双语美文：后悔没在20岁之前做的几件事

Life is filled with regrets. Ask anyone around you what their regrets are and they usually have no difficulty coming up with many items on their “regret list.” And for some reason our twenties are ripe for a field of regrets.

人生总是充满遗憾。问问你周围的人他们有没有遗憾的事情，他们会轻而易举的列出一大堆“遗憾清单”。由于某些原因，20多岁最容易犯错的年纪。

Perhaps it’s because as we get older we look back on that period of adulthood as the height of freedom and autonomy. As move into middle age, we look back and wish that we had made better choices and taken more opportunities. Here’s a list of things that we regret not doing in our 20s.

也许是因为随着年龄的增长，当我们再次回顾那段时光，会发现那是一段充满自由和独立的时光。随着我们步入中年，我们经常希望：要是我们能再有更多选择的机会多好啊！以下就列举了一些如果我们在20来岁没有做就会让我们后悔的事情：

1. Travelling more

多旅行

I regret not travelling more, and so does nearly everyone that I have asked. Before kids, and mortgages and marriages, when our commitments and expenses were lower, the opportunities for travel were much greater, but for some reason many of us thought we’d always have time for travel later.

我后悔没有到更多的地方去旅行，而且几乎我问过的每个人都会这样说。在有孩子之前、在抵押贷款和结婚之前，在我们需要承担的责任和花销较少时，正是旅游的大好机，但是由于种种原因，我们总觉得我们以后会有更多的时间去旅行。

We dreamed of visiting the pyramids of Egypt, surfing off the Hawaiian coast, dining at a Parisian café, drinking espresso in Rome, trekking through the rainforest, and so much more. Sadly, many of us never made these journeys and the opportunity passed us by.

我们梦想过去埃及看金字塔，在夏威夷海边冲浪，在巴黎的咖啡馆共进晚餐，在罗马品尝香浓的咖啡，徒步穿越热带雨林等等诸如此类的计划。可悲的是，大部分人都没有付诸行动，只是看着机会白白溜走。

2. Investing early

早投资

How many times have we kicked ourselves for not starting our 401Ks，in our twenties, for not putting our excess cash in long term investments, for not investing in our future early. No matter how much we try, we can never get back the head start that we missed. Playing catch up in our 40’s and 50’s is very difficult.

多少次回想我们都恨不得踢自己一脚：为什么不在20来岁就开始401K计划，为什么没有将多余的现金用于长期投资，为什么没有早早的为我们未来投资。不管我们再怎么努力，错过的时光都不会重来了。等到我们四五十岁的时候再奋起直追已为时已晚了。

3. Being more responsible with spending

更合理的安排支出

In order to invest in our retirement or save for that down payment, we would have needed to make wiser financial spending choices. Things like buying or holding on to that perfectly reliable used car, instead of splurging on the new model…because we could, eating out less and saving for a house instead, buying fewer shoes and purses and clothes and paying off student loans sooner. So many saving opportunities lost, money spent on tangible things, instead of on the future.

为了退休后的投资或房子的首付，我们需要更合理的理财。比如说买一辆不错的二手车，而不是把钱浪费在新款车型上……我们也可以减少外出就餐，攒钱买房子，少买点鞋子和衣服，提前还清助学贷款。这么多的攒钱机会都错过了，我们用钱换来了很多实实在在的物品，却没有更多关注我们的未来。

4. Better planning

更好的规划人生

I regret not focusing more on where I wanted to go in life, what I wanted to do, who I wanted to be and what it would take to get there. With some more planning in our twenties, we’d be further ahead in our 40s and perhaps a bit happier as well.

我后悔我没有仔细思考我的人生道路，我想要做的事情，我想成为一个什么样的人以及如何才能实现。如果在20多岁的时候我们能更好的规划人生，我们在40多岁的时候就会更上一层楼，也许还会感觉到更幸福。

5. Seizing more experiences

更多的人生体验

I wish I had learned to ski and paint, speak Italian and do the Tango. I regret not living somewhere else before settling down. Others have said they regret not pursuing their hobbies or learning to sky dive or mountain climb. I prefer to stay on the ground, but I do regret not learning more, not trying new things that are hard to fit into the life of a forty something working wife and mother.

我多希望我以前学会了滑雪、画画，会说意大利语，会跳探戈。我后悔在安定下来之前没有在别的地方生活过。很多人也都和我一样后悔没有持之以恒的培养自己的爱好，没有学跳伞，没有去爬山。我确实更喜欢务实，但也很后悔没有去学更多的东西，没有尝试新事物，这些事物已经无法再融入一个40岁的全职妻子加母亲的生活中了。

6. Living a more active lifestyle

更积极向上的生活方式

The bodies of youth are wasted on the young… I wish I had run a marathon before my knees ached, that I had biked more, hiked more, and took spinning classes when my legs were stronger. I regret not joining a softball team or volleyball league. We don’t often realize that we have squandered our physical abilities until things start aching and creaking.

年轻的时候，我们肆意的挥霍着我们的青春活力……我多想在我膝关节疼痛之前能跑场马拉松，多骑骑自行车、多走走看看，在腿脚强健的时候多骑骑动感单车。我后悔没有参加垒球社团或排球联盟。总是等到体力透支病痛来袭，我们才意识到年轻时锻炼的可贵。

7. Making more friends

交更多的朋友

I regret not reaching out more, putting more effort into creating a tribe of support that would carry me through more difficult times. We socialize sure, but many of us don’t put enough importance on building deep and lasting friendships. Some do, many don’t and wish they had.

我后悔没有更多的伸出手去，没有更努力去结交那么一伙儿可以陪我度过更多艰难时光的朋友。我们确实也有交际，但是大多数人并没有把重心放在建立更深更持久的友情上面。一些人做到了，但是还有很人却没有，他们希望当初曾为友情努力过。

8. Pursuing a more meaningful career

追求一份更有意义的职业

Many of us wish we had taken more career risks, opted for meaning over money, pursued the career path we wanted instead of what we were expected to do or simply following the path that was laid out before us. How much better to have explored our options and pursued meaningful work in our twenties than to have spent 20 years doing something we don’t love.

大部分人都是听从别人的期待去工作或者按照别人铺好的路去走，而不愿冒更多的职业风险和遵循我们的内心去工作挣钱。比起20多年一直从事自己不喜欢的工作，能在20多岁时自己选择并去追求一份更有意义的工作是多么的好啊！

Life is good; don’t misunderstand. Few of us walk around every day pining for our youth, at least I hope not, but we do occasionally look back with a wistful sigh and wish that we planned more, lived more, and stretched ourselves more when we had the freedom and energy to do so.

毋庸置疑，生活是美好的。很少有人每天四处走走缅怀我们的青春，但是我们确实会偶尔若有所思的边叹气边回忆：多么希望当我们身心自由和精力旺盛的时候，能有更多的计划、更多的活法去扩展自己。