The boss turned down a raise and gave it to his staff instead. Tony Bennett, the head coach of the University of Virginia （UVA） men's basketball team, was offered a large pay raise after his team won the national championship in 2019. But to everyone's surprise, he turned the offer down and requested that the money go to his staff and the basketball program instead. What's more, he donated $ 500,000 to the basketball players.

The boss bought an employee a new car. On the night before Alabama student Walter Carr's first day at Bellhops Moving company, his car broke down. Nobody could give him a ride to work, so Carr decided to walk the 20-miIe distance overnight. After seven hours, he arrived right on time. When the boss heard about Carr's unbelievable story, he drove from Tennessee to Alabama to give the young student a Ford Escape.

The boss forgave a costly mistake. A diner at a British steakhouse had a stroke of luck when he was accidentally served an expensive bottle of red wine. Instead of blaming the server who made the mistake, as some might, the boss decided to laugh it off “To the customer who accidentally got given a bottle of wine, which is £4,500 last night, hope you enjoyed your evening!" the steakhouse tweeted. "To the server who accidentally gave it away, cheer up! We love you anyway.”

The boss gave his staff a free trip to Hawaii. Imagine drinking a cocktail on a sunny, warm beach with 500 of your closest employees. That's how Brian Scudamore, the founder and CEO of home service provider O2E Brands, chose to spend his vacation in 2017. Back in 2012, Scudamore promised his employees that if they could double the company's income in five years, he would take them on an all — expenses — paid   trip to Hawaii. Needless to say, they achieved the goal.

What do you do with old stuff? That dress you bought for a party three years ago, for example. You wore it once and put it away somewhere. So, what to do?

In the UK, we might take it to a charity shop. The first charity shops appeared in Britain in the 19th century. The Salvation Army was one of the first to run a second-hand clothing shop to provide the needy with affordable clothes. This was followed by charities such as the British Red Cross, who also relieved hardship and raised money for the war effort during World War Two. In 1947, Oxfam opened a charity shop in High Street, Oxford, which is the modern form we know today. These days, charily shops are a common sight with around 11,200 shops across the UK, according to the survey conducted by the Charity Retail Association. During business hours the public can donate their unwanted items to a charity shop clothes, books, electronics, furniture. These items are checked for wear and tear and if found still serviceable, priced up to be sold at a heavily discounted price.

For many, this is a win-win situation. To the charity, it means a valuable source of income. To the consumer, it provides the opportunity to buy, often extremely cheaply, items and clothes. To the donator, it may help to assuage consumer guilt. “You can make a pretty good case to yourself that you are doing good, because what you are doing is going towards a charitable cause and you are saving stuff from landfill(垃圾堆),” Clare Press, fashion journalist and sustainable style advocate, tells the Guardian.

There are sometimes hidden treasures for the buyers, too. Take a screen print for example. It was bought for 99p and later found to be by English artist Ben Nicholson. It was sold for £ 4, 200. So next time you need to rid yourself of something, spare a thought for the charity shop—after all, charity begins at home!

A decade ago, colored lights danced around the living room on New Year's Eve and happy music was played. Upstairs, the children were asleep. But I wasn't feeling happy. In mid-December, my husband and I had been informed that he had cancer and that he was going to die. He had less than a year left, the doctors said.

In the years since that painful season, I have come to look back upon New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve brings a halt to the endless commitments that fill our daily lives and a chance to reflect New Year's Eve is full of possibility and anticipation. What will be the surprising experiences and delightful successes in the coming year? But also, what disappointments are waiting for us in the next twelve months?

In many ways, New Year's Eve and the days that surround it are a line between past and future. That line is made up of a series of moments of transition （过渡）that take us out of the old and into the new. Transition can be challenging for many of us. It's about letting go of the familiar and diving into the unfamiliar.

Just as, back then, I had to face letting go of the life I had led with my beloved husband and stepping into a new world as a widowed mom, I find that each year I have to step out of the version of me that suited the year that is ending and ease into the version of me who will rise to the goals I am holding for myself for the year ahead.

Last year at this time, I sat in a chair in southern France and drank in the beauty of the countryside around me. The three children 1 had brought into this world talked and laughed around the table beside me as we enjoyed a lunch of bread and cheese.

I was filled with a sense of joy and I had a glowing （热情洋溢的）heart that was full of hope. It was another ending and another beginning. May we all transition into the best of what lies ahead. May we all find happiness in this holiday season.

If you're a procrastinator （拖延的人），you're familiar with the pain and stress that goes hand in hand with leaving things to the last minute. Even if you want to accomplish or finish a task, you're likely having trouble getting started in the first place!    11    

Change your mind. Stop punishing yourself for procrastinating. The more stressed out you are, the harder it'll be to get your work done. Don't be angry with yourself.    12    Wasting time

Avoid a long, disorganized to-do list. This is just setting yourself up for failure. Instead, create subcategories like “Home”, “Work”, “Family”, and “Fun” and just try to cross off a few entries from each list every day.

Do most important task for 15 minutes. Instead of thinking about the total number of hours you're about to work for, just start. Tell yourself you've only got to do it for 15 minutes.    13    Once you come up for air, take a two-minute break. Then start up on another set of time of work     14     It can be scary to think about finishing a whole essay or getting through an entire week's worth of tasks. Instead of thinking about everything you have to do like one big obstacle, break it all down into tiny pieces.    15