"Sustainability" has become a popular word these days, but to Ted Ning,the concept will always have personal meaning. Having endured a painful period of unsustainability in his own life made it clear to him that sustainability-oriented values must be expressed through every day action and choice.

　　当今，“可持续性”已经成为了一个流行的词语。但是，对特德宁来说，它对这个词有着自身的体会。在忍受了一段痛苦的、难以为续的生活之后，他清楚地认识到，以可持续发展为导向的生活价值必须通过日常的活动和做出的选择表现出来。

　　Ning recalls spending a confusing year in the late 1990s selling insurance. He'd been through the dot-com boom and burst and, desperate for a job, signed on with a Boulder agency.

　　宁回忆了在上个世纪90年代末期的某一年，他卖保险，那是一种浑浑噩噩的生活。在经历了网络经济的兴盛和衰败之后，他非常渴望得到一份工作，于是和一家博德的代理公司签了合约。

　　It didn't go well. "It was a really bad move because that's not my passion," says Ning, whose dilemma about the job translated, predictably, into a lack of sales. "I was miserable. I had so much anxiety that I would wake up in the middle of the night and stare at the ceiling. I had no money and needed the job. Everyone said,” Just wait, you'll turn the corner, give it some time.''

　　事情进展不顺，“那的确是很糟糕的一种选择，因为那并非是我的激情所在，”宁如是说。可以想象，他这种工作上的窘境是由于销售业绩不良造成的。“我觉得很悲哀。我太担心了，以至于我会在半夜醒来，盯着天花板。没有钱，我需要这份工作。每个人都会说，等吧，总会有转机的，给点时间吧。”