致單身的自己：珍惜獨處的時間而后好好生活

緣盡緣來

　　All too often, women are in a hurry. We want to hurry up and find THE GUY, get married, have babies, buy a house, etc. We don't enjoy the seasons of life we are in.
　　女人總是生活得匆匆忙忙。我們想要趕快找到自己的夢中情人、結婚成家、生孩子、買房子等等等等，我們從未享受過自己生活的四季變遷。

　　I am taking this time to reflect on my single days in writing a letter to my single self. I want to remind her of a few things.
　　此刻，我想給自己寫一封信，反思一下自己單身期間的生活狀況，有幾件事我想要提醒她。

　　Hey girl,
　　嘿，姑娘：

　　So it's a Monday night, you have your wine, Twitter is open and you are live-tweeting The Bachelor thinking to yourself, "Where is my rose?" Let me tell you, Neely, once you are married, these Bachelor nights will not look much different. Only instead of wine, you'll be eating dinner with your husband, still live-tweeting.
　　今天是周一，晚上，你喝著紅酒，開著推特，你一邊看著《億萬未婚夫》一邊用推特吐槽，心里想著，“我的王子會在哪兒呢？”讓我告訴你吧，一旦你結婚了，那些看《億萬未婚夫》的夜晚也不會有什么不同，不過你不是在喝紅酒，而是和你的丈夫一起吃著晚餐，手里還是在刷推特在線吐槽。

　　Anyway, Single Neely, enjoy this time. Not because it's better than marriage — trust me, marriage is better. But enjoy it because you should be appreciating time with yourself and learning who you are. Go out with your friends more. Do all the happy hours, drink all the wines, and flirt with the cute waiter. Why? Because WHY NOT?!
　　單身的妮莉，無論如何，請享受這一刻。不是因為單身比婚后生活好——相信我，婚后生活更幸福。你要享受這段時間的原因是，你應該珍惜獨處的時間，并借此機會更了解自己，多和朋友們聚聚，多做讓你開心的事情，多去喝喝紅酒，跟可愛的服務生調情，為什么要這樣做？因為你為什么不這樣做呢？

　　When that guy ghosts you after three great dates, it stings. You think, What did I do wrong? Trust me — it's him. He has issues that he will feel the need to share with you three years later. Sigh. Men.
　　當一個男人跟你一起度過了三次絕妙的約會，卻甩了你，這確實很糟糕，你會想，我做錯了什么？相信我——是他有問題，他心里有一些缺陷，他覺得自己應該在三年之后再和你分享他的故事。哎，男人就是這樣！

　　When you and He Who Shall Not Be Named go back and forth, up and down, and hot and cold, just shake your head, nod and smile and know that "This too shall pass." You'll end it when you've REALLY had enough, and thank God you did.
　　當你和某某人在一起經歷了無數感情波折、感情顛簸、熱戰冷戰，你就搖搖頭，給自己一個微笑，告訴自己，“這些都會過去的。”當你覺得自己真的受夠了，你就能夠放手了，謝天謝地你真的做到了。

　　Remember your favorite episode of How I Met Your Mother, Remember what Stella says to Ted: "I know that you are tired of waiting, and you may have to wait a little while more, but she's on her way, Ted. And she's getting here as fast as she can." That quote is so true. Replay it over and over and over. Just sub in "she" for "he" and "Ted" for "Neely." You get it!
　　還記得《老爸老媽浪漫史》中你最喜歡的一集，記得斯泰拉對泰德說的話，“我知道你已經厭倦了等待，或許你不得不再多等一會兒，不過她已經在朝你走來了。泰德，她正在全速朝你奔過來。”這段話真是至理名言，你要一遍一遍的重溫這句話。只要把“她”換成“他”，把“泰德”換成“妮莉”，懂了吧！

　　Girl, you are single; one day you will look back, and even though you are beyond happily married, you will remember the boozy brunches, marathon shopping sessions, random road trips, and late nights spent on the phone with your best friend talking about nothing.
　　姑娘，現在你還單著，雖然你還沒有找到幸福的婚姻生活，不過當某天你回頭看時，你會懷念那些微醺的早中餐、馬拉松式的購物行動、隨心閑逛的公路旅行，還有那些和閨蜜閑聊至深夜然而并沒有什么信息量的夜晚。

　　Now, your husband comes first. You think of his needs, his wants, his TV shows (mostly yours still), the foods he wants to eat, and what you two will do together every weekend. It's wonderful and magical and you wouldn't trade it for the world. But don't be in such a hurry to let go of your single self too soon.
　　現在，你的丈夫才是第一位的。你要顧慮他的感受、他的需求、他想要吃的食物、你們每個周末要去做些什么活動。這種生活美好而富有魅力，即便給你一個宇宙你也不愿意舍棄它。可是，請不要著急著太過早地放棄你單身時的自我。

　　Be selfish now. You have to.
　　多為自己著想，請務必這樣做。

　　Live it up, Single Neely!
　　好好生活吧，單身的妮莉！

　　Love,
　　愛你的，
　　Married Neely
　　已婚的妮莉（滬江英語）