【推荐1】It was a chilly night in winter. A man came home from work late, tired to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.

"Daddy, how much money do you make each hour?" "If you must know, I make $20 each hour."

"Oh, "the little boy answered, with his head down. He thought for a moment, looked up and said, "Daddy, could you lend me $10?" The father was furious, "If you asked for the money to buy a toy or some other rubbish, then go straight to your room and think about why you are so selfish!"

The little boy went to his room with no words and shut the door. After a short while, the father calmed down, and started to think, "Maybe he really needs to buy something and he didn't really ask for money very often. "So he went to the little boy's room.

"Sorry! Maybe I was too hard on you just now." said the man, "Here's $10."

"Oh, thank you Daddy!" he said happily. Then the boy took out some coins. When the father found that the boy already had money, he got angry again.

"Why do you want more money since you already have some?" the father shouted angrily. "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do." The little boy replied, "Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy one hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."

【推荐2】As a young girl growing up in France, Sarah Toumi dreamed of becoming a leader who could make the world a better place. Her passion to help others was awakened when, from the age of nine, she accompanied her Tunisian father to his birthplace in the east of the country during holidays. There she organized homework clubs and activities for children.

Toumi witnessed first-hand the destructive effect of desertification (沙漠化). “Within 10 years rich farmers became worse off, and in 10 years from now they will be poor. I wanted to stop the Sahara Desert in its tracks.” A decrease in average rainfall and an increase in the severity of droughts have led to an estimated 75 percent of Tunisia’s agricultural lands being threatened by desertification.

Toumi recognized that farming practices needed to change. She is confident that small land areas can bring large returns if farmers are able to adapt by planting sustainable crops, using new technologies for water treatment and focusing on natural products and fertilizers rather than chemicals.

In 2012, Toumi consolidated (巩固) her dream of fighting the desert. She moved to Tunisia, and set up a programme named Acacias for All to put her sustainable farming philosophy (理念) into action. “I want to show young people in rural areas that they can create opportunities where they are. Nobody is better able to understand the impact of desertification and climate change than somebody who is living with no access to water.”

By September 2016, more than 130, 000 acacia trees had been planted on 20 pilot farms, with farmers recording a 60 percent survival rate. Toumi estimates that some 3 million acacia trees are needed to protect Tunisia’s farmland. She expects to plant 1 million trees by 2018. In the next couple of years, Toumi hopes to extend the programme to Algeria and Morocco.

【推荐3】It was Groundhog Day. A winter storm had hit overnight too. I tried to open my backdoor only to find six inches of wet, heavy snow piled up against it. I knew I had quite a job of shoveling out ahead of me, so I reached over to grab my snow shovel. It looked a lot more ready to work than I did. I sighed and pulled on my boots, gloves, and heavy coat.

The wind chill was below zero and cut into my face as I slowly shoveled off my deck. After that I stayed my way over to my daughter’s house shoveling the path as I walked. It took a while to get her driveway clear and I knew I still had a lot to do. Next came the paths down the hill to my own cars covered in snow. I had grabbed the broom to sweep them off as well. I winced when the breeze blew the swept snow back into my face. Then I started to shovel out my driveways. My back was aching as I worked. I wished I could be building a snowman instead of shoveling. Winter sure had seemed a lot more fun when I was a boy.

When I was done I examined my work. It didn’t look half bad. I smiled and looked at the woods covered in white. They were such a special sight. I leaned on my shovel and took it all in. Then I started up the hill with the snow shovel in one hand and the broom in the other. Suddenly, an urge came over me and I dropped them both. I spread my arms, fed back into the blanket of white and happily moved my arms and legs to make an angel in the snow.

As you go through the seasons of this life take joy in your work. Take joy in your life. Remember that the course of your days rests in your own hands.

【推荐1】Shetara Sims had weathered some tough years. In 2012, her eldest daughter died from a car accident in Kansas City, Missouri. Last year, the single mother lost her job because of the economic depression. She had only $7 in her pocket as she headed into the grocery store one day last July with her 12-year-old daughter, Rakiya Edmondson.

And then Lady Luckcut them some slack. Sims and her daughter found a dollar bill in the parking lot. Maybe this was their day, they told each other. So, they bought a lottery ticket—and won $100.

But before they could spend their bonus, Rakiya had an idea. The news in Kansas City that week had been filled with stories about a police officer, Tyler Moss, who had been seriously injured in the line of duty. He was in critical condition Rakiya and her mother had never forgotten how kind the police had been after their own family member died. "The police were really there for us," Sims says. "They came to see my kids. They were fathers, friends, and therapists." Rakiya wanted to give their lottery winnings to Officer Moss's family. Her mom readily agreed.

On July 10, Sims called the police and made an unidentified donation. Moved by her generous expression of thanks the officers did what they could do best—they tracked Sims down. When she explained the family's motivation, the officers could hardly believe it. "With her current financial hardship, we encouraged her to keep the money," the department later explained. "She refused, saying the officer's family needed it and police needed to know they were supported."

By then, that feeling of support was shared. The police set up a GoFundMe page for Sims, whom they described as “The Woman with the Heart of Gold." Their goal was $10,000. As of January 11, 2021, they had received $165,405. Ever better: Officer Moss, who had a 1 percent chance of survival, is out of the hospital and recovering.