你是否也在经历 Existential Crisis（“存在危机”）——无意义、彷徨、悲伤、空虚、孤独、焦虑……
延伸阅读
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孩子“父母化”
心理不灵活——固执刻板认死理，希望全世界适应自己
科尔伯格的道德发展水平理论 | 你处在第几阶段？
用“帆船形需求图”替代“马斯洛金字塔形需求图”
Intergenerational Trauma（代际创伤）
日复一日昏昏沉沉恍恍惚惚——Chronic Brain Fog（慢性脑雾）
没有红色药丸
Self-awareness|人贵自知
- Coping with an existential crisis can be a process of self-realization in which people come to understand their unique place in the world.
应对存在危机的过程可以是一段自我实现的过程，在这一过程中，人们开始理解他们在这个世界中的独特位置。
- People who have been parentified may be more prone to having an existential crisis in midlife.
童年时被“父母化”（虽然是孩子但却要扮演父母的角色）可能在中年时更易于产生存在危机。
- During an existential crisis, essential themes to address include meaning, authenticity, self-knowledge, connection, and transcendence.
在存在危机中基本的应对主题，包括：意义、真实、自我认知、人际连接感、超脱。
An existential crisis is when a person questions their existence and the meaning of their life. This can be a frightening experience, as one can feel completely alone and lost in a seemingly random and meaningless universe. However, it can also be a time of great self-discovery and growth.
存在危机，是指一个人开始质疑自己的存在以及自己生命的意义。这种经历可能会非常可怕，因为它会让人感到完全孤独、在看起来随机、无意义的宇宙中迷失。但它也可以成为一段实现重大自我发现与成长的时期。
An existential crisis may resemble the following:
存在危机可能有诸如类似以下体验：
- Are you questioning the meaning of your life or feel numb, empty, and unfulfilled?
- Do you have the feeling that everything you have done is meaningless?
- Do you feel lonely and lost, despite everything going well on the surface?
- Do you sometimes feel the compulsion to throw everything away and start over?
- Do you experience unexplainable sadness, guilt, and anxiety?
你是否质疑自己人生的意义，或感到木然、空虚和不圆满？
你是否感到自己做过的一切都毫无意义？
你是否感到孤独和迷失，虽然一切表面上看起来都很好？
你是否有时感到一种想要扔下一起重新开始的冲动？
你是否有时会莫名其妙地突然感到悲伤、内疚和焦虑？
In a psycho-spiritual sense, an existential crisis is a call from our soul. It is the moment when our deepest self calls out to us or when we gain an understanding of what lies beneath consciousness. Here might have been truths that we had buried for years, and this is the time they all come back.
Carl Jung believed that the first half of our lives are devoted to developing our ego, while we spend the second half integrating the unconscious and becoming who we are. And the transition from the first half to the second half is often the trigger for an existential crisis.
从心灵-修行角度来看，存在危机是来自我们灵魂的呼唤。它是我们最深层的自我在向我们呼喊的时刻，是我们了解到表层意识之下深层次认知的时刻。这里可能是我们已经埋藏数年的种种真相，在这一时刻，这一切喷涌而出。卡尔·荣格认为，我们人生的前半部分主要是忙着发展我们的Ego，而后半生则会去融合我们的潜意识，成为真正的自我。这种从前半部分向后半部分的过渡，通常会触发存在危机。
What Constitutes an Existential Crisis 存在危机的构成要素
While there is no single, universally accepted definition, an existential crisis usually includes the following components:
尽管没有统一的标准定义，存在危机通常包含以下因素：
- The awareness of your mortality and the realisation that death can occur at any time.
意识到生命有限，意识到死亡可能随时到来；
- Feeling nihilistic, that your life is meaningless.
感到虚无，感到自己的人生无意义。
- Feeling anxious and lonely in an uncaring universe.
在这个冷漠的宇宙感到焦虑和孤独。
- The feeling that one should not exist at all
感觉自己根本不应该存在
- Lack of purpose or meaning in life.
生命缺乏目的和意义。
- The conviction that one has chosen the wrong path and that everything one has done so far has been in vain.
认为自己选择了错误的道路，之前做的一切均徒劳无功。
What Causes an Existential Crisis? 存在危机的起因
Many things can trigger an existential crisis, from realizing one's investment has not yielded the desired outcome, a broken relationship, losing someone they love, a family breakdown, and losing a job.
很多事物都可能会触发存在危机，从意识到自己的投入并没有得到想要的结果，关系的破裂，失去所爱之人，家庭变故，到失业等。
Someone parentified as a child in their family of origin may be more prone to an existential crisis in midlife. Parentification means that there has been a role reversal in the family, where the child was forced to take on the role of provider for their parents and siblings too early, depriving them of the childhood they should have had.
