【推荐3】I realized recently that if I ever have to move again I will need a separate truck just for all the _________ hanging on my walls. I have calendars, old post cards, inspirational sayings, nature scenes, and so many pictures hanging on them. From baby pictures to ones _________ just last year, there are the smiling faces of my children looking down on me from my walls as I walk through my house.

I _________ one of these just recently, a tiny one cut out from an old photo. It was of my youngest son Casey as a baby. He was standing in the bathtub smiling _________. He wasn’t even two years old yet. I took off my glasses and put my face close to _________ it. There was a light in his eyes that _________ through that photograph. I could see the beautiful soul within coming out of that picture. This was before the first _________ of Autism (自闭症) appeared in him. This Autism would largely _________ his speech, limit his learning, and make him dependent on us for the rest of his life. It would keep him from becoming the boy I _________ he would be.

I felt the pain of regret and __________ looking at that picture. But then I remembered just yesterday when he __________ and leaned close to me while we watched something he liked on television. I looked into his eyes at that moment and saw that same __________ and that same beautiful soul that was in his baby picture. Autism might have affected his mind and changed his life but it never touched his __________.

Like my son Casey, each one of us has a __________, beautiful and shining soul within full of love and light. It is up to us, though, to __________ that soul, to let it shine, to let it share its love with everyone, everywhere. May we always do so.

【推荐1】Kristin and her family have just moved to the community and were thinking hard to ________ with their new neighbors. One day, Kristin ________ a picnic table. _________, the delivery man sent one table with the wrong color ________ . Kristin couldn’t bear the ugly table, so she painted it turquoise—a color she ________ —and placed it in the front yard.

That table then became the place where Kristin and her kids ________ . Activities they used to do inside the house, they now did out at that ________ in the front yard. They played games, did crafts and ate snacks there. “We ________chose this place to spend our time,” Kristin says, “We became ‘front yard people’.”

Gradually, her ________ began to stop by to introduce themselves and sit down for a chat. Kristin also invited people to ________ her at the table for coffee or iced tea. Construction workers on jobs in the neighborhood took their lunch ________ at the table. A milkman riding by sat down to rest.

“It was a(n) ________ way to slow down and connect with others,” she says. The turquoise table was inviting and ________ a sense of community. Then neighbors ________ Kristin’s idea and they also put a picnic table in their own front yard. Now dozens of turquoise tables began to exist in the yards, ________ people from the community.

【推荐3】Sometimes the small things will bring us warmth, offering the best of the world.

One day, as I left my airport hotel bound for my international _______, I noticed an elderly lady _______ in the same direction. She was pulling her luggage (行李), which was so _______ that she had to struggle. I had a luggage trolley (手推车) but I had just one light backpack. So I shared the trolley with her. She was so _______ that she offered to push it along the way but I _______. I could handle it myself.

As we _______ along, we had a lovely _______. It turned out that she was 20 years senior to me.

Then when I got to the international airport, I found a _______ of flight times. While waiting, I _______ my family to tell them my delay. A man sitting next to me said the same thing had happened to him. He said he was landing two hours later than his original ________. And he had no way to ________ his wife to let her know this, because his ________ had stopped working. Hearing this, I ________ him my phone to call her, which made him so thankful.

I'm not looking for pats on the back. I just wanted to ________ how easy it is to be ________ and how much difference it can make to others.

【推荐1】The Uncommon Professional

Another long and tiring day! I went to the dark end of the shelves, pressed my forehead against the wall and buried myself in a few moments of quiet _________. Was this the way it would be for the rest of my life? Here I was, two years out of school, working at yet another _________, low-pay, dead-end job.

There were several new guys on the job the next morning — temporary _________. One of them, wearing a _________ with his name “Jim” sewn on the pocket, caught my eye. The company didn't issue uniforms — in fact, the company didn't care what you wore _________ you showed up.

I _________ him all that day and the rest of the days he worked with us. Jim was _________ late or early. He worked at a steady, _________ pace. He was friendly to everyone he worked with, but _________ talked while he was working.

He was the kind of worker managers ____________. And the other workers liked him too. He didn't gossips or ____________ or argue. He just did the job with more personal dignity than I had believed, ____________ the work was low-level and dull.

He was a professional. Labour might be ____________; he wasn't. He was just admirable!

Months later, Jim left, but the ____________ he made on me didn't. I worked just the way Jim had done. To my great surprise, the managers noticed my new devotion and ____________ me. A few years later, I promoted myself to a ____________ job in a different company. And so it we went. ____________, many companies and many years later, I started a ____________ of my own.

Whatever success I've had has been the result of hard work and good luck, but I think the biggest part of my ____________ was the lesson I learned from Jim so long ago. ____________ does not come from the kind of work you do; it comes from the way you do the work.

【推荐3】I was a lecturer for 10 years when I met my greatest teacher. It wasn’t in a _______ but in a hospital. She was my daughter Kelsey.

She was born with congenital cerebral palsy (先天性脑瘫). At four, she still _______ to tie her shoes. It was _______ for her. After three years of _______, Kelsey made it. Her accomplishment taught me that pace wasn’t going to be crucial — achieving goals according to her own _______ matters most.

At age 5, she won a battle against cancer. Kelsey _______ through creative play. In the hospital, the game was always “restaurant” with her playing waitress and the rest of us _______ as customers. She enjoyed herself in the _______ for several hours _______, as if we weren’t in the hospital at all. At home, the play turned to “hospital.” Her game included medical terms even we adults didn’t understand. We’d just play along as she ________ herself in her roles.

At six, she wished to take ballet lessons. I’m embarrassed to admit how much this ________ me. I wasn’t just afraid for her body, but for her ________.

I worried about the __________ she might get from the class. But she wouldn’t ________ and the expectation in her eyes ________ all the drawbacks, so we enrolled her in a ballet school.

Kelsey danced with ________! Did she fall? Of course. Was she awkward? Very. But she was completely ________ by her situation. The sheer joy of dancing was enough. After four years, she ________ to horse riding. This time, I signed her up without ________.

Now a seventh grader, Kelsey continues to embrace her life and teach us invaluable __________ about persistence and the power we could never have otherwise.

Kelsey, I’ll never have a greater teacher!