【推荐1】How to Be Creative During Difficult Times

When we are struggling, or when we have a hard time focusing, we may turn to others for help. We may even wish we had a hero to help us. Well, today we offer you some advice.

Turn yourself into your own hero!

That is the idea behind Kendra Levin's self-help book The Hero Is You. When you make yourself a hero, you get not only a focus but also a purpose.     1     For example, it can give us hope as stories often do. In stories, writers often give their hero, the main person in the story, a purpose.     2    

Write out your task and idea.

In stories, heroes also have a task—what they want to achieve—and an idea—what they see for themselves. Levin suggests that we write out our task and idea, not just for a project but for our lives as well. With a clear task and an idea, events in our lives no longer feel like separate events.     3     There's just a lot of value in having a task and an idea.

Know your advantages and weaknesses.

    4    In difficult times, we can make our lives easier by focusing on our advantages. It is even more important to identify weaknesses. All heroes have them. On their journey they face their weaknesses and learn from them.

Have small goals within a larger goal.

Levin tells us that the hero's journey is not a one-time thing.     5     So, she suggests having small goals that you can measure in some way. Our life's journey is ongoing and ever-changing. We should be realistic with our goals and be kind to ourselves, especially during difficult times.

【推荐3】“Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. ” This is dedicated to my first-year self four years ago, who was addicted to getting good grades, and failed to seek the happiness found in everything else that college has to offer.

Like some people, I grew up with a family that valued academics over all else, who gave you a little extra love when you were doing great in your classes, and took it away when you didn’t. As a result, my self-worth became tied to my academic success. As an international student, I sometimes felt our parents didn’t quite understand the heavy academic weight.

There is a difference between trying to always better yourself for yourself, and simply putting too much on your plate until you burn out from attempting to live up to certain expectations. We should all strive to do the former, but unfortunately our mindsets have been always wired to follow the latter.

I used to believe school killed the creative spirit inside all of us, but as I get older and further into my academic career, I find that it is we who make the choice to kill that creative spirit. I am definitely not saying that you should throw your GPA out of the window and go painting all day. However, we should all try to develop a long-sighted perspective on how we want to shape our lives. Take some classes on topics that you’re genuinely interested in learning about, not just passing. Join clubs or work on projects that resonate with you and push you beyond your boundaries. And most of all, accept the fact that failure and loss are sometimes inevitable in life.

I promise you, when you look back at these four years, you will not remember the good grades or the bad grades, but you will hold in your memory the connections you made with people, the things that inspired you to create and the times you learned something special. And so I ask you now, what do you want to get out of college?

【推荐2】An 80-year-oldman was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-olds on. Suddenly a crow(乌鸦) landed on their window.

The father asked his son, “What is that?”

The son replied, “That is a crow.”

After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, “What is this?”

The son said, “Father, It old you just now. It’s a crow.”

After a little while, the father asked his son the same question for the third time, “What is this?” This time, the son said to his father in a low and cold tone, “It’s a crow, a crow.”

After a moment, the father yet again asked his son for the fourth time, “What is this?”

This time his son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? I have told you already, IT IS A CROW’. Are you notable to understand this?”

A minute later, the father went to his room and came back with a diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page.

Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa when a crow suddenly landed on the window edge. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied him 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I didn’t at all feel angry, but instead felt affection for my son.

If your parents reach old age, do not look at the masa burden, but speak to them gently, and be kind to them. From today say this aloud, “I want to see my parents happy forever. They have cared for me ever since I was a little child. They have always showered me with love. I will take care of my old parents in the best way no matter how they be have.”