童年时期在原生家庭中被父母化的孩子可能更易于在中年时产生存在危机。父母化，是指在家庭中父母与孩子的角色颠倒，孩子被迫过早承担起照顾父母和兄弟姐妹的职责，而自己本该享有的童年从而被剥夺。
Unfortunately, when children are forced into the role of parents, they are often denied the opportunity to explore their interests and develop their sense of identity. They are not given practical or emotional space to discover their joy and figure out what their lives are all about. After a long period of time, they may experience a spiritual crisis in which they realize that they have lived their entire lives according to their parents' needs and expectations rather than their true passion.
不幸的是，当孩子们被迫扮演父母的角色时，它们通常就被剥夺了探索个人兴趣、形成个人身份意识的机会。他们被剥夺了发现个人快乐、思索生命意义的实际与精神空间。在长时期之后，他们可能就会经历一种心灵上的危机，意识到他们一生一直在按照父母的需求和期望生活，而非追随自己的真正心愿。
According to Jungian analyst James Hollis, many people spend their first half of life trying to achieve success or material possessions. But once they reach a certain age, they find that these things do not bring happiness or a sense of fulfillment. They begin to search for the meaning of their lives and start their journey to wisdom.
根据荣格理论分析师 James Hollis的观点，很多人在前半生都努力追求成功或物质财富。但一旦到达一定年龄，他们发现这些东西并不会带来幸福或圆满感。他们开始追求生命的意义，开启通往智慧的征途。
In an existential crisis, part of us finally gets tired of living for other people and wants to follow where our heart leads us. Ironically, it's about shedding things we have accumulated, peeling away the facades we have put on, and returning to our truth.
在存在危机中，我们内心的一部分厌倦了为他人而活，向追逐自己的内心向往。具有反讽意味的是，这一切都是关于摒弃我们曾努力积累的财富、剥离我们曾带上的种种面具，返璞归真。
How can you cope with an existential crisis? 如何应对存在危机？
Some essential issues to address when going through an existential crisis are meaning, authenticity, self-knowledge, connection to others, and transcendence.
在经历存在危机时，一些要应对的基本问题包括：意义、真实、自我认知、人际连接感、超脱。
- Meaning is the belief that your life matters and that you have an essential role in the world.
意义，是认为自己的人生很重要，你在这个世界具有不可或缺的位置。
- Authenticity is the sense of being true to yourself and living in alignment with your values.
真实，是指感觉自己在活出真正的自己，在践行自己的价值观。
- Self-awareness is the ability to recognize and understand your thoughts and feelings.
自我认知，是指能够辨识并理解自己的想法和感受。
- Connectedness with others is belonging to a community and having meaningful relationships.
人际连接感，是指归属于一个社会群体，具有有意义的人际关系。
- Finally, transcendence is the belief that there is something greater than yourself with which you can connect.
最后，超脱，是认为有比自己更宏大的事物，而且对这种更宏大事物感到深深共鸣。
Here are some specific things you can do: 以下是一些你可以开展的具体措施：
01 Identifying Your Values
找出自己的价值观
As much as possible, find out what your values are and try to align your actions with them.
Think about what is important to you. What are the things that bring you joy? What is most important to you? Once you have a list of important things to you, try to think about why they are essential. What values do they represent?
Another way is to look at your life experiences. Think about the moments that were most meaningful to you. What did you do in those moments, and what values did you live by?
尽可能找出你的价值观，并且努力让自己的行为与自己的价值观一致。
思考什么对你才是重要的，哪些东西会带给你快乐喜悦？什么对你而言是最重要的？一旦你列出了一些对你而言很重要的事物，进一步去思考为什么它们很重要？它们分别代表了什么价值观？
另外一种方式是去审视你的人生经历。思考那些对你而言最富有意义的时刻。在这些时刻中，你做了什么？当时你是在践行怎样的价值观？
02 Finding Your Flow
找到自己的“Flow”
Flow is that feeling of being in the zone, wholly absorbed in what you're doing. You're not thinking about anything else, just focused on what you are doing.
What activities make you lose track of time? What do you enjoy doing so much that you readily take on challenges with not fear but excitement?
Even if there is no immediate financial reward, trying to include what makes your heart sings in your life now has value in itself.
Flow是一种完全进入如鱼得水状态的感觉，完全沉浸于自己当时所作的事情中，心无杂念，思维高度集中。
哪些活动会让你忘却时间？你对哪些活动是如此喜爱，以至于你会欣然接受这类活动中的挑战，充满兴奋而非恐惧？
即使并没有立即的经济回报，但将自己喜爱的事物纳入自己的生活，现在这件事情在你看来变得极具价值。
03 Redefining Success
重新定义成功
As we progress through life, our understanding of success changes. We may start by seeking wealth and recognition from others, but as we grow older, we learn that these things do not always fulfill us deeply. Instead, we realize that success is about finding joy in what we do and being content with who we are.
