第2731期:How to deal with milestone birthday blues

When's your next big birthday? How do you feel about that? Do you feel you need to do something spectacular to mark it? Are you excited by the prospect, or dreading the future?你的下一个重要生日是什么时候？你对它有什么感受？你是否觉得需要做一些特别的事情来纪念这个日子？你是对它感到兴奋，还是对未来感到担忧？We usually think of birthdays as a time to celebrate, but they can also cause stress and worry. Research suggests that this can be even stronger for '9-enders', the 29, 39 and 49-year-olds who are worried about the milestone they are about to reach. What is it that makes a number that ends in zero so daunting?我们通常认为生日是一个值得庆祝的时刻，但它们有时也会带来压力和焦虑。研究表明，这种情绪在“9结尾的人”中尤为明显——例如29岁、39岁和49岁的人，他们对即将到来的里程碑感到担忧。到底是什么让以“0”结尾的数字如此令人畏惧？New decades can seem like a fresh start where we evaluate how we are doing. The problem is that many of us look for something to compare with. This might be people that we know or that we follow on social media, or just what we think society expects us to have achieved by a certain age. Any differences can lead us to question ourselves. This links to other stresses that can come with getting older. We might worry that there is limited time to achieve society's expectations. We may also know people from older generations who had health problems at a certain age, and fear that the same thing will affect us.新的十年看起来像是一个新的开始，让我们重新评估自己过得如何。问题在于，很多人会寻找比较对象。这个比较对象可能是我们认识的人、在社交媒体上关注的人，或者是我们认为社会期望我们在某个年龄应该达成的成就。任何差距都可能让我们怀疑自己。这与随着年龄增长而来的其他压力相关联。我们可能会担心实现社会期待的时间已经不多了。我们或许还认识一些年纪更大的人，他们在某个年龄段出现了健康问题，因此害怕自己也会遭遇同样的事情。So, what can we do? Psychologists advise a few steps. Many agree that it's important to celebrate or mark your birthday in your own way. Do something you genuinely enjoy to avoid feeling the pressure of having to celebrate in a particular way. Another key piece of advice that psychologists offer is that we should use the opportunity to reflect on our lives, but in positive ways. First, consider what you have achieved recently and record those achievements. Then decide what you want to achieve next, and what steps you can take to get there. Having achievable goals can help give our lives greater purpose.那么我们该怎么办呢？心理学家提出了一些建议。许多人认为，用你自己的方式庆祝或纪念生日是很重要的。做一些你真正喜欢的事，避免因必须“按规定”庆祝而产生压力。心理学家的另一个关键建议是：要借这个机会积极地反思自己的生活。首先，思考你最近取得了哪些成就，并将它们记录下来。接着，决定你接下来想要实现什么目标，以及你可以采取哪些步骤来达成它。有现实可行的目标能让我们的生活更有意义。If we can celebrate our successes, set ourselves realistic and achievable goals, and find a way to spend our day that we really enjoy, then maybe we'll find it much easier to deal with those big milestone birthdays.如果我们能够庆祝自己的成就，设定现实可达的目标，并找到真正享受的方式度过这一天，那么，也许我们会更轻松地应对那些重要的生日节点。