When anxiety hits, it can press down upon you, distracting you from your work and making you feel crazy. For a moment, it might even feel like you can't breathe.

心情焦虑时，焦虑感萦绕在心头，注意力难以集中，几乎让人疯狂，有一瞬间甚至会感到难以呼吸。

But however terrible it feels, anxiety alone will not kill you. Though it can make you feel like your emotions are being held hostage, as you become irritable¹ and less confident.

但不管焦虑带来了多少烦恼，焦虑本身并不可怕，可怕的是焦虑让你越来越急躁，越来越不自信，情绪完全被劫持。

Money troubles

金钱

By the time you reach your thirties you're supposed to be married, have a house, a car and lots of savings², right?

当今社会普遍认为，人到30岁，就应该结婚生子，有车有房有存款。

Shouldn't you be able to buy whatever you want, and live a life of luxury?

应该买任何想买的东西，过优越的生活。

But living beyond your means is no recipe for happiness. Spending thousands of yuan you don't have on clothes, high-end housing and taking taxis to work every day will only land you in debt.

但为了过优越的生活而入不敷出并不是幸福的秘诀，花几千块钱买衣服、住高端小区以及打车上班只会让你负债累累。

And as the debts mount up, just paying off the interest will start to take an ever bigger chunk³ out of your pay packet, leaving you unable to quit your job, or be fired, for fear of what may happen.

随着债台越堆越高，仅仅偿还利息就会花掉越来越多的工资，也因此不敢辞职、不敢失业，生怕失去经济来源。

You thus become trapped in a vicious cycle of debt and anxiety.

由此陷入了欠债 — 焦虑 — 欠债 — 焦虑的恶性循环。

Such stories are commonplace nowadays, as more and more people aspire⁴ to live the kind of life that they expect only money can buy. But there is a gap between expectations and reality. And the bigger that gap is, the more anxious you will become.

如今越来越多的人渴望过上金钱打造的舒适生活，这样的故事也就随处可见。但理想和现实总是有差距，差距越大，人们就会越焦虑。

Age

年龄

Almost everyone feels some anxiety at the prospect⁵ of getting old, but some people take it to the extremes.

一想到要变老，几乎每个人都会焦虑，但有人对年龄的焦虑走向了极端。

It can be tempting⁶ to compare yourself to someone your age, or even younger, who is already rich and famous. But doing so will only lead to frustration⁷.

同龄人或更年轻的人早已年少成名，锦衣玉食，反观自己仍然在漂泊，你不禁暗自伤神。

That's why advertisers target certain age groups, and the sellers of financial products promise to make you rich overnight.

所以广告商瞅准了特定年龄段的群体，理财产品的卖家承诺让你“一夜暴富”。

In today's consumer-driven culture, a lot of young adults find they suffer from some form of anxiety.

在如今“消费者驱动”文化背景下，一大批年轻人都有各种各样的焦虑。

They are anxious to have it all in the shortest time possible. And seeing someone younger than them find success only causes this anxiety to worsen.

他们急于在尽可能短的时间内完成所有工作，又在看到更年轻的人成功时更焦虑。

Working relationships

工作关系

Some people are obsessed⁸ with expanding their social networks, being convinced that the more people they know, the brighter their future will be.

有些人总是痴迷于扩大社交网，深信认识的人越多，前途就越光明。

This is partly true, yet you will find that the stress of maintaining so many relationships is only worth it if they were established on an equal footing.

但是其实这句话只说对了一半。你会发现，只有双方在关系中处于平等地位，才能互相帮助。

Relationships are important, but your mental health is more so. If you find maintaining relationships makes you anxious, pay more attention to yourself.

人际关系很重要，但心理健康更重要。如果你发现维持关系会更焦虑，那就多关注自己吧。

Being a parent

育儿

Parents can often find that their mood fluctuates in line with their child's academic performance. If their son or daughter isn't doing so well at school, it can make the parent very anxious.

父母会发现自己的情绪总是随着孩子的成绩而波动。如果孩子在学校表现不佳，家长就会非常焦虑。

Such parents may then force their child to take part in extracurricular training courses. But all that pressure can do more harm than good, for both the parent and the child.

这样的父母会总是强迫孩子参加各种各样的培训班。殊不知培训班的压力不仅不会有预期效果，反而害了孩子，也害了父母自己。

In today's fast-paced world, almost everyone wants to succeed as quickly as possible. But going so fast isn't always the best option. You can make your dreams come true at almost any age. But if your anxiety is out of control, it will become an insurmountable obstacle.

随着社会节奏的加快，几乎每个人都想要尽快获得成功。但加快步伐并不总是最好的。有人少年得志，也有人大器晚成。但如果焦虑失控，只会成为前进的绊脚石。

The key is to identify what you want to achieve and to go at your own pace. Find your own "time zone", where you're never late or early, and where the only thing that matters is you.

所以关键是认清自己的目标，按照自己的节奏走。走在自己的“时区”里，你不会迟到，也不会领先。这个时区里，最重要的只有你自己。

Or, as a popular poem that's been circulated widely online puts it:

就像网上流行的那首小诗所说：

New York is 3 hours ahead of California, but it does not make California slow.

纽约比加州早三小时，但加州的时间并没有变慢。

Absolutely everyone in this world works based on their "time zone".

世界上每个人都在自己的“时区”里前行。

People around you might seem to go ahead of you, some might seem to be behind you.

身边的人有的看似走在你前面，也有人看似走在你后面。

But everyone is running their own RACE, in their own TIME.

但其实每个人都在自己的时区里为自己奔跑。

Don't envy them or mock them.

不要嫉妒，也不要嘲笑。

They are in their TIME ZONE, and you are in yours!

他们在他们的时区里，你在你自己的时区里。

Life is about waiting for the right moment to act.

生命，就是等待合适的时机尽情绽放。

So, RELAX.

所以，放轻松。

You're not LATE,

你没有落后，

You're not EARLY.

也没有领先。

You are very much ON TIME, and in your TIME ZONE destiny set up for you.

在命运为你安排的时区里，你很准时！