Spring Cleaning 新春新气象
I don't know about you，but I've gladly traded the sight of snowdrifts with the appearance of daffodils.This past winter in northern Illinois was a rough one.If you are fortunate enough to live elsewhere，the spring will prove less of a transition.
With me，I embrace the change.Suddenly the neighbors reappear，and so do the rakes and shovels.I start going through closets and getting to tasks that I should have done instead of losing a weekend to watching The Food Network and eating microwave popcorn.
This spring brings even more change for me.I have decided to end an unhealthy relationship.For the life of me，I wish I could understand why it's in a woman's nature to try holding back the inevitable.Perhaps it's because I watched my mother do it in her relationship with my dad as well as my grandma did with my grandpa.
Shouldn't I know better，after watching generations of poor choices in partners？Of course I should，especially after all that therapy.But，truth be told，the comfort zones we women cling to end up being far from accommodating，from many aspects.After this last one，I feel just like the tree in Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree.Through compromising my own needs，I feel I've been left with a tree stump.
But spring has come，and it has brought with it the spirit of renewal.No，I won't be settling anymore for scraps……not since I know I should be feasting.The“put-up-or-shut-up”conversation has ended.He's shut up.And I'm back where I should have been in the first place……being honest with myself.Coincidentally or not，I've shed a few pounds in the meantime（with a little help from Weight Watchers）。
Your own vernal equinox has arrived.I urge you to embrace that.Take the time out to take inventory in yourself，and not just in the pantry.Many of us balance kids and bills and pets，just to name a few obligations.I challenge you to ask yourself this spring what it is that you want to accomplish just for you.
I plan on hopping on my mountain bike when I want to bury my emotions under a banana split6 from the newly reopened Dairy Queen7.I'm going to focus on my accomplishments instead of my crow's feet on my 40th birthday which comes this summer.In fact，I am going to do something that J.R.R.Tolkien’s8 character Bilbo Baggins did in The Hobbit.I am going to invite my nearest and dearest to a celebration that I orchestrate.Gifts for them will be waiting.
We may start out in life witnessing and then recreating unhealthy patterns.We're only human（another reason that Weight Watchers is such a successful enterprise）.But now we learn every day in the news the effects of stress on our bodies and minds.Can we afford not to do a costs-benefits analysis on our lives？
我不知道你怎么样，但是我很高兴白雪皑皑的景象换成了水仙那美丽的身姿。在北伊利诺斯州度过的这个冬天很难挨。如果你很幸运住在别的地方，那么春天来临所带来的变化就不那么明显了。
对于我来说，我欣然欢迎这种变化。突然邻居们又都出现了，拿着耙子和铁锹。我开始逐个整理柜橱，准备继续本来该在周末干完的活儿，那会儿却抱着微波炉爆出来的爆米花，沉溺于看美食频道。
这个春天对我意味着更多的变化。我已经决定结束一段不健康的恋爱关系。在我的生活里，我希望我可以理解为什么总是女人去挽回不可挽回的东西。也许是因为我看到我母亲在与父亲的婚姻关系中扮演了这样的角色，还有我外婆在她与我外公的关系中也是如此。
在看到几代人在伴侣问题上做出错误的选择后，难道我不应该更清楚吗？当然，我应该如此，特别是在经历了那所有的治疗之后。但是，事实是，我们女人所紧紧依附的安全地带都以失败告终，在很多方面都远远弥补不了已破碎的关系。在经历了最近的这段关系后，我觉得自己就像是西尔？弗斯坦《奉献树》里的那棵树。一味地牺牲自己的需要，我感觉自己就只剩下一截树桩子了。
但是，春天来了，她带来了新生的气息。不，我再不会为没用的东西勉强自己……因为我知道我应该充分享受生活。“要么行动要么闭嘴”的谈话已经结束。他已经闭嘴。而我也回到了我最初应该在的位置……诚实地对待自己。不知道是不是巧合，这过程中我瘦了好几磅（体重监察帮了点小忙）。
你自己的春分已然来临了。我劝你欣然接受。找出时间为你自己的需要列个单子，而不仅仅是厨房的那堆事。我们中的许多人要照顾孩子，操心账单，还要顾及宠物，这还只是众多责任中的几项。我对你提出一个要求，在这个春天问问你自己，什么是你只想为你自己一个人做的。
当我心情抑郁，想到最近重新开业的奶品皇后吃香蕉布丁来发泄时，我计划跳上我的山地车出门锻炼。对于今夏将要来临的我四十岁的生日，我要专注于个人作为，而不是眼角的皱纹。实际上，我打算像托尔金《霍比特人》里的比尔博？巴金斯一样，把所有的亲朋好友都邀请到我精心策划的庆祝会上来，并为他们准备礼物。
从生命一开始，我们就目睹着别人或是自己经历不良的生活方式。我们只是人类（体重监察能如此成功的另一个原因）。但是，现在我们每天都能从新闻中看到压力对我们的身心所造成的巨大危害，不对我们的生活做个成本利润的分析，行吗？
译者感言
文章中似乎看到了一位吃着爆米花，瞪着双眼观看电视美食节目的一位发胖的女士形象。她选择抑制住胃部的欲望去骑山地车作为另一种发泄感情的方式。即将四十，没有婚姻和家庭，刚刚失恋，身材还有些胖，真是悲惨的人生。其实，世界上的绝大多数女人都愿意作为爱情中牺牲较多的一方，心甘情愿地付出，可是似乎男人们并不珍惜，他们的不珍惜让女人们在痛苦中挣扎和觉醒。作者的生活似乎很暗淡，可是比起那些在婚姻中疲惫不堪又得不到真诚关爱的女士们，也许她们还羡慕作者的生活呢？更难得的是，作者有一颗不因不顺的生活经历而麻木的心，她还注意自己的身材，总是想着减肥；她还由己及人，告诫其他女士们照顾自己；她还打算为自己开四十岁的庆祝会；她还能感受到春天的气息和水仙的美丽；她的心还感知和接受了春天所蕴含的信息：新生和希望。充满希望，乐观地生活吧！善待自己的身体和心灵。虽然遭遇挫折不幸，可是活着本身就是希望，不是吗？
