How to deal with milestone birthday blues



When's your next big birthday? How do you feel about that? Do you feel you need to do something spectacular to mark it? Are you excited by the prospect, or dreading the future?



We usually think of birthdays as a time to celebrate, but they can also cause stress and worry. Research suggests that this can be even stronger for '9-enders', the 29, 39 and 49-year-olds who are worried about the milestone they are about to reach. What is it that makes a number that ends in zero so daunting?



New decades can seem like a fresh start where we evaluate how we are doing. The problem is that many of us look for something to compare with. This might be people that we know or that we follow on social media, or just what we think society expects us to have achieved by a certain age. Any differences can lead us to question ourselves.



This links to other stresses that can come with getting older. We might worry that there is limited time to achieve society's expectations. We may also know people from older generations who had health problems at a certain age, and fear that the same thing will affect us.



So, what can we do? Psychologists advise a few steps. Many agree that it's important to celebrate or mark your birthday in your own way. Do something you genuinely enjoy to avoid feeling the pressure of having to celebrate in a particular way.



Another key piece of advice that psychologists offer is that we should use the opportunity to reflect on our lives, but in positive ways. First, consider what you have achieved recently and record those achievements. Then decide what you want to achieve next, and what steps you can take to get there. Having achievable goals can help give our lives greater purpose.



If we can celebrate our successes, set ourselves realistic and achievable goals, and find a way to spend our day that we really enjoy, then maybe we'll find it much easier to deal with those big milestone birthdays.



词汇表

milestone birthday [ˈmaɪlstəʊn ˈbɜːθdeɪ] 里程碑式生日（指具有重要意义的生日节点，如30岁、40岁等）

blues [bluːz] 忧郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

spectacular [spekˈtækjələ(r)] 盛大的，惊人的；壮观的

mark [mɑːk] 纪念，庆祝

prospect [ˈprɒspekt] 前景，展望，期望

dread [dred] 畏惧，担忧

9-ender [ˈnaɪn ˈendə(r)] 9字辈（指29岁等即将进入整十年龄的人）

daunting [ˈdɔːntɪŋ] 令人畏惧的，令人怯步的

decade [ˈdekeɪd] 十年，十年期

fresh start 新的开始，重新开始

achievable [əˈtʃiːvəbl] 可实现的，可达成的



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