【推荐1】My family lives in Texas. I was born and brought up in Texas and I am a graduate of the University of Texas. However, around my second year in law school, I wanted to make a great change, which was almost unheard of for Texans: I wanted to leave!

I realized this after completing my first-year internship(实习期). I knew I wanted something different and my chance came during the 2018 Super Bowl in Dallas. A snowstorm blanketed the entire city in snow and thousands of people were gathered. I heard by chance that StubHub, a big company from a great city, San Francisco, was throwing a party next door to my hotel. I thought if I could get an internship, I could leave for the summer and at least see what it was like. Yes, it was a huge leap. I told myself I was ready.

There was just one problem: I wasn’t invited to the StubHub party. But you know I’m the type of person who goes for something she wants. I crashed the party and found my way to the president. I kindly introduced myself and then asked if they had a legal internship program. Guess what? They accepted my request to be a legal intern, even though no such program existed.

Although the legal department only had a temporary position for me, the experience has shaped my life. Working for a great company in San Francisco, I’m very happy for making my decision to leave Texas.

By leaving Texas, I learned that it is so much more rewarding to try the unfamiliar than to stay in the comfortable. Exploring the unfamiliar is how you’ll understand what fits your life. I say, dive in head first.

【推荐2】Smiling can infect everyone and light up our day. Well, it was at the market at 5 pm — the worst time of day to shop. I had to pick up a few essentials after work: cream for coffee, eggs for breakfast and Advil for my headache.

I’d been rushing all day doing jobs for people. I did not want to be shopping, to say the least. But I told myself it was my last stop before going home to put my feet up.

So I scored (得到) a parking place, grabbed a bag from the trunk and found a shopping cart.

The market wasn’t as crowded as I had expected. I grabbed a package of linguini (意粉) and some pesto.

That’s when I saw her. She was sitting in a shopping cart. She looked to be maybe 9 months old. Short blond curls, blue eyes. A white lace dress and shiny black shoes.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Then I did what I always do with children: I gave her my best smile. I may have looked a bit mad, but it came from my heart.

That is a habit I formed long ago when I became a mother. It started with my first child, in that unforgettable, life-changing moment.

At times my smile would fade to a look of fear or worry, but it never left my face for long. It always came back, even through tears.

I’ve learned that everyone needs a smile sometimes, young and old, friends and strangers, even strangers at the market in a rush to get home.

She took her time deciding just what to make of my smile. But finally, she lit up.

I laughed and waved goodbye. And she blew me a kiss.

That put a smile on my face and I got a smile in return from every shopper I passed.

I was still smiling when I got home and realized I’d forgotten to get Advil. Luckily, I didn’t need it. My headache was gone.

Somehow, in that simple exchange of smiles, this weary (使人厌烦的) old world became a better place. Want to change the world? Try smiling. Someone will smile back at you. I guarantee it.

If you’re lucky, maybe they’ll even blow you a kiss and make your headache go away.

【推荐3】Real financial security and freedom is not in our job but in our passion. It’s easy to define and evaluate a man by his pursuit. Joseph Campbell once said, “Follow your dream and the universe will open doors where there are only walls.”

In life, we’ll always be found doing any of these two things: either making a living or making a difference. Pensions (养老金) and salaries stop many from pursuing excellence while passion unlocks hidden potentials that equip us for challenges and opportunities. A job helps us make a living while passion enables us to make a difference.

I want to sincerely help to adjust and clarify the misguided belief among workers that a job is a means of livelihood. Rather, it should be a means to fuel our passion. The earlier you realize this basic truth of life, the more clearly you’ll be able to position yourself in living a life of impact and value.

The success of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) shows how meaningful it is to pursue your passion instead of your pension. Its founder, Colonel Harland Sanders, didn’t realize this until he was given his first social security check of 105 dollars. But he decided that there surely was something to do for himself and other people instead of living on that small pension. He was determined to engage himself in what brought him impact and value. Drawing inspiration from his mother’s special recipe for fried chicken, he invented “finger-licking” seasoning with eleven spices and herbs. Despite much rejection, he managed to round up some investors and promote company’s rapid expansion to more than 6,000 locations. Sanders’ life pointed towards two facts about making a difference: one, there is no age that is too old to make a difference; two, there is nothing too small or insignificant to make a difference with, as long as it is your passion.

【推荐1】A new article in The Wall Street Journal has given us a deeper understanding of the relationship between what we earn and how we feel.    1    Well,not true.People with higher incomes are happier than those who struggle to get by.To put a smile on your face with your money,you need to spend it strategically.Here are some ways to better spend your bank notes.

Buy experiences,not material things.

    2    People think that experiences are only going to provide temporary happiness,but they actually provide both more happiness and more lasting value that help you better manage your life.

    3    

Anything you buy,including a product you think is special will become just another object.Buying small things can give us frequent small pleasures that are different each time they occur,as they forestall（抢先）adaptation.

    4    

It’s also important to consider how what you’re buying will affect how you spend your time.For example,you may have to spend a very long time on the road if you get a big house in the suburb,which will totally lower overall life satisfaction.

Try giving it away.

Elizabeth Dunn,associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Canada,found that in countries as diverse as Canada,South Africa and Uganda,giving away money consistently made people happier.    5    

【推荐2】The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne

I bought a box set of four Winnie the Pooh books while on holiday when I was eight years old. I adored Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore. They became very real to me and I credit them with starting a lifelong love of reading.

I still have the box set, and loved reading the stories to my children when they were small. Part of me secretly believes A. A. Milne’s wonderful characters are all alive and well and still having their adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood.

Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights by Charlotte and Emily Bronte

I can never separate Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights when I think about books that have stayed with me. Both had a deep impact on me when I read them as a teenager.

They were the first classic books I read purely for pleasure, rather than because I had to for school.

I grew up in Yorkshire, not far from where the Brontes lived, so part of me really understood the depressing landscape. That close geographical connection led to a lifelong interest in the authors as much as in the books themselves.

I wrote a high-school essay on the contrasts and similarities between Charlotte and Emily and their heroines. I’d be fascinated to read that essay now to see what conclusions I reached as a 17-year-old.