雙語美文：屬於我的時間

Since I became a mother,

身爲人母之後

I cannot remember the last time I had quality time for myself

我已經記不得上一次享受一個人的時間是什麼時候了...

Even my simple hobby of reading a book was already a thing of the past.

甚至讀書這樣簡簡單單的愛好也已經成爲了往事

All my time evolved in taking care of the family,

我的所有時間都用在家事上了

my kids,

養育孩子

my husband,

照顧丈夫

doing the house chores

做家務

and of course working to earn a living.

當然，還有上班賺錢養家

Whenever I get to be invited

每次我受到邀請

by my colleagues to go out after work,

同事們約我下班去聚會

I politely declined

我只能禮貌的拒絕

telling them the truth that

坦言相告

I have a family to take care after work.

我下班後還要回去照顧家人

Not to mention the tons of laundry,

更不提回家還有成堆的衣服要洗errands各種雜事要做

and other house chores waiting for me.

還有一大堆家務在等着我

Well, I guess that is all part of motherhood.

好吧，我想這些都是一個母親生活的組成部分

Of course,

當然

I took responsibility of my being a mother and wife

我會對自己身爲母親和妻子的角色盡職盡責

and tried my very best to maximize my time as much as possible.

盡全力讓自己的時間得到最大化的利用

But then,

可是隨後

as years passed by

數年過去了

I realized that the chores were unending.

我意識到自己的職責沒有盡頭

My to-do list never seemed to have an end.

我那張“待辦事宜”的清單似乎無休無止

Even if I try to finish all of it,

即使我努力做完所有的事

new ones will always come up.

新的事情最後總會出現

I tried to prioritize my tasks

我試着給自己的任務安排一個優先級

and still feel very exhausted at the end of the day.

但到了一天的末尾，我還是感到筋疲力盡

I tried to share responsibilities with my husband and kids,

我試着讓丈夫和孩子們分擔家務

but still felt that I have no time for myself.

但還是感到完全沒有自己的時間

The chores seemed to be endless.

要乾的活兒似乎沒完沒了

I craved for "me time. "

我渴望有點“自己的時間”

And when I say me time,

當我說“自己的時間”

I only meant being able to do my eyebrows in an unhurried way,

我值得僅僅是，可以慢條斯理的畫眉毛

having an hour or so of quiet bliss,

能夠安安靜靜的呆一分鐘

playing candy crush,

玩一玩小遊戲

listening to music,

聽聽音樂

reading a book,

看看書

or watching a movie

或者欣賞一部電影

without being constantly interrupted by my toddler

而不是經常被我的寶寶們打斷

with the words, "It's my turn, mama."

提醒我，“媽媽，輪到我了”

I have been so used to not having time for myself

我太習慣這種毫無個人時間的生活了

that I didn't give much thought about that "me time"

我甚至沒有怎麼想到過“自己的時間”

until just recently.

直到最近

After 10 long years of waiting,

十年的漫長等待之後

my immigrant visa application was finally approved

我的簽證終於辦好了

and I had to travel to a new country all by myself.

我將獨自去一個陌生的國家旅行

Since the agency was going to pay for my airfare only,

由於旅行社只能爲我支付旅費

my husband and kids will have to follow at a later date

我的丈夫和孩子們只能日後再過來

as soon as I can purchase their plane tickets.

當我能爲他們買飛機票的時候

And so it happened.

於是我願望成真了。

I was alone in an apartment.

我一個人呆在房間裏

Now I can do whatever I wanted

現在我可以做自己想做的任何事

and keep the house clean and tidy.

可以保持房間乾淨又整潔

I can read my favorite books

我可以讀自己最喜歡的書

and do all that I wanted to do with my time.

可以花時間做自己想做的任何事

I practically had all the time for mysel while waiting for my job orientation!

事實上，由於我必須等着入職培訓，眼前的時間全都是我自己的！

But surprisingly it didn't make me happy.

我驚訝的發現，自己並沒有感到高興

I was lonely.

我如此孤單

No more daily routine of nagging

突然間沒有了日常的絮絮叨叨

and pushing the kids to get up and help out.

不用催促着孩子們起牀，上學

I missed my kids,

我想念我的孩子們

I missed my husband,

我想念我的丈夫

I missed my family back home.

我想念我遠在天邊的小家

I felt something in me was missing.

我感到自己內心像是缺了一塊

My kids, my family are already part of me.

我的孩子，我的家人已經是我的一部分

I spent nights crying myself to sleep

我整夜整夜哭泣，哭累了才睡着

easing the loneliness within me.

以此排解心中的孤獨

Then I came to realize that making time for me

我意識到，騰出自己的時間

doesn't mean being away from those I love.

並不意外着遠離自己所愛的人

I can still have a "me time"

我仍可以享受“自己的時間”

even if I have the kids around

即便孩子們都圍繞在我身旁

and endless chores and errands to take care.

即便我有無盡的家務和雜事要去處理

I can prioritize and plan.

我可以排優先級，可以計劃

I can change my attitude and approach towards house chores and errands.

我可以改變自己對家務雜事的態度，改進自己的做事方法

Life wouldn't be the same without the people you love near you.

沒有你愛的人在你身邊，生活就會變味

As of the moment,

此時此刻

I am looking forward that

我正期盼着

they can join me soon

他們能很快重新回到我身邊