【推荐2】One morning last year, when I added lunch money to my teenage daughter’s account, I was surprised to find only a few dollars missing. When I asked her about that, I could tell she was having difficulty putting her thoughts into words. “Mom,” she said, “I want to lose weight.”

Then she told me that during gym class, all the girls had to line up to have their weight measured. Afterward, several started skipping meals to lose weight. My daughter — an average-size teenager — hadn’t eaten lunch in a week.

Many people in the body positivity movement — which I’d like to count myself a member of — believe that the wish to lose weight is never reasonable, because it is an expression of fat shaming. I am a fat woman. I was a fat teenager. But I embraced the idea that my body was healthy at any size.

Therefore, several weeks ago, when my doctor told me that I had diabetes (糖尿病), I disagreed with him. “How can I have diabetes? I eat fruits and vegetables. I walk. You can be healthy at any size.”

“You’re not healthy at any size. Unless you make some changes, you’ve probably got about 10 years left to live,” he said.

His words had thrown my belief into doubt.

Today’s body positivity refuses to accept that no one method is right for every person. One teenager might grow up to be healthy at any weight, and another might end up in the hospital. It left my own daughter afraid to discuss the topic with me.

Shutting down the conversation wouldn’t help. My daughter did not want to grow up to weigh 300 pounds like me. I didn’t want that either. But we also talked about self-love and health. We put a stop to the meal skipping. She chose some healthier foods and started playing a sport. I’ve come to feel that loving yourself and wishing to change yourself are two opinions that should be able to exist together peacefully.

【推荐1】I was 10 when I saw my first total solar eclipse (日食). It was 1979 and we were staying in Canada, where my dad worked for a time as a welder (焊工). He was a great science enthusiast and had been talking about this eclipse for what seemed like years. He just didn’t tell me and my brother that we would have to get up at daybreak and head out into the freezing February weather to experience this event.

Dad told us we were lucky even to be near the path of totality, and noted that unless we were prepared to travel extensively, our next chance to see a total solar eclipse likely wouldn’t happen until the 21st century. So, we rode in moody silence out to some field where loads of other people were wandering about, waiting in the cold for their moment in the sun’s absence.

My brother complained that we wouldn’t really be able to look at the eclipse without being blinded. But my dad, who generally thought of everything, produced two awkward welding masks (面罩), which he fitted to our heads. The masks preserved our eyesight, and also quietened our grousing. It’s hard to know which feature of the masks my dad appreciated more.

Soon, it didn’t matter. The moon passed between us and the sun. The lights of the world dimmed, then went dark. There was a collective “Oooooh!” from the crowd. Some people even screamed. My brother simply said, “Whoa.” And he spoke for all of us down through the ages who have been struck by the awe and wonder of a total solar eclipse. You can read more about humanity’s encounters with some of the great eclipses in history with our story on page 40.

My dad did not live to see another eclipse, but he’ll be with me in spirit when I view the next one this April, right around the time you’re reading this. I hope you get to see it, too.

Stephen C. George, Editorial Director

Feel free to send comments and questions to editorial@discovermagazine.com.

【推荐2】In the winter of 2015, I felt totally overwhelmed (被压垮的). As a result, I searched on the Internet and came across some short videos of very young babies laughing. Suddenly, my whole body began to relax as I began to smile and laugh with them. I replayed the videos. And then I played more similar videos. It astonished me how much better I felt for laughing.

I started to research laughter. This is how I discovered laughter yoga. Dr Madan Kataria, a medical doctor from Mumbai, is the founder of the Laughter Yoga movement, which started in 1995. He started with just five people in a public park in Mumbai, and now there are more than 6,000 laughter yoga clubs in over 60 countries. Dr Kataria’s wife is a yoga teacher, and the use of the breathing exercises led to the use of the word “yoga”.

I joined a laughter yoga club and my life totally changed. After that I felt I needed to put laughter yoga in front of more people who could really benefit from it. Laughter yoga clubs are becoming more popular, but are more readily found in the larger cities in the UK. So I trained to become a laughter yoga facilitator (促进者). I supported people, of all ages and from all walks of life, to prolong (延长) their laughter.

Life continues to have its ups and downs but, for me, laughter is an important daily form of support. Just as I finish writing this article, my son, wearing headphones, watches a video and is overcome with a huge belly laugh. I laugh along. The magic and power of laughter found me in a big way and has completely changed my life. And, now, I have the best job in the world.

【推荐3】I was never addicted to skydiving, but I definitely enjoyed it. I made my first skydiving when I was 19. I was one of a selected few who got a chance to attend the US Air Force Academy’s Freefall school, a program that taught mostly Air Force Academy cadets how to jump out of planes. It wasn’t intended to make us operational paratroopers(伞兵), but to teach us about accomplishing tasks in high-stress situations. And this training program was the only one that allowed jumpers to perform freefall skydiving and pull their own ripcords(开伞索) without a trained instructor jumping alongside of them.

When I returned to Columbus for my college study, I proudly wore my parachutist badge(伞兵徽章). About a month later, I made my first private skydiving and the rest was history. I jumped more and more, only paying for the jumps and necessary training when I had the funds to do it.

Eventually, I had made 10 skydiving, and then it was 20, and I found that I was making jumps at different drop zones. I even bought my own parachute system.

I kept jumping during my senior year. The last jump I made, however, was in the fall of 2006 when I was in Cleveland. My new job needed me to work six days a week and I just didn’t have time to skydive regularly. When I moved to the DC area, I suffered from herniated disk(椎间盘突出) and I knew I would never jump out of a plane again.

My skydiving career ended with 55 jumps, with more than 40 minutes of freefall time. I met great people along the way and did some pretty crazy jumps. I’ll never forget meeting Adam Abelow, the head of the skydiving club, who gave me a ride to get my first jump, and Jen White, who coached me on many of my jumps. I’ll never forget getting my license and the time when my grandparents came to watch me jump.