Every Friday I write a little essay about how great I am and send it off(寄出；发出) to a stranger. Sometimes I receive a generic(千篇一律的；通用的) rejection(拒绝；拒信) two or 12 weeks later, but usually they never reply.
每个周五，我都会写一篇小短文，把自己夸得天花乱坠，然后发给一个素不相识的人。有时两三周、甚至十二周之后，我会收到一封千篇一律的拒信；但大多数时候，对方根本不会回复。
I used to(过去常常（现在不再）) apply for jobs more often, but after a few hundred applications and increasingly worse mental health, I found I got exactly the same response whether I sent a thoroughly researched and edited cover letter or a picture of my cat, so I gave up trying so hard.(我发现，无论我寄出的是一封反复推敲、精心修改的求职信，还是一张我家猫的照片，得到的回复竟然一模一样，于是我不再那么拼命了。) I used to obsess(使着迷；使困扰) about what was wrong with me. Everyone told me that it was them, not me; that it was business, not personal(这是公事，不是针对个人); that doing the same thing over and over(一遍又一遍) while expecting a different outcome was extremely sane. But still, every rejection fed the little worm in my brain that said I was useless. I don’t think the worm is entirely in the wrong. I think it’s normal to feel like a reject after being repeatedly rejected, to feel worthless(毫无价值的；一无是处的) when your bank balance is zero, to feel lost after losing.
我以前投简历比现在勤得多，但在投出几百份申请、精神状态越来越差之后，我发现无论我是寄出一封反复推敲、精心修改的求职信，还是寄一张我家猫的照片，得到的回复竟然一模一样，于是我不再那么拼命了。我曾经反复纠结自己到底哪里有问题。所有人都告诉我：问题在他们，不在你；这是生意，不是针对个人；一遍又一遍做同样的事却期待不同结果，这才是极其正常的。但每一次被拒，仍然会喂养我脑子里那条说我"一无是处"的小虫子。我并不觉得这条虫子完全错了。我认为，反复被拒之后觉得自己是个废人，银行余额为零时觉得自己毫无价值，失去之后感到迷失——这些都是人之常情。
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