Oliver Sacks, a neurology professor at NYU, shares the truth about life as an octogenarian in a piece for The New York Times. In the column, Sacks writes:

奧利弗·賽克斯是紐約大學的一名神經病學家，她在《紐約時報》上發(fā)表了一篇文章，談論耄耋之年的生活。在專欄里她這樣寫道：

“I do not think of old age as an ever grimmer time that one must somehow make the best of, but as a time of leisure and freedom, freed from the factitious urgencies of earlier days, free to explore whatever I wish, and to bind the thoughts and feelings of a lifetime together。”

“我不認為人老年的時候要比以往更加抓緊利用時間，而是該享受休閑和自由，從過去那種應付急事兒的匆忙中解脫出來，去探索自己憧憬的領域，將一生的思考和覺悟做個整合。”

Isn’t that beautiful?

很美好，不是嗎?

An 80th birthday is cause for celebration, but along the way other milestones matter too. For instance, the big 30.

80歲確實值得慶祝，但是人生中還有其他的里程碑，比如而立之年。

By the time we say goodbye to our twenties, what should we have experienced in our careers?

當30歲來臨的時候，我們應該已經在職場中經歷哪些事呢?

1. At least one intern has addressed you as “Mr。” or “Ms。”

1. 至少有一個實習生稱你為“先生”或“女士”。

2. Seven words: moved from your parents’ house for good。

2. 七個字：從父母家搬出來。

3. Handled every schedule imaginable — days, nights, weekends, weekend nights, holidays, holiday nights…you get the idea。

3. 整理好所有能想到的行程——白天的、晚上的、周末的、周末晚上的，假期的、假期晚上的……做什么由你自己決定。

4. Written so many cover letters that you could pen an autobiography of failed job applications。

4. 你寫的求職信已經多得能夠出一本自傳了，內容就是失敗的求職經歷。

5. Had such a terrible boss that you questioned the very idea of working to earn a living。

5. 遇到過一個糟糕的老板讓你甚至質疑掙錢養(yǎng)家的這個想法。

6. Realized that your college major — once a pivotal career decision — really didn’t matter all that much。

6. 意識到你大學主修的專業(yè)對工作并不重要，哪怕曾經這是擇業(yè)的關鍵。

7. Slaved away in your office on a picture-perfect Sunday because, well, the work’s just gotta get done。

7. 在某個風和日麗的周日在辦公室拼命干活，工作總要做完，不是嗎?

8. After several years in the professional ranks, your resume’ no longer has traces of college clubs and achievements。

8. 工作幾年，換了幾個職位之后，你的簡歷上不再填有大學里參加的社團活動和獲得的獎勵。

9. You don’t even flinch when the client says, “This isn’t what I wanted. You’ll need to do it again。”

9. 當客戶說：“這不是我想要的，你需要重新做。”的時候，你毫不退縮。

10. Maintained a 401k and contributed funds to the point that you can actually see it working。

10.有養(yǎng)老保險，并且繳納的費用已經讓你能看到效用了。

11. Defused a stressful office situation by saying, “In my experience, here’s what we should do。”

11. 通過說“根據我的經驗，我們應該這樣做。”化解了辦公室里的矛盾。

12. Landed a nice raise and proceeded to buy something you would never get otherwise。

12. 獲得了加薪，然后買了一樣你之前不可能得到的東西。

13. Elected to take an advanced education course because of the value it added to your career。

13. 經過投票，獲得了接受繼續(xù)教育的機會，因為這對你的職業(yè)生涯有好處。

14. After bouncing from job to job, you finally see the value of a stable situation with long-term potential。

14.經過多次跳槽，你終于了解到穩(wěn)定和潛力的價值。

15. Been there and done that long enough to understand who you are and the type of work that gets you out of bed in the morning. If your twenties were the decade to get knocked around, then may you spend the next ten years cashing in on the education。

15. 找到你愿意為之早起的工作，長期做下去，在這個職位上了解到真實的自己。如果二十幾歲的時候你碌碌無為，那么接下來的十年你就要好好兌現自己所學了。