Journey-through-the-odyssey-years

Journeythroughtheodysseyyears奥德赛岁月之旅Mostofusknowaboutthephasesoflifewhichwelabeltoparalleldifferentagegroupsandlifestages:childhood,adolescence,adulthood,andoldage.Wethinkofinfancybeforechildhoodandmiddleagebeforeoldage,witheachuniquephasebringingitsownpeculiarsetofchallenges.Thesechallengescanbeovercomebyacquaintingourselveswiththem,suchasthechild'sneedtolearn,theadult'sneedtofindtherightcareerandbuildafamily,andthesenior'sneedforsupportandgoodhealthcare.我们大多数人都知道，根据不同的年龄和生活阶段，人生可与此平行划分为童年、青春期、成年和老年这四个阶段。我们把这些阶段想象为婴儿期在童年之前，中年在老年之前，每个阶段都会面临一系列特有的挑战，如孩子对学习的需要，成人对找到合适的职业生涯和建立一个家庭的需要，以及年长者对得到帮助和良好医疗保健的需要。通过对它们的充分了解，我们就可以战胜这些挑战。Interestingly,ideasaboutthestagesoflifearechanging.有趣的是，关于人生阶段的观念正在发生变化。Inprevioustimes,peopledidn'thaveasolidideaofchildhoodasbeingseparatefromadulthood.Ahundredyearsago,noonethoughtofadolescence.Untilrecentlyitwasunderstoodasanormthattheirinductiontoadulthoodwascompletedassoonastheygraduatedfromcollege.Theywouldnowfindasensiblejobwhichwouldleadtoacareer.Thenduringthiscareertheywouldstartafamily,ideallybeforetheyturned30.在先前的年代，人们并没有一种固有的把童年和成年分开的想法。一百年前，谁也没有想到过青春期。直到最近，人们还很自然地认为：只要他们一从大学毕业，他们的成人入门阶段就结束了。他们就会找到一份把他们引入职业生涯的合适的工作。然后在此职业生涯期间，他们会成家，三十岁之前成家更为理想。Todaywehaveanequivalentneedtorecognizeanewphaseoflifethatcomesafterhighschoolgraduation,continuesthroughcollege,andthenleadstostartingafamilyandhavingacareer,theso-calledodysseyyears.Recenttrendsshowradicalchangesasyoungpeoplearefollowingadifferentagenda.Theytakebreaksfromschool,livewithfriendsandoftenreturntolivingwiththeirparents.Similarly,theyfallinandoutoflove,quitonejobandtryanotherorevenshifttoanewcareer.So,weneedtorecognizethisnewstage,theodysseyyears,whichmanynowconsidertobeanunavoidablestageinreachingadulthood.今天，我们同样需要认识一个新的人生阶段：从高中毕业到上大学，然后到成家立业，即所谓的奥德赛岁月。由于年轻人正按照一种不同的模式生活，最近的趋势出现了根本性的变化。他们从学校休学，与朋友同住，也常回去与父母同住。同样，他们恋爱又失恋，辞掉一份工作又去寻找新的，甚至改行。因此，我们需要认识这个新阶段——奥德赛岁月。现在许多人认为这是步入成年之前的一个难以回避的阶段。Peoplewhowerebornpriortothe60sor70sinthelastcenturytendedtoframetheirconceptofadulthoodbaseduponachievingcertainaccomplishments:movingawayfromhome,becomingfinanciallyindependent,findingtherightspouseandstartingafamily.Butthatemphasisonstabilitydidnotremainstatic.Today,youngpeopleareunlikelytodothesame.Duringtheodysseyyears,ahighproportionofyoungpeoplearedelayingmarriage,childbearing,andevenemployment.出生于上个世纪60年代或70年代之前的人们往往会将成年的概念基于是否取得了某些成就：从父母家搬走，经济上独立，找到合适的配偶并组织家庭。但是，对稳定的强调并没能保持不变。今天，年轻人不太可能仿效他们的父母。在奥德赛岁月中，相当比例的年轻人都推迟结婚、生子，甚至推迟就业。