評論
打印
Men and women alike speak of feeling too narrow and restricted. They blame all sorts of things, but what the restrictions boil down to are the outgrowth of career and personal choices of the twenties. They may have been choices perfectly suited to that stage. But now the fit feels different. Some inner aspect that was left out is striving to be taken into account.
此時的男男女女都會提到感覺生活圈子狹窄而又受限。他們抱怨各種事物，但是一切局限都是自己二十幾歲時的經歷和選擇造成的。也許那些選擇非常適合當時那個階段，但現在已經不合時宜了。以前曾經忽略的一些因素現在必須認真考慮了。
Important new choices must be made, and commitments altered or deepened. The work involves great change, turmoil, and often crisis-a simultaneous feeling of rock bottom and the urge to bust out.
要做出一些新的重要的選擇，并且修正或者深化自己的責任。工作中會有很大的變化、騷動，甚至常常出現危機——那是一種沉入谷底的共鳴和情感爆發的沖動。
One common response is the tearing up of the life we spent most of our twenties putting together. It may mean striking out on a secondary road toward a new vision or converting a dream of "running for president" into a more realistic goal. The single person feels a push to find a partner. The woman who was previously content at home with children chafes to venture into the world. The childless couple reconsiders children. And almost everyone who is married, especially those married for seven years, feels a discontent.
一種常見的反應是徹底打破我們二十幾歲時花費大量時間、精力構建的生活。這可能意味著重新開辟一條通往嶄新夢想的支路，也可能意味著改變原來諸如“競選總統”之類的夢想而去追求更加現實的目標。單身的人會想找一個伴侶。原來在家帶孩子的女人會想到外面的世界一試鋒芒。沒有孩子的夫妻會重新考慮是不是該要個孩子。幾乎所有結婚的人，尤其是有七年之癢的人，都會對生活現狀感到不滿。
If the discontent doesn't lead to a divorce, it will, or should, call for a serious review of the marriage and of each partner's aspirations in the Catch-30 condition. The gist of that condition was expressed by a 29-year-old associate with a Wall Street law firm:
如果這種不滿沒有導致離婚，那么夫妻雙方就會，或者說應該，重新審視自己的婚姻，并設身處地地考慮一下對方在而立之年的種種期望。華爾街一家法律事務所的一位律師今年29歲，他這樣總結自己的狀況：
