Realize that you have options. There are places even here in the US where people don’t have the option of being out of survival mode enough to ponder these issues.

要明白你还有选择如何生活的权利。在美国，有些地方的人们甚至还陷于如何生存下去的水深火热之中，根本没时间考虑其他问题。

If I were you, this is what I’d do: I’d pack a backpack and start traveling for up to a year.

如果我是你，我会打包行李，开始为期一年的旅行。

The beauty of traveling is that, with little effort, it will take you out of your head - new currencies, new foods, new accents and people so you HAVE to pay more attention to everyday things.

旅行的魅力在于，只需要耗费一点点精力，就会让你跳出现有的生活状态，去认识新的货币，接触新奇的食物，不同的口音和人们，于是你就会更多地去关注日常事物。

Whether abroad or in the US, I’d suggest you do some volunteer work. When you don’t know what to do for yourself, go do something for another person (or for animals, the environment, etc…).

无论你去国外还是在美国，我建议你做一些志愿者工作。当你不知道自己要做什么时，那就去为别人(或动物，环境等…)做一些事情。

Besides traveling and volunteering, something else that’s great for when you don’t give a hoot is to read.

除了旅行和志愿者活动，在你对一切不屑一顾的时候，阅读会有益于你。

Read just for reading sake! Not to make you a better person, to get ahead, to pass the time, to be productive. Just find anything or anyone that interests you and read about it.

为了阅读而阅读!读书不是为了成为一个更好的人，而是为了进步，消磨时间或是提高创新思维。只要找任何你感兴趣的人或物去阅读就可以。

Remember you are not the one feeling this sense of helplessness.

你要知道每个人都会有感到无助的时候。

It’s ok to fail. I know how bad you feel now. You worked so hard to get into your dream school and you didn’t get admitted in the end. It just didn’t make any sense. Just let all these emotions out. Cry it out. And let it go.

失败了没关系。我知道你现在有多难过。你如此努力却最终没有被你梦寐以求的学校录取。但现在说这些都没有意义了。让你的情绪宣泄出来。大声哭出来吧。然后让它随风而去。

You are not alone. There are people around you who cares about you. Your parents, friends, siblings. They were always there. Go talk to them and tell them how you feel.

你并没有孤立无援。你身边还有很多关心你的人。比如你的父母，朋友和兄弟姐妹。他们一直都在。试着与他们谈谈心，告诉他们你的感受。

Life is meaningful. Stop whatever you are doing and think about your life. What is important to you? What makes you happy? Or what makes you particularly sad? These are a few places you can start.

生活是有意义的。不管你在做什么，都要停下手中的事去思考你的生活。对你来说什么才是重要的? 什么会使你快乐?或是什么会让你特别伤心?这些都是你可以重新出发的点。

Life’s beautiful. It may seem like life’s unfair because you didn’t get you wanted after giving up so much. But these failures and setbacks will renew your perspective in life. You realise you didn’t really need whatever you’re working so hard for. You start to cherish the people and the things around you. Endure the darkness because it shows you the stars.

生活是美好的。有时候你可能会觉得生活待你不公，因为在你放弃很多东西以后依旧没有得到你想要的。但是这些失败和挫折都会刷新你的人生观。你会意识到你所努力争取的并不是你真正想要的。于是你开始懂得珍惜身边的人和事。忍受了黑暗才能看见漫天的繁星星。