If you close your eyes and imagine what an ideal day would be like for you in the future, what would it be like? What would you like to be doing, from dusk to dawn? Where do you want to be? Who would you want to be with?
What if, instead of external reward and recognition, you begin to make joy and fulfillment your metric of success?
随着年龄增长，我们对成功的理解不断在变化。最初我们可能会一心追求财富与别人的认可，但随着年龄增长，我们意识到这些东西并不会总是能够深层次满足我们。我们意识到成功是关于在我们做的事情中寻找到快乐，欣然愿意接受真实的自己。
如果你闭上眼睛想象未来一个理想的一天，它会是什么样子？在这样的一天，从早到晚，你会在做什么？你希望在哪里？你希望和谁在一起？
如果你不再去追求外界的奖励与认可，而是开始将喜悦与圆满感作为成功指标，会发生什么？
04 Finding Your Ikigai
寻找到你的人生意义
Ikigai is a Japanese concept translated as "reason for being" or "purpose in life."
Finding ikigai is a process of discovery. It's something that you find rather than something that you search for. You can, however, use some tips to help you on your journey.
First, think about what you love to do. What are your hobbies? What activities excite you?
Second, think about what you're good at. What are your talents and strengths? Can any of those talents be turned into a career?
Third, think about what the world needs. What can you contribute that nobody else can? Are there any problems that need solving? What would people pay you for?
When you can find one or a few sweet spots where your interest, love, skills, and what the world needs, you will have found your ikigai, this is not a quick fix but can offer us a direction of investigation when we face an existential crisis.
生き甲斐，日语中的存在的理由、生命的意义的意思。
找到人生意义，是一段发现之旅。人生意义，往往可遇不可求。但是，有一些方法可以在这段发现之旅上为你提供一些帮助。
首先，思考你的热爱事物，你的爱好，让你感到兴奋的活动。
其次，思考你擅长的领域，你的才能与优势。这些才能中是否有任何才能可以转变为职业？
第三，思考世界的需求。你能够为这个世界做出哪些别人做不到的贡献？是否有任何问题需要解决？哪些事情是人们会支付你报酬让你去做的？
当你找到一个或一些你的兴趣、爱好、技能和外界需求之间的最佳平衡领域，你就会发现你的人生意义。但这并不能够立即让我们的存在危机烟消云散，但它可以为我们提供一个解决方向。
05 Learn to Let Go of the Absolute Need for Certainty
放弃对确定性的执念
When we hold on too tightly to our need for certainty, we become rigid and inflexible. We are unable to adapt to change and unwilling to take risks. We miss out on opportunities and experiences that could otherwise enrich our lives.
Learning to let go of our need for certainty doesn't mean we become passive defeatists. It simply means rather than fighting against what is happening. We learn to yield to what is happening and make the best of it. It means accepting that life is full of uncertainties and embracing the unknown.
With this, you may be more able to invest in activities that bring long-term benefits rather than frantically jumping from one thing to the next that offers only short-term "solutions." If you can relax to explore a new future, your existential crisis might be resolved, and you will be rewarded with a new and broader horizon.
当我们执着追求确定性时，我们就会变得死板固执。我们会无法适应变化，不愿冒险。我们会错失那些本能够丰富我们人生的机遇与体验。学会放弃对确定性的执念，并不意味着我们丧失斗志，而是意味着：与其一根筋抵抗当前在发生的事情，我们学会接受现实、努力获得最佳结果；意味着接受人生本身就是充满不确定性的这一事实；意味着拥抱未知。
这样，你可能就更能够投入于能够带来长期收益的活动中，而不是心猿意马地从一个短期解决方案跳到另一个短期解决方案。如果你能够放松下来去探索新的未来，你的存在危机可能就会消失，而且你也会得到一个全新的、更广阔的天际。
06 Transforming Through an Existential Crisis
在存在危机中涅槃重生
To transform through an existential crisis and not collapse in it, we must learn to listen to ourselves and then invest in activities that align with our deeper desires, rather than chasing immediate results as though we are on hamster wheels.
This can be a process of self-realization in which people come to understand their unique place in the world. Through a period of deep transformation, we become aware of our thoughts, feelings, desires, and the unconscious aspects of our psyche. In the end, we may find a new sense of identity and purpose and find ways to express ourselves creatively.
想要将存在危机作为涅槃重生的机会，我们必须学会听从自己内心的声音，投入到与我们更深层渴望相契合的活动中，而不是去像在仓鼠轮上一样不断去追求即时收益。
它可以是一段自我发现的过程，在这一过程中，人们意识到自己在这个世界上独特专属的位置。通过一段深层次转变的时期，我们意识到自己的想法、感受、渴望以及心灵中的潜意识部分。最后，我们可能会发现一种全新的身份感和目标感，另辟蹊径寻找到能够充分表达自我的方式。
