It's not easy to live and work in a big city, 'cause the competition is so fierce and you can barely balance your job and your life.
在大城市生活并不容易，因为竞争非常激烈，你几乎没有办法平衡工作与生活。

It's not easy to live in a small city, 'cause everyone around you will think they have a say in how you live and you're basically living your life for others.
在小城市生活也不容易，因为你身边的每个人都觉得他们在你的生活中有话语权，而你基本是在为别人而活。

I live in one of the busiest city in the world and I just had a dinner with a former classmate several days ago.
我住在全球最繁忙的城市之一，几天前我刚刚和以前的同班同学吃了饭。

She gave up. And she had decided to go back home.
她放弃了。她决定要回老家。

"Sad." I thought. But I didn't stop her, because it was her own choice.
“悲哀啊。”我当时想。不过我没有阻止她，因为这是她自己的选择。

I, on the other hand, have a well paid job. So my life is quite good in my point of view.
而我，有一份薪水不错的工作。所以在我看来，我的生活还挺好的。

But I, too, had my tough days in the first few years after I came here.
不过，我曾经也一样，在刚来这座城市的那几年也曾过着艰辛的日子。

And even now, sometimes I got overwhelmed by the workload.
而即使现在，有时候我也觉得被工作压得喘不过气来。

But I conquered them. And they made me stronger.
但我战胜了它们。而且，它们让我变得更强了。

I know it's hard to live in such a big city.
我知道在大城市生活不容易。

And I know it's also hard to live in a small city like my hometown, just in a different way.
我也知道在一个像我家乡一样的小城市里生活并不容易，只是不容易的方式不同。

But I chose here because it has the very thing that I cherish the most: the freedom to live my own life.
但我选择了这里，因为这里有我最珍视的东西：过自己生活的自由。

 

（翻译：能猫）