你是否也想享受獨處的寶貴時光?
Dear Carolyn: I am a single mom to two incredible boys. My ex-husband's mother is my live-in nanny and general cheerleader (a story in itself). I have a great job, a beautiful home and a supportive boyfriend.
親愛的卡羅琳：我是位單親媽媽，育有二子。我前夫的母親現在是我們家的住家保姆兼拉拉隊隊長（本身就是個故事）。我有一份好工作、一個美麗的家，以及支持我的男朋友。Even though I have absolutely nothing to complain about, sometimes I just want to run away. I want to be in a place for a day or a week (or a year) where no one needs or demands anything from me - problems solved, forms signed, appointments made, cash doled out, Minecraft stories listened to, or even just time spent. I love all the people in my life dearly, but I get to a point where I just want to scream at them to leave me alone.
儘管沒什麼事值得抱怨，但有時候我只想逃走。我想在沒有人需要我的地方呆上一天或一週或一年--問題已解決、表格已簽署、事項已預約、現金已發放、我的世界遊戲故事已聽完、或只是虛度時光。我非常愛我生命中的每一個人，但現在的我處於這樣一種狀況：只想衝着他們大喊"別來煩我"。
I am trying to be more positive and remember just how great I have it - I feel totally churlish even writing this - but some days it's hard not to feel sucked dry. Do you have any advice for getting back to that grateful state of mind?
我努力保持陽光，並提醒自己很幸福--只是寫這封信都會讓我感到無禮--但有時候，人就是會覺得自己被榨乾了。我想回到那種感恩的狀態，您有什麼建議嗎？
- Trying to be grateful
--試着去感恩Trying to be grateful: Gratitude is nice and all, but it sounds like what you really need is some alone time. A chunk of it, built into your schedule, accounted for with child care. Especially (but not only) if you're an introvert, this is a mental health issue, not an oh-poor-me issue.
試着去感恩：懂得感恩是件好事，但在我看來，你真正需要的是獨處時間。你的大部分時間都用在孩子身上了。尤其但不僅僅是，如果你性格內向，這就是心理健康問題，而不是"啊，我真可憐"的問題。It may be that you need a longer stretch to start, like a full day or a weekend, and after that will be okay with the "touch up" of a weekly break or regular exercise class or daily meditation or whatever. But if that's not doable, then find a place to put that smaller break into your schedule and see whether it's enough to feel some relief.
也許，你需要一段較長的時間恢復，比如一整天或一整週，在那之後，每週一次鍛鍊或定期上健身課或每日冥想等修復行爲便可起到作用。但如果這一方法並不可行，那就找個地方短暫的休息（加入到日常安排），看看是否能讓你放鬆。If you balk at this, then please ask yourself why you refuse to accommodate your own needs. Forget for a moment that it's okay just to want to be alone sometimes - that your preference is valid in its own right. People also perform better for others when their own needs are met. No breaks = breakdowns.
如果這個方法也不行，請問問你自己：爲什麼拒絕滿足自己的需求。暫時忘卻吧，時不時地希望獨處是正常的--自身的喜好也很重要。自我需求得到滿足時，對他人的態度也會更友好，畢竟不休息等同於故障。
