【推荐1】The marathoner Molly Seidel was the third American woman in history to win an Olympic medal in the marathon, but her road to success was not smooth. She skipped the 2016 U. S. Olympic trials to make her mental health a priority. Seidel thought her career might be over back in 2016. Treatment changed everything. She became a better athlete than ever. When she crossed the finish line at the Tokyo Olympics, she screamed with joy.

In a world that rewards constant toughness, Seidel’s breakthrough was a case study in the value of patience and self care. Despite the conventional wisdom that the career of a professional athlete should be an unbroken upward path to peak performance, Seidel stepped away to protect her health, recovered, and came back stronger.

Many of the most storied moments in Olympics history are simplified examples of athletes pushing past pain, injury and mental exhaustion to compete. Who can forget Kerri Strug who in 1996 vaulted on an injured ankle, then was carried off the mat to receive her medal? But the story of this most recent Olympics was athletes choosing to protect their health instead of sacrificing it to compete.

The gymnast Simone Biles was a typical example, when she declined to compete after experiencing a bad case of “the twisties”. Top athletes across global competitions this year spoke openly about stepping back from competition to recalibrate. The British cricketer Ben Stokes recently announced an “indefinite break” from the game to check into treatment for his mental health; the tennis star Naomi Osaka dropped out of the French Open; and the British swimmer Adam Peaty celebrated winning two gold medals in Tokyo with the announcement that he’s taking a month off to take care of himself.

Seidel’s Olympic performance proves this approach: Giving yourself time to heal and rest is not just the compassionate thing to do for your health. It can be also the smartest strategy for success. It’s a powerful lesson in how to handle the natural derailments (脱轨) of life. We’re seeing burnout. Olympians, are warning us to the problems of an overly goal-oriented society.

【推荐2】In 1971, I became a friend of Dave Scott, a former The Globe and Mail reporter. One day Dave and I were having a friendly argument about writing. I said that writing fiction is an art with which people had to be born, while non-fiction writing is a skill that could be learned. Dave’s position was that although the quality of writing could be enhanced by improving skills, all writing needs natural talent.

I bet (打赌) Dave twenty-five dollars that within a year I could develop sufficient non-fiction writing skills to have an article published in The Globe and Mail. Dave took the bet, and I started to look for non-fiction writing courses, Luckily, one day an advertisement about a writing course drew my attention. Because it emphasized the course covered both fiction and non-fiction writing, it seemed to be exactly what I wanted.

After completing the course, which took about six months, I was ready to submit an article to The Globe and Mail. I wrote one about a card game called “Forty five”, which is very popular in the Maritimes, The newspaper titled it Count the Cards and ran it on the Op-ed page (专栏版). I received fifty dollars from The Globe and Mail and twenty-five dollars from Dave.

After this success, I carried a stopwatch for a couple of weeks and kept track of time wasted through no fault of my own, such as waiting for elevators, subways and streetcars, being stopped at red lights, and watching TV commercials, And I turned the results into another article. The Globe and Mail titled this one Time’s A Wasting, and sent me another fifty dollars.

【推荐1】There was a pilot (飞行员) and four people in a small plane. Suddenly there was something wrong with the engine (发动机) while it was flying in the air. The smoke was everywhere in the plane. The pilot told the passengers there was only four parachutes( 降落伞). They all became worried and started to make excuses.

“I must go and mend the engine,” said the pilot, taking one of the parachutes. There was nothing he could do, so he jumped out of the plane.

The first person stood up, “I am a doctor,” he said. “I help people live longer and I save lives.” He also took a parachute and jumped out.

The second person said, “I must have a parachute. I am a very clever person. I have to go to a very important match. I know I will win the game because I was the cleverest person there.” He picked up a pack and jumped out.

Two men was left — an old businessman and a young mountain climber. By this time the plane was going down fast. The businessman said, “Young man, I am old but you are still young. You take the last parachute.” The young mountain climber smiled, “Don’t worry,” he said. “We can both jump to safety because there were two parachutes. Just now, the clever man jumped out with my backpack.”

【推荐2】15-year-old Jacob Grosberg walked the streets of down town on Saturday to try and help people dealing with health problems, especially mental issues. The Toronto teenager carried bags full of donated clothes and hygiene (卫生) products for people living on the streets or in shelters.

Grosberg’s father once suffered a lot from depression and mental illness. After his death, Grosberg decided he wanted to help others dealing with the same problem. His solution was the Conan Fund, so-called after his father’s high school nickname for his strength and popularity. According to the fund’s website, the money raised is donated to charities, hospitals and organizations to make a chance and improve resources.

It didn’t take long for people living in the shelter on Wellington Street in Liberty Village to come out to receive what Grosberg was offering. From bags of socks, to hats, gloves, jeans and winter jackets, the people were excited and appreciative of the generosity. Martuia Archibald, 30, had a huge smile on her face as she put on a winter jacket and turned up the collar. She didn’t have a winter jacket until Grosberg arrived, and was touched by the gesture. “It means that there are people out there that still consider that I need warm clothing as well,” she said.

Grosberg’s mother said her son’s spirit and kindness motivated her. “He inspires me,” she said. “He shows me the way to move forward after his father is gone. He shows me the way to turn something terrible into something really positive.”

That’s exactly what Grosberg is trying to achieve. “I think that doing this is not only inspiring more changes in myself, but hopefully can inspire a lot of others to do the exact same thing I’m doing,” Grosberg said.

【推荐3】Like many six-year-olds, Sam Pointon loves trains and dreams of working with them when he grows up. However, when the position for Director of the National Railway Museum in England was offered, Sam couldn’t help applying for it. And he got the job finally!

It all began during a family vacation, when Sam’s dad noticed the job opening. He joked that it would be the perfect position for little Sam when he grew up. But Sam thought he was able to do the job. After all, he had been on several train rides, owned an electric train and had mastered the technique of controlling two trains at once.

Little Sam’s handwritten letter caught the eye of the museum staff, who were so impressed by his enthusiasm that they decided to hire (雇用) him.

While the job doesn’t pay anything, it does have its perks (补贴). But young Sam doesn’t care about it. He thinks it would be an important experience for him. Therefore, he has been doing his job quite seriously and has already suggested that the museum should set up a model train area to attract more children.

In order to encourage Sam, his family was invited for a special VIP, behind-the-scenes tour of the museum, which covers more than 400 years of railroad history and houses over 100 old trains. They were also given free tickets to see a stage adaptation (版) of the popular kids’ book The Railway Children.

Sam is so serious about his new position that the six-year-old believes he doesn’t even have to go to school anymore — which of course, is not the case. His parents just haven’t had the heart to tell him yet!