【推荐1】When Jordan Reeves was 8 years old, she couldn’t wait to start a new dance class. But as she was warming up, she noticed that some of the kids were staring at her. Did she wear her clothes backward? Were her clothes dirty? No. The kids were looking at her left arm. It stops above the elbow (肘).

“I’ve had to deal with people staring at me in my whole life,” Jordan, now 13, explains. Although Jordan sometimes feels uncomfortable when people stare, she’s proud to be different. And she’s using her difference to inspire other kids with disabilities.

Growing up, Jordan attended camps for kids with limb (肢) differences. Then, three years ago, she was invited to a special workshop. She was challenged to design a new prosthetic (假体的) arm — one that would turn her disability into a “superpower”.

Jordan teamed up with designers to create an arm. They used a 3D printer to create the prosthetic arm. Instead of paper, the 3D printer used plastic to create an arm shaped like a unicorn’s horn (独角兽的角). Jordan called her invention Project Unicorn.

Jordan’s mom shared the story of Project Unicorn online, and it quickly spread on social media. Jordan was already a mentor (导师) to other kids with disabilities. Now she had a bigger audience and could share her message with more people.

In 2017, Jordan and her mom formed an organization called Born Just Right to help other kids with limb differences. They’re making it possible for kids from across the US to create their own limbs, as Jordan did.

“We want to show kids that anything is possible,” Jordan says. “Your differences are amazing. You never know what amazing things you can do with them.”

【推荐3】Sirine Jahangir has been singing, writing and performing music since she was a little girl. She lost all her vision in one eye by the time she turned 5, so now the teen uses her gift “as a way to —not escape, but to help me through.” Not only did her passion get her through some difficult times, but when she was 14 it also brought her to the “Britain’s Got Talent” stage, where she impressed everyone with her performance.

Sirine has a rare condition that left her completely blind by the time she was 10 years old. While her parents and doctors have tried to find treatments for her, there isn’t much they can do. So her parents focused on helping her adjust to her new life, which was when her dad said she was first introduced to music. “I remember one day, we were driving in the car. This is about when she was getting to the stage where she couldn’t look out the window anymore to see things, and I didn’t know what to do. I just put the music on really loud. She started singing in the car, and she was so happy. And then she just found happiness every time I put it on,” her father said.

It didn’t take long for them to realize Sirine has tremendous talent. When she appeared on “Britain’s Got Talent”, she told everyone just how much her passion means to her. “I guess music is my vision,” she said. “That’s just what I live by, and music is my thing.” Then she headed over to the piano, where she played the piano and sang beautifully enough to bring the audience to tears! Unsurprisingly to everyone but Sirine, all four judges voted her into the next round of the competition!

Afterward, she said, “I can’t even say it’s a dream come true, because I didn’t even dream of it at any point... I never thought that would be realistic in my life.”

【推荐1】Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was a goal that first attracted me at age 10, when my Dad uncovered an old projector to show me the slides from his own climb. He climbed to the top in 1978. Twenty years of Kilimanjaro stories and “do as I say, not as I did” training advice later, I followed his footsteps to the roof of Africa.

I went into the long journey expecting cold nights. Dad’s advice to sleep in my clothes saved me on those biting, freezing mornings. I prepared well for those headaches caused by high altitude. What I couldn’t have prepared for on this Kili climb, though, was the need for football shoes.

My husband, his brother, and I stopped at a gas station on the way to the Rongai trail gate to pick up snacks and water for the long journey. Sticking to a shopping list has never been our strong suit, which is one of the many reasons a tiny Manchester United football was the first item on our receipt.

Within minutes, this silly little impulse buy changed the entire dynamic of our trip. Our porters went from cold to smiling as we played with the football alongside the fuel tanks. A full game was held as we hit the Rongai Trail’s first camp. We went from climbing clients to fast friends — and then family — with the nicknames to prove it. Shemeji, Swahili for sister-in-law, became my climbing name (I was “in-law” because the porters saw the boys as brothers).

When I first boarded the flight to Kilimanjaro, I was laser-focused on reaching the summit. But this tiny little football — and the relationships it brought — quickly changed that. Our journey up Kilimanjaro was unlike any climbing experience I’d ever imagined. It’s also one I know my football — loving Dad — who passed away three months before our climb — would have been proud of.

【推荐3】As Eileen Smith walked to the podium to deliver a speech recently, her heart pounded. She was addressing players, coaches and parents at her son’s lacrosse team banquet and felt emotional.

Ms. Smith tried taking deep breaths to calm herself. It didn’t work. So she began singing, in her head: “Gonna fly now. Flying high now. Gonna fly, FLY…”

“I played my ‘Rocky’ song in my head to build my confidence,” says Ms. Smith, 52 years old, a diplomat-turned-speaking-coach.

Ms. Smith has been singing the song for decades at times when she needs an extra boost of courage or energy. The science supports her habit. Listening to a beloved song can help us manage our emotions and focus on the task at hand. It can also help us access what psychologists call our autobiographical memory, or personal history.

“It reminds us who we are and helps us stay focused on who we want to be,” says Daniel Levitin, a cognitive neuroscientist, who studies how music affects the brain.

Music can inspire us and spur creativity. If its beat is faster than our heartbeat, it can fire us up and make a difficult task feel easier, says Dr. Levitin, who was a session musician, sound engineer and record producer before becoming a scientist, working with artists such as Stevie Wonder and Blue Öyster Cult. A more sedate tempo can help slow our heart and respiration rate down.

When we listen to music we love, we experience pleasure in the form of a dopamine release in our brain. And over time, our brain learns to recognize music we enjoy faster and releases the dopamine earlier, says Susan Rogers, a cognitive neuroscientist who studies music and the brain and who, in a previous career as a music engineer, worked with Prince. We get that feel-good rush just anticipating a favorite song.

One of the most powerful things music can do is to give our brain a rest. Listening to music we enjoy is one of the easiest and most reliable ways to activate our “default mode network,” or daydreaming mode— what the brain does when it’s not working or concentrating, says Dr. Levitin. This restorative state is essential to our well-being.

It’s hard to move into it when we’re overworked or over stressed. Music — especially a go-to song — can help.