Theodysseyyearscansaddleyoungpeoplewithenormouspressuretomoveforwardquickly.Asthesoleheirandfocusoftheirparents'expectations,hopesanddreams,somereactwithrebelliousandpridefulattitudesandbehaviortowardtheirparents.Theyoftenresentthepressurethey'refeelingandkeepadistancefromtheirparentsorevenrunawayfromhome.Theirconfusioncomesfromthedifficultiestomakeparentsunderstandthemandthefluidjourneyofdiscoverytheyneedinthisphaseoftheirlives.Togetawayfromthisconfusionandupset,manyyoungpeopleresorttocomputergames,iPods,iPhones,oriPadstohelpdistractthemfromtheirpainandstress.奥德赛岁月使年轻人承受了巨大的压力，迫使他们快速往前冲。作为他们父母唯一的继承人和所有期望、希望和梦想的聚焦，有些年轻人以叛逆和桀骜不驯的行为和态度对待父母。他们往往憎恨他们所感到的压力，并同他们的父母保持距离，甚至离家出走。他们的困惑源于很难让家长了解他们，也源于这段需要进行自我探索的、不确定的人生之旅。为了逃避困惑和不安，许多年轻人诉诸电脑游戏，iPod,iPhone或iPad，以帮助分散他们的痛苦和压力。Likewise,theirparentsarefeelingmoreanxious.Theymaymakeallowancesforatransitionphasefromstudentlifetoadultlife,buttheygetupsetwhentheyseethetransitionoftheirgrownchildren'slivesmovingawayfromtheirexpectationsandstretchingfiveyearstosevenyears,andbeyond.Theparentsdon'tevendetectaclearsenseofdirectionintheirchildren'slives.Theylookatthemandseethethingsthatarebeingdelayed.同样，他们的父母更是着急。虽然他们理解从学生到成年需要一个过渡阶段，但看到他们已成年子女的过渡阶段的生活与他们的期望渐行渐远，过渡阶段延至五年，七年，甚至更长时，他们感到生气。父母甚至不能清楚地觉察到他们孩子未来生活的方向，只能看着他们，看着要做的事被拖延着。It'shardtopredictwhat'snext.Newguidelineshaven'tbeenestablishedyet,andeverythingseemstogivewaytoalesspermanentversionofitself.接下来会如何发展很难预测。新的准则还没有建立，一切似乎都被一个不确定的版本所取代。There'sbeenashiftinthestatusandbalanceofpowerbetweenthegenders,too.Morewomenaregettingdegreesthanmen.Malewageshaveremainedstableoverthepastdecades,whilefemalewageshaveboomed.两性之间地位和权力的平衡也有了转变。取得学位的女性比男性更多。男性的工资在过去的几十年里一直停滞不前，而女性的工资却出现激增。Apartfromanythingelse,thishashadanimpliciteffectoncourtship.Educatedwomencangetmanyofthethingstheywant,suchassecurity,accomplishment,andidentitywithoutmarriage.However,bothgendersarehavingahardertimefindingsuitablematestobuildtheirliveswith.Consideringallofthis,it'sbeneficialtoknowthateventhoughgraduatesaredelayingmanythingsaftercollege,surveysshowtheystillholdhighlytraditionalaspirations.Forexample,thiscontemporarygenerationratesparenthoodevenmorehighlythanpreviousgenerationsdid!别的不说，这对择偶产生了不言而喻的影响。即使未婚，受过教育的妇女仍可以得到很多她们想要的东西，如安全感，成就感，和认同感。不过，不论男女都更难找到合适的伴侣来一同建立他们的生活。在讨论这一切时，有助于让大家知道，即使毕业生离开大学后推迟了做很多事，调查结果显示，他们仍持有很传统的愿望。例如，当今的一代比以前的几代对如何扮演好父母的角色有着更高的要求。Thisnewphasewilllikelygrowmorepronouncedinthecomingyears.Nationsaroundtheworldhavewitnessedsimilartrendstowarddelayingmarriageandspendingmoreyearsthanevershiftingbetweenhighereducationandsettlingdownwithacareerandfamil