It is difficult for people to achieve professional success without [b]sacrificing important aspects of a fulfilling personal life." [b]Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion slated [b]above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own [b]experience, observations, or reading. （理想和现实） [b][b]Are professional success and a fulfilling personal life mutually exclusive? [b]Probably not, although it is more difficult today to achieve both. [b]Undeniably, today's professionals must work long hours to keep their heads [b]above water, let alone to get ahead in life financially. This is especially [b]true in Japan, where cost of living, coupled with corporate culture, compel [b]professional males to all but abandon their families and literally to [b]work 'themselves to death. While the situation here in the states may not [b]be as critical, the two-income family is now the norm, not by choice but by [b]necessity. [b]However, our society's professionals are taking steps to remedy the [b]problem. First, they are inventing ways such as job sharing and [b]telecommuting to ensure that personal life does not take a back seat to [b]career. Second, they are setting priorities and living those hours outside [b]the workplace to their fullest. In fact, professional success usually [b]requires the same time-management skills that are useful to find time for [b]family, hobbies, and recreation. One need only look at the recent American [b]presidents-Clinton, Bush, Reagan and Carter- to see that it is possible to [b]lead a balanced life which includes time for family, hobbies, and [b]recreation, while immersed in a busy and successful career. Third, more [b]professionals are changing careers to ones which allow for some degree of [b]personal fulfillment and self-actualization. Besides, many professionals [b]truly love their work and would do it without compensation, as a hobby. For [b]them, professional and personal fulfillments are one and the same. [b]In conclusion, given the growing demands of career on today's [b]professionals, a fulfilling personal life remains possible-by working [b]smarter, by setting priorities, and by making suitable career choices. [b]