It was a bright, sunny day and Amelia was on the way to the grocery store that was not far from her house.

Suddenly, she saw an old man holding a cardboard sign (纸牌) near a street crossing. Although some stores hired (雇佣) people to hold signs around, attracting business, this man was sitting on the ground, so Amelia thought he was homeless and asking for money. Luckily, she had some bills in her wallet and decided to give him some.     

As she got closer, she offered him a $5 bill. To her complete shock, the man refused it. “No, madam. I don’t need money. What I really need is a job,” the old man said.   

Amelia walked a few steps more to get a good look at his cardboard sign. It read: “A shoemaker is looking for work. I can repair any kind of footwear!” She realized the man was actually not a homeless man begging for money. “Oh! You’re a shoemaker. I think many factories out there will offer you some jobs,” she told the man, finally noticing some of his tools around him.

“No, miss. At my age, no one wants to hire me anymore, so I’m trying to find some work this way. If you know someone who needs shoe repair, please let them know about me,” the man said.

Amelia nodded, thinking about a few pairs of shoes at home that needed repairing. Generally, she would donate them and buy new ones, but if this man could repair them, she could keep using them. “What’s your name, sir?” Amelia asked.

“I’m Martin, young lady,” he said and smiled at her. “OK, sir. I have to go shopping now, but I’ll return with a few pairs of shoes that need some fixing,” Amelia told him with a smile and then walked towards the store. After she finished her shopping, she went back home.

Rick, a ten-year-old boy, was constantly angry at everything around him. He always fought in school with the other kids. Once he had an outburst in school. Upset by something a classmate said to him, he pushed the boy, and a fight happened. When the teacher stepped in to break it up, Rick went crazy, throwing papers and books around the classroom and rushing out. His teachers couldn’t say anything that would comfort the kid. And the parents of his schoolmates were getting concerned. Rick was earning quite the reputation. After talking with school officials, Rick’s mom tried everything she could to calm Rick down.

She tried different methods until one day she came home with a canvas (画布) and paint. “What’s this?”, Rick asked. Rick’s mom handed over the painting equipment and said, “Whenever you feel angry, paint whatever you’re angry about instead of bursting out.” Rick wasn’t that happy about it but he gave it a try anyway. Over the next few weeks, the young boy created several artworks. They mostly showed disturbing images though. So his mom took all of the paintings and called Rick over so that they could talk about them. “Tell me, Rick. What are these paintings about?”

“Well, the first painting is about how some of the kids show off their new clothes and pencil cases. The next painting is about my teacher who keeps telling me about how I’m doing things wrong. And the last painting is about how one of my schoolmate’s father suggested that I change my attitude. All of them make me so angry.” Rick’s mom, in a calm voice, took Rick by her side and told him: “Don’t you see it, Rick?” “See what?” Rick asked. “You’re so angry at all of these things but not once did you try to understand why you’re getting so angry. What have all these people done to you, really?”

Rick was lost in thought.

Rick knew it was time to change.

Once there was a businessman who was engaged in leather business, but his business failed because of his poor management, which made him lack of confidence to continue to do his business. Even worse, he owed a lot of money to others and could see no way out.

Today, it was just Christmas Day, he should have dinner with his family, but he was walking alone in the park because of business failure in order that he could relieve his sense of failure. He sat on the park bench, wondering if anything could save his company. Suddenly one of his old friends appeared in front of him.

“Oh, dear, long time no see! Merry Christmas! You look so bad, aren’t you? You must be encountering some troubles,” his old friend asked in a worrying tone.

“Merry Christmas! Well, I just encountered a big failure in my business and owed a lot of money to others. I don’t know how to continue to do my business,” the businessman replied in a low voice.

After listening to his problem, to the businessman’s surprise, his old friend took out a check, passed it to him and said, “Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.” Then he turned and disappeared.

The businessman with a big surprising expression on his face saw the check in his hand for $500? 000! The money was more than enough to save his business. However, he didn’t plan to use it, he decided to put the check in his safe.

With the check, he was full of confidence and planned to continue to do his business again. He worked hard day by day and slowly his business began to breathe. The businessman was making money once again.

One year later, the businessman decided to meet his old friend on Christmas Day.

He realized it was his newfound confidence that changed his life.

April 28, 2015. That was the day it started, the start of my new life. I woke up in ICU in the hospital, not knowing the extent of my injuries or what had happened fully. My parents came in to see me. They saw me awake for the first time. I started trying to move but failed.

My dad bent down and said, “Jim, you lost your legs in the motorcycle accident.”

My dad, growing up, was always very stoical (坚忍的). He raised me and my brother in the tough love style and showed very little emotion. So when I saw the pain and emotion in his face, I knew I had to be strong for not just myself but my entire family.

I immediately told my parents, “I’d rather be here without them than not be here at all.” They smiled. First time I’d seen them smile since they walked in the room.

The next month and a half of recovery was long and difficult. I was unable to sleep at night. Thoughts began to run through my mind. Would I have a normal life? Would I enjoy the things that I used to enjoy? All I could do was look forward to the morning when my family and friends came back.

