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| Like most people, I was brought up to look upon life as a process of getting. It was not until in my late thirties that I made this important 1 : giving-away makes life so much more exciting. You need not worry if you 2 money. This is how I 3 with giving away. If an idea of improving the window display of a neighborhood store 4 to me, I step in and make the suggestion to the 5 . If a car accident happens, I think the 6 will be needed, so I 7 them up and tell them about it, though I am not in 8 here. One discovery I made about this world is to give 9 getting something back, though the 10 often comes in an unexpected form. One Sunday morning the local post office delivered an important 11 letter to my home, though it was 12 to me at my office. I wrote the postmaster a note of 13 . More than a year later I needed a post-office box for a new business I was 14 . I was told at the window that there were 15 boxes left, and that my name would have to go on a long 16 list. As I was about to 17 , the postmaster appeared in the 18 . "Wasn't it you that wrote us that letter a year ago about delivering a special delivery to your home?" I said it was. "Well, certainly you are going to have a box in this post office 19 we make one for you. You don't know what a letter like that means to us. We usually get 20 but complaints." | ||||
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| A group of graduates, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. They talked about the present-day 1 topic-Happiness. But the conversation soon turned into complaints about 2 in work and in life. To offer his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and 3 with a large pot of coffee and different types of 4 -plastic, glass, crystal, some nice-looking, some plain-looking, some expensive, some cheap-telling them to help 5 to the coffee. 6 all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, "If you 7 , you might find all the nice-looking, expensive cups are taken up, with the plain and cheap ones 8 . While it is 9 for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your 10 and stress. In fact, the cup itself adds no 11 to the coffee. What all of you 12 wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were 13 each other's cups." "Now 14 this: Life is the coffee and the jobs, money and position in 15 are the cups. They are just tools to 16 and contain life, and the types of cups do not decide or 17 the quality of life we live. Sometimes, focusing on the cup makes us 18 to enjoy the coffee itself. So, don't let the cups drive you. Enjoy the coffee 19 ." The 20 people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. | ||||
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| Thanksgiving Day was near. Lucy, the first grade teacher, gave her class a fun 1 -to draw a picture of somebody or something for which they were 2 . When the students 3 their assignment, she found most of them drew some pictures of their family, teachers, friends or neighbors. Douglas, however, made a different kind of picture. He was a 4 boy. He didn't act the same as others. He always seemed to be shy and sad. He 5 played with other children during the break 6 they kindly invited him to. Lucy treated him very well. She always helped him and 7 him to be confident. Yes, his picture was different. He just drew a 8 . Nothing else. His abstract image 9 the imagination of his classmates. Whose hand could it be? One guessed it was a mother's hand, for mother's hand gives children warmth and 10 . Another child guessed it was a police officer's hand, because the police 11 people and care for people. And so the discussion 12 . When the children were discussing it, Lucy paused at Douglas' desk, 13 down, and asked him whose hand it was. The little boy murmured, "It's 14 , teacher." Douglas was most thankful for her hand. She was 15 and felt tears in her eyes. She thought of the times she had taken his hand and walked with him here or there. She 16 how often she had said to him, "Take my 17 , Douglas. We'll go outside." or "Let me show you how to hold your pencil." The story speaks of 18 thankfulness. It also says something about teachers teaching and parents parenting and friends showing friendship. They might not always say " 19 " out, but they'll remember the hand that you 20 out to give them love and be grateful to you always. | ||||
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| Some years ago I was offered a writing assignment that would require three months of travel through Europe. I had been 1 a couple of times, but I could hardly 2 to know my ways around the continent. 3 , my knowledge of foreign languages was 4 to a little college French. I 5 . How would I, unable to speak the language, 6 familiar with local geography or transportation systems, conduct interviews and do 7 ? It seemed impossible, and with considerable 8 I sat down to write a letter rejecting the 9 . Halfway through, a 10 ran through my mind: you can't learn if you don't try. So I 11 the assignment. There were some bad 12 . But by the time I had finished the trip, I was an experienced traveler. And ever since, I have never hesitated to head for even the most 13 places, without guides or 14 advanced bookings, confident that somehow I will 15 . The point is that the new, the different, is almost by definition 16 . But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning 17 , the World opens to you. I've learned to ski at 40, and flown up the Rhine River in a(n) 18 . And I know I'll go on doing such things. It's not because I'm braver or more daring than others. I'm not. But I'll accept worry as another name for 19 and I believe I can 20 wonders. | ||||
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| My husband Jeff and I moved into our new home in Scottsbluff last year just before Christmas. I did not have the 1 or energy to carry out my traditional Christmas decorating and baking activities. What was the point, anyway? It was going to be a 2 Christmas after all. 3 , the neighborly nature of west Nebraska residents started to trickle (陆续来临) in. There was a 4 on the door one evening. It was Jeff's new colleague, John Smith, and his wife, Phyllis. The Smiths had stopped by to 5 us to town with a loaf of homemade bread. They pointed out a 6 on the porch (门廊). Apparently the doorbell wasn't working in the cold snowy weather and we had 7 a visit from the Browns, our across-the-street neighbors, who brought us a Christmas card and more Christmas cookies. The 8 feelings brought by these thoughtful gestures lasted longer than the food. As Jeff and I were clearing pre-Christmas 9 from our driveway, Ernie Guzman came over from next door to 10 us to dig out. Then, we received an invitation to 11 a Christmas Eve meal with our neighbors, Ernie and Nancy Sommer, and their 12 -a 90-year-old lady, who also had no family in the immediate area with whom to spend the holiday. Our Christmas Eve was quite merry, thanks to our 13 . Our Christmas morning 14 was special, thanks to the Smiths' gift of bread. I was so 15 for these gestures of welcome, especially during the holidays. This year, we were again unable to be with our families for Christmas. The 16 and work schedules just made things too difficult. 17 that sense of Christmas isolation (孤立) all too well, we decided to try to round up some other folks who were 18 in the holidays. Lonely people are all around us, but most of us 19 notice them. Just take a look around you. Sometimes, the smallest 20 gesture can make a world of difference. | ||||
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