正文翻譯

Our birthday comes around once a year. Our birthday, that one day usually reminding us of another year gone by. Not all of us are keen on celebrating this so-called ‘special day‘.

我們的生日一年只有一次。我們的生日那一天通常提醒我們又過去了一年。并不是所有人都熱衷于慶祝這個所謂的“特別的日子”。

I’m one of these people. Never have been keen on celebrating my birthday. Every year I try to keep this day as quiet as possible, going about the day as per normal and sort of forgetting that it’s my birthday.

我就是其中之一。我從來都不喜歡慶祝我的生日，每年我都盡量讓這一天過得安靜些，像往常一樣過這一天，幾乎忘了這一天是我的生日。

It’s not that I have anything against celebrating birthdays. Last year I wrote a post on 7 Unforgettable Ways To Celebrate Your Birthday. I’m all up for celebrating other’s birthdays. Just not mine.

這并不是說我反對慶祝生日。去年我寫了一篇關(guān)于慶祝生日的7種令人難忘的方式的文章。我完全贊成為別人的生日慶祝，但不是我的。
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A birthday is significant in that it symbolises life: it signifies the day we came to life and became a part of this world. It signifies another year of ups and downs behind us. It’s about celebrating being human, a milestone which some of us are inclined to celebrate. However, some of us have our reasons for keeping our birthday a low-key affair – some reasons personal, some reasons tied to our personality, and some reasons down to what we believe in.

生日的意義在于它象征著生命：它標(biāo)志著我們來到這個世界中并成為這個世界的一部分的日子。它意味著我們又經(jīng)歷了跌宕起伏的一年。這是成為人類的一個里程碑，我們中的一些人傾向于慶祝。然而，我們中的一些人有自己的理由低調(diào)過生日--有些是個人原因，有些與我們的個性有關(guān)，還有一些則與我們的信仰有關(guān)。

Reasons to not celebrate birthdays

不慶祝生日的理由

1. We don’t want a fuss

1. 我們不想小題大做

Birthdays can be a time where the spotlight is on us. Some of us simply don’t like attention on us. We might be shy. We might have anxiety and birthday surprises might not sit well with us. We could be introverted and birthday attention from a big group might heighten our socialising phobia.

生日是我們最受關(guān)注的時刻。但有些人就是不喜歡別人關(guān)注自己。我們可能會害羞。我們可能會焦慮，生日驚喜可能會讓我們感到不舒服。我們可能性格內(nèi)向，生日時一大群人的關(guān)注可能會加劇我們的社交恐懼癥。
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Birthday blues or birthday anxiety disorder can be a very real thing. According to psychologist Debra Kissen, anytime that you are supposed to be happy can be a setup for disappointment; birthdays can be setups for anxiety as there is the pressure to have a memorable birthday in this comparative world.

生日憂郁或生日焦慮可能是非常真實的事情。根據(jù)心理學(xué)家黛布拉.基森的說法，任何你應(yīng)該高興的時候都可能是失望的開始;而生日也可能是焦慮的開始，因為在這個相互比較的世界里，要過一個難忘的生日是有壓力的。

As someone with anxiety, birthday surprises don’t make me feel good. Even a I-know-planned-before-hand birthday celebration makes me jittery. The worst is when people sing Happy Birthday to me – these situations I don’t know what to do and feel too embarrassed to smile down at a candle-lit cake. Over the years I’ve gotten better at hanging out with close friends for a meal or catch-up around my birthday; they’d most definitely say, ‘Happy Birthday’ and I go along with it.

作為一個有焦慮癥的人，生日的驚喜不會讓我感覺很舒服。即使是事先知道的生日慶祝也會讓我緊張不安。最糟糕的是當(dāng)人們給我唱生日歌的時候——這種情況下我不知道該做什么，也不好意思對著燭光蛋糕微笑。這些年來，我越來越擅長在生日那天和親密的朋友出去吃飯或小聚;他們肯定會說，“生日快樂”，我會順其自然。
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2. Comparative competition

2. 生日慶?；顒拥谋容^

Following on from the first point, there often is the pressure to make a birthday a fun one. In general, society sees birthdays as good times, a time where we do what we want and get what we want. Have a good celebration one year, there could be the expectation to have an equally enjoyable or lavish one the following year – and all birthday hype can leave one disappointed if birthday plans don’t go according to plan or no one shows up if anyone was invited.?

繼第一點，我們通常會有讓生日變得更有趣的壓力。一般來說，人們將生日視為美好的時光，在這一天里，我們可以做自己想做的事，得到自己想要的東西。如果今年慶祝得很好，可以期待來年有一個同樣愉快或奢華的生日慶?；顒印绻麃砟甑纳諔c?；顒記]能按原計劃進(jìn)行，或者有人被邀請，但沒有出現(xiàn)，所有的生日宣傳都會讓人失望。

3. Spending money

3. 會花錢

Depending on how we choose to spend our birthday, we might shell out a fair bit for the occasion and feel poorer after that. For instance, we might go all out extravagant and lavish celebrating our birthday: renting a jumping castle, going on a cruise, spending a night at a penthouse suite, going on an all-night pub-hopping bender or all of that. If we have lots of friends, there might be numerous birthday catch-ups and unless our friends pay for our share, this hurts the wallet.

根據(jù)我們選擇如何度過我們的生日，我們可能會為這個活動掏出相當(dāng)多的錢，之后會覺得自己變得更窮。例如，我們可能會盡可能奢侈地慶祝我們的生日：租一個跳躍城堡，去坐游輪旅行，在頂層套房里過夜，去酒吧通宵狂歡等等。如果我們有很多朋友，可能會有很多的生日聚會，除非我們的朋友為我們分擔(dān)一部分，否則這就會傷害我們的錢包。

I’m quite the frugal person and see myself as simple and pretty low maintenance, and don’t like spending unless it’s absolutely necessary. A simple meal out is already a nice treat to me just as hanging out with someone at the shopping mall.?

我是一個非常節(jié)儉的人，認(rèn)為自己很簡單，相當(dāng)?shù)驼{(diào)，除非絕對必要，否則我不喜歡花錢。出去吃頓簡單的飯對我來說已經(jīng)是一種很好的享受，就像和別人在購物中心閑逛一樣。

4. Negative experiences

4. 負(fù)面經(jīng)歷

For some of us, our past birthdays might have coincided with moments we’d rather forget or a sensitive time. Having a celebratory time let alone putting on a brave face as others sing Happy Birthday to us could be rather inappropriate; sometimes the past hurts too much and is unforgettable. That said, choosing to view birthdays as a positive occasion – another year, still here, much achieved – can be a way of moving on.

對于我們中的一些人來說，過去的生日可能恰逢我們寧愿忘記的時刻或敏感時刻。更不用說在其他人為我們唱生日快樂歌時裝出一副勇敢的樣子可能是相當(dāng)別扭的；有時過去太傷人，令人難以忘懷。 也就是說，選擇將生日視為一個積極的時刻或許是一種繼續(xù)前進(jìn)的方式。又是一年了，我仍然在這里，還取得了很大的成就。