I got released from the hospital on June 3, 2015, the day after my 27th birthday. I got home, finally, ready to start my new life. But I still had to figure out what I was going to do next. So as I was trying to figure it out, I had a couple of friends that were trying to help me out and get my life started. They were members of the Pip e Hitters Union Motorcycle Club.

One day, they gave me a text message that said, “Give this guy a call. His name is David. He can help you.” I called David and soon we met. I had a meeting with him and his staff. He told me about his gym called ATF-the Adaptive Training Foundation. It was a non-profit organization aimed at helping people with disabilities come back to normal life through physical training.

I filled out an application, almost immediately accepted into class.

At this time, David advised me to find a job.

Anne would take part in a swimming competition the next morning and she was too nervous to sleep well. She tossed and turned all night.

She was no stranger to competition. In fact, she loved it. Anne was very athletic and her strong will and diligent spirit brought her respect and love. She was not only part of a swim team, but a soccer team, as well. Before she took up swimming, she had been playing soccer. She got along well with her teammates in the soccer team, and they usually encouraged each other before games. Just two days before the swimming competition, she had a regular soccer practice. Her soccer teammates noticed her anxiety and asked her about it. She lowered her head, murmuring. “I’ll take a swimming competition, and this particular competition was important. I had made it all the way to the finals and didn’t want to let my teammates down.” One of her soccer teammates patted her shoulder, “Just be yourself?” When Anne walked away, her soccer teammates looked at her back. They just couldn’t let it go.

The morning finally came. Having slept so poorly, Anne was not at all ready for the day. She was terribly anxious about the competition, so much so that she couldn’t even eat breakfast. It felt as though her stomach was doing somersaults (翻腾).

Anne’s mother looked concerned. “You have to eat something,” she said. “It’s important to keep your strength up.”

“I know, I’m just not hungry this morning,” Anne replied, picking at her eggs with a fork. All she could think about was facing the competition. What if she performed poorly? What if she disappointed her coach and teammates? She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself.

“Honey, drink the milk and have some bread. I’ll wait for you in the car. We just have 10 minutes left.” Hearing that, Anne had a quick breakfast, grabbed her gym bag and got into the car.

Half an hour later, she got to the athletic club where the swim meet was being held. She went to the locker room to prepare for the competition, but when she opened her gym bag, she was quite surprised.

When I was nineteen years old, I successfully landed a job in Toronto. My daily commute (通勤) included a subway ride and then a ten-minute walk through the heart of downtown Toronto. Like most large cities, the homeless people of Toronto often gathered on downtown comers, asking passers-by for their spare change.

Like many busy workers, I learned to ignore the nameless faces who asked me for money each day. When it came to homeless beggars, my limited life experience had led me to one thought — you are on the streets because you choose to be, probably due to alcohol (酒精).

I clearly remember one day in mid-December, the weather was unusually cold I walked with my head down, wishing that my office was closer to the subway stop. I passed the usual groups of homeless beggars, ignored them and continued walking. As I crossed the crossroads of Queen and Yonge streets, I saw a homeless beggar sitting next to a building, wearing thin clothes and holding a white cup in front of him. I heard his shaky voice as I sped past him.

“Spare some change?” he asked. “I would really appreciate it.” I didn’t even bother looking up at his nameless face. I simply imagined him walking into a store and buying alcohol with money that people gave him. “I have no money on me,” I said. I lied to him. Actually I had some change.

Just a few feet past him, I didn’t see the ice on the sidewalk. I fell heavily to the ground and my knee of the right leg was badly hurt. The pain suddenly came through me as I lay on the ground for several moments, wondering if I had broken my knee.

High school graduation marks a huge turning point in a young person’s life. It’s a transition from childhood to adulthood, and you’ll remember that moment forever.

Daverius Peters, a senior at Hahnville High School in Boutte, Louisiana, had been looking forward to this special day for a while. However, when he arrived at the graduation ceremony, a school representative blocked him from entering the ceremony’s venue because his black sneakers violated the dress code.

The school’s graduation dress code states that male students must wear dark dress shoes to the ceremony and no athletic shoes were allowed.

When the school representative denied him entry, Peters went into shock. He also felt sad, imagining what his parents would think if he couldn’t attend his own graduation. He just wanted to walk across the stage and get the diploma he’d worked so hard for.

With only minutes until the ceremony was set to begin, he felt hopeless. He neither took the phone with him nor had enough time to stop at a store to buy new shoes. As he paced anxiously outside the convention center, he spotted a glimmer of hope. He’d noticed a familiar face, John Butler.

Butler helps mentor (指导) students at the high school, and many students look up to him. Butler always did what he could to help the students. He’s just “that type of person.” When a student’s having a bad day, Butler calls them out of class to personally talk with them. He had a daughter graduating with Peters, so he was attending the graduation ceremony as a parent that day. Peters ran over to Butler and explained his shoe problem.

Without a second thought, Butler took off his own shoes.

When Peters slid across the stage, his family noticed his new, ill-fitting shoes.