【推荐1】A typical lion tamer(驯兽师) in people's mind is an entertainer holding a whip(鞭) and a chair. The whip gets all of the attention, but it's mostly for show. In reality, it's the chair that does the important work. When a lion tamer holds a chair in front of the lion's face, the lion tries to focus on all four legs of the chair at the same time. With its focus divided, the lion becomes confused and is unsure about what to do next. When faced with so many options, the lion chooses to freeze and wait instead of attacking the man holding the chair.

How often do you find yourself in the same position as the lion? How often do you have something you want to achieve (e.g. lose weight, start a business, travel more)—only to end up confused by all of the options in front of you and never make progress?

This upsets me to no end because while all the experts are busy debating about which option is best, the people who want to improve their lives are left confused by all of the conflicting information. The end result is that we feel like we can't focus or that we're focused on the wrong things, and so we take less action, make less progress, and stay the same when we could be improving.

It doesn't have to be that way. Anytime you find the world waving a chair in your face, remember this: all you need to do is focus on one thing. You just need to get started. Starting before you feel ready is one of the habits of successful people. If you have somewhere you want to go, something you want to accomplish, someone you want to become…take immediate action. If you're clear about where you want to go, the rest of the world will either help you get there or get out of the way.

【推荐2】

At an outdoor restaurant, a cockroach (蟑螂) flew in and landed on a woman. She started screaming out of fear; with a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was spreading, as everyone in her group also got into a panic. The woman finally managed to flick the cockroach away but it landed on a man in the group who continued the drama. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon a waitress who had rushed to their rescue.

The waitress stood firm, calmed herself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on her blouse. When she was confident enough, she grabbed it and threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, I started wondering: Was the cockroach responsible for their funny behavior? If so, then why was the waitress not disturbed? She handled the situation to near perfection, without panic.

It was not the cockroach, but the inability of the customers to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed them. I realized that it's not the shouting of my children or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting.

It's not the traffic jams on the road that disturb me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jams. More than the problem, it's my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

I understood. I should not react in life. I should always respond. The customers reacted, whereas the waitress responded. Reactions are always instinctive (本能的) while responses tend to be well thought out.

【推荐1】Throughout the world, clothing has many uses. It is used to provide protection from cold. It is also worn to prevent others from seeing specific parts of one’s body. However, the parts of the body that must be covered vary widely throughout the world. Some clothing is worn to provide supernatural protection. Wearing a lucky shirt to take an exam is calling for supernatural assistance.

People in all cultures use clothing and other forms of bodily decoration to communicate status(身份), intentions and other messages. In North America, we dress differently for business and various leisure activities. North American women usually are much more knowledgeable of little difference in messages communicated by clothes than men. At times, this leads to silly mistakes of understanding of female intentions on the part of men. Of course, clothing styles also are intended to communicate messages to members of the same gender（性别）.

Long before we are near enough to talk to someone, their appearance tells their gender, age, economic class, and often even intentions. We begin to recognize the important cultural clues at an early age. The vocabulary of dress that we learn includes not only items of clothing but also hairstyles, jewelry, and other body decoration. In most cultures, however, the same style of dress communicates different messages depending on the age, gender, and physical appearance of the individual wearing it.

Putting on certain types of clothing can change your behavior and the behavior of others towards you. This can be the case with a doctor’s white lab coat, or an army uniform. Most uniforms are clearly symbolic so that they can rapidly and unmistakably communicate status. For instance, the strange hairstyle and clothing of the English “punks” are essential aspects of their uniforms.

There are many forms of body decoration other than clothes that are used around the world to send messages. These include body and hair paint, and even body deformation. When doctors put braces on teeth, they are actually doing the same thing – deforming or reforming a part of the body to make it more attractive.

【推荐2】Blind imitation is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their unique worth, imitation appears attractive; to those who know their strength, imitation is unacceptable.

In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else’s way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child’s bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.

In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.

In the field of entertainment, our culture glorifies celebrities. Those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.

Blessed is the person willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration, not desperation. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.

Study your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not serve. Then you can say, “I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors’ tragedies and stories, and know that they are cheering on.