【推荐1】Growth that Starts from Thinking

It seems to me a very difficult thing to put into words the beliefs we hold and what they make you do in your life. I think I was fortunate because I grew up in a family where there was a very deep religious（宗教的）feeling. I don’t think it was spoken of a great deal. It was more or less taken for granted that everybody held certain beliefs and needed certain enhancements of their own strength and that that came through your belief in God.

But as I grew older I questioned a great many of the things that I knew very well my grandmother who had brought me up had taken for granted. And I think I might have been a quite difficult person to live with if it hadn’t been for the fact that my husband once said it didn’t do you any harm to learn those things, so why not let your children learn them? When they grow up they’ll think things out for themselves.

And that gave me a feeling that perhaps that’s what we all must do—think out for ourselves what we could believe and how we could live by it. And so I came to the conclusion that you had to use this life to develop the very best that you could develop.

I don’t know whether I believe in a future life. I believe that all that you go through here must have some value, therefore there must be some reason. And there must be some “going on”. How exactly that happens I’ve never been able to decide. There is a future—that I’m sure of. But how, that I don’t know. And I came to feel that it didn’t really matter very much because whatever the future held you’d have to face it when you came to it, just as whatever life holds you have to face it exactly the same way. And the important thing was that you never let down doing the best that you were able to do—it might be poor because you might not have very much within you to give, or to help other people with, or to live your life with. But as long as you did the very best that you were able to do, then that was what you were put here to do and that was what you were accomplishing by being here.

And So I have tried to follow that out—and not to worry about the future or what was going to happen. I think I am pretty much of a fatalist（宿命论者）. You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.

【推荐2】“I’m going to get Omama a parrot,” my mother announced. Omama was my old grandmother. “It will give her something to care for, which helps her exercise her mind and avoid decline in memory,” my mother continued. “A little bird may make things lively and cheer her up.” I nodded since Omama loved pets in the past.

Omama had reached America from Ireland, and her memory was full of tales from the old country. She loved nothing better than to reminisce (回忆). Once she got going, you might as well feel comfortable and go back to the wonderful past with her. So in the foreign land, my mother sent her a parrot to accompany her.

When receiving the bird, Omama called it Patrick. My mother gave her the feeding instructions. Omama listened and promised, “I’ll not starve him. He’ll eat better than me! He’ll sleep better than me! And I’ll play the sweetest music to him.” As we walked toward the door, Omama was starting her record player and promising Patrick that he would hear some real Irish music. “Listen well and tell me what you think,” we heard her words.

Later, Omama often called us to report his wonderful behaviors. When she sat on the doorway to get some air, Patrick went along; when seeing her, Patrick would show excited behaviors. Omama often showed off the smart bird to her neighbors. She was crazy about Patrick. If we called to say that we planned to visit her, Omama would say, “Hold on, please,” while she announced to Patrick that we were coming.

Omama liked Patrick and thought highly of him. She had possessed many pets but Patrick was distinct from all others; Omama had assured me of that more than once. Still, nothing prepared me for the day when Patrick would take my breath away.

That day I visited Omama. She quickly went to the kitchen, and I sat on the sofa, Patrick looked at me. “Hello, Patrick,” I said. He replied, “Good morning, Patrick. Hello, Patrick. Pretty bird.” My mouth dropped open. It was not because of Patrick’s words. What shocked me was that every word Patrick said was spoken in a perfect Irish accent!

I suddenly realized that we all were shaped by our unique culture. We should value it and be proud of it.

【推荐3】No matter how many times Sandy has rescued an animal, she never gets over the casual cruelty some people display toward unwanted pets. When she lost her own “angel” dog, she started Logan’s Legacy to help other pets in need.

Sandy recently received a phone call about a small dog, possibly a puppy, that had been abandoned on a street. Since she was too far to help on, she called a friend who lives nearby to get there as soon as possible. When her friend Tom arrived, he found a tiny dog curled(蜷缩)in a tight ball with the chain firmly tied to a tree. Someone had left food and water for her, but the puppy was too frightened to eat or drink. Once gathered up in a blanket and placed into the back seat of the car, she began to get weak quickly from dehydration(脱水)and exhaustion.

The moment she got some water and food, the puppy made a rapid recovery, and her lovely and sweet personality could finally shine! “We have named her CiCi,” Sandy added, “She is feeling so much better. She has been observed at my place and she is doing great. This sweet baby girl will never feel fearful again, and won’t ever be abandoned again.” After winning hearts at Sandy’s office, CiCi has been approved for adopting and will soon leave for her new life. Sandy and her fellow rescuers are trying their best to find her the perfect family to love her and treat her with the respect all living creatures deserve!