It’s actually just after you’re born that life flashes before your eyes.

你一呱呱墜地，生命便在你眼前閃爍

Entire aeons are lived in those first few months

生命的前幾個月乘載著永恆

when you feel inseparable from the world itself,

那時你感受到與整個世界融為一體

with nothing to do but watch it passing by.

靜靜地讓它在眼前流逝

At first, time is only felt vicariously,

最初，時間彷彿事不關己，

as something that happens to other people.

正如你眼睜睜地看著某件事發生在別人身上

You get used to living in the moment, because there’s nowhere else to go.

你漸漸習慣活在當下，因為你也無他處可去

But soon enough, life begins to move, and you learn to move with it.

但很快，人生開始往前推移，而你也學會隨之移動

And you take it for granted that you’re a different person every year,

你也理所當然地長大、改變

Upgraded with a different body

脫胎換骨

...a different future.

進入不一樣的未來

You run around so fast, the world around you seems to stand still.

你跑得太快，以至於你周圍的世界似乎靜止了

Until a summer vacation can stretch on for an eternity.

直到暑假時，你發現時間像永恆般無限延伸

You start to feel time moving forward,

你開始感受到時間正在往前推移

learning its rhythm,

意識到它的節奏

but now and then it skips a beat.

但有時它會趕拍

as if your birthday arrives one day earlier every year.

感覺似乎每年生日都來得更快一些

We should consider the idea that youth is not actually wasted on the young.

我們該琢磨的是：青春並非年輕時虛擲的歲月

That their dramas are no more grand than they should be.

戲劇性的橋段也並不為過

That their emotions make perfect sense, once you adjust for inflation.

只要你校準了過度膨脹的部分，那些情緒也合情合理

So for someone going through adolescence,

所以當一個人經歷青春期時

life feels epic and tragic simply because it is:

人生感覺如史詩般悲壯，只是因為它本來就是如此

every kink in your day could easily warp the arc of your story.

任何詭譎的想法都能改變故事的輪廓

Because each year is worth a little less than the last.

因為每一年的價值，都比前一年被稀釋了一些

And with each birthday we circle back,

每次生日我們都轉回了原點

and cross the same point around the sun.

經過繞著太陽轉的原點

and wish each other, 'many happy returns.'

並祝對方「好事接二連三」

But soon you feel the circle begin to tighten,

但很快你發現這個循環越來越緊湊

and you realize it’s a spiral,

你發現你在一個螺旋之中

and you’re already halfway through.

而且你已經走完了一半的路了

As more of your day repeats itself,

日復一日

you start to cast off dead weight,

你開始拋開重負

and feel the steady pull toward your center of gravity,

並感受到持續將你拉向以自我為中心的地心引力

the ballast of memories you hold onto,

那些你緊緊抓住的回憶的壓載物

until it all seems to move under its own inertia.

直到一切似乎只是靠著慣性持續前進

So even when you sit still, it feels like you’re running somewhere.

因此即使你坐下不動了，你還是感受到自己正奔向某處

And even if tomorrow you will run a little faster,

而即使你明日會比今日跑得更快一些

and stretch your arms a little farther

並將你的雙臂伸得更遠

you’ll still feel the seconds slipping away as you drift around the bend.

你還是會在轉彎之處，感受到分分秒秒不斷流逝

Life is short

生命是短暫的

and life is long

生命也是漫長的

but not in that order.

但順序是相反的