工作。也可能比我们想象中的工作更复杂。在放弃当前生活去追寻梦想之前，真正去做和阅读大量第一手经验很重要。
Save up.
储蓄
If you need to move or go to school to pursue your new dream, it might be pertinent to get a job doing something — anything — and save up the money to allow you to do it. I worked for many years to build my writing and editing portfolio and I now I can write and edit articles from my wee little cabin, get paid, and use the money to pay for the equipment and food I need to run my dogsled team.
如果为了新梦想，你需要搬家或是去上学，找个工作做点事情吧—任何事情都可以—存些能让你追梦的金钱就行。多年来，我都有写作和编辑，现在，我可以在小木屋里写作编辑文章，得到些报酬，用挣来的钱买我管理雪橇队需要的设备和食物。
Would I love to be able to make money just from running dogs? Sure. But it’s not possible right now while I’m building and training my team. I don’t have a reputation in dog mushing yet, but I do have a reputation in writing.
我喜欢从雪橇狗身上挣钱吗？但是，当我正在组建训练我的队伍时，可不是这样。我不会从雪橇犬上赢得声誉，但是从写作上是可以的。
Answer the door
（为机会）开门
Opportunity may be knocking but if you don’t answer the door, how can you take advantage of it? You must take opportunities when they are presented to you. Sometimes it’s not the right time, but it doesn’t matter. Opportunities happen when they happen. Answer the door or that opportunity might walk on by and knock on someone else’s door.
机会可能敲门，但是你不响应的话，你如何能好好利用这个机会呢？当机会在面前时，你必须抓住。有时并不是好的时机，但是这也没关系。机会要来时自然会来。为机会开门，否则机会会走开，然后去敲别人的门。
You must make decisions and try things — even if you end up hating them or wanting to do something else. At the end of your life, you won’t regret trying things and failing, but you will regret not ever trying at all.
你必须做出决定，尝试事物—即使结局是你会厌恶这些事情或是想去做其他事情。待你生命快要结束之时，你不会因为尝试过失败过而后悔，但是你会后悔你一点也没去尝试的事情。
Close that laptop and go get your life.
关掉笔记本，去过你的生活吧！
