【推荐2】Years ago, I lived in a building in a large city. The next building was only a few feet away from mine. There was a woman who lived there, whom I had never met, yet I could see her seated by her window each afternoon, sewing or reading.

After several months had gone by, I began to notice that her window was dirty. Everything was unclear through the dirty window. I would say to myself, “I wonder why that woman doesn’t wash her window. It really looks terrible.”

One bright morning I decided to clean my flat, including washing the window on the inside.Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down by the window with a cup of coffee for a rest. What a surprise! Across the way, the woman sitting by her window was clearly visible. Her window was clean!

Then it dawned on me. I had been criticizing her dirty window, but all the time I was watching hers through my own dirty window.That was quite an important lesson for me. How often had I looked at and criticized others through the dirty window of my heart, through my own shortcomings?

Since then, whenever I wanted to judge someone, I asked myself first, “Am I looking at him through my own dirty window?” I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see the world about me more clearly.

【推荐3】I had the special right to teach a Sunday school class at my church. We talked about the importance of setting goals. I asked the children to explain what they could do when frustration sets in. We talked about reaching for the stars and pushing through when the going gets tough. Some goals are easy to reach while others remain a challenge.

Twelve-year-old Marcus explained that we should think about how far we have come when a goal is hard to reach. He may be only twelve, but he has gained the knowledge of the ages at a young age. We then entered into a discussion about how we can help one another. Ask proper questions and children will amaze you with the depth of their knowledge and experience.

Dr. Wayne Dyer authored several books for children. I used one of his books as a key point of discussion for the class. We picked out key words that could be introduced to children and to teens. The words were goals, determination, devotion and perseverance. Class activities centered around these words that would produce hope and success in their lives.

Our culture does little to encourage these traits. Children are fascinated by electronics, digital devices, and electronic means of communication which do not encourage the development of delayed gratification. It was heartening to be able to talk about these traits in a Sunday school situation. At age seventy-three, I became the student and they were the teachers. What a joy!

It gives me a lot of pleasure to help young people push through difficulties on their way of gaining knowledge. These are skills that will help them find success and hope. Young people are our future. It pays to invest in them.

【推荐1】There are numerous benefits of reading good books.    1    Whatever your field might be, it's very important to create a good habit to read beyond your horizons. Here are tips to help you cultivate a better and consistent reading habit:

●Determine your reading goal.    2    This goal should be clear and backed up with a purpose. Start by thinking about how a consistent reading pattern can help you grow indifferent areas of your life-spirit, academics, career, relationships and more.

●    3     Once you' re done setting your reading goal for the year, you'll need a list to back it up. Write out a list of the amazing books you want to read. Ask for recommendations from friends and instructors. It s important to keep a journal listing the books you'll like to read for each month.

●Get a responsible reading partner to promote your reading. Goals need to be backed up in order to help put a check and encourage you during times you don't feel motivated.    4    

To develop a reading culture, you must first analyze your current reading habits. Do you read at all?    5     In order to truly achieve your reading goals and build a consistent reading habit, you'll need to set up simple systems， find responsible partners， and generally be hungry to grow beyond your comfort zone.

【推荐2】I have sometimes heard people refer to reading fantasy novels as escapism. These people believe that magic circumstances distract people from real life and struggles we should be concentrating on overcoming. Although I enjoy reading such books, I used to think so, and that I was escaping real life while I read, since people said that was what I was doing. Now, I no longer believe that I escape through fantasy. Instead I believe that I am having an experience much more profound.

I have always loved fantasy (especially J. R. R. Tolkien and J. k. Rowling) and read extensively in this genre, but I used to think of this reading as downtime, less important than more “serious”, realistic reading. Over time, I realized that the conversations I was having about these fantasies were deeper and more insightful than those about books set in my time and with similar problems to ray own. I looked up to those heroic characters for inspirations when dealing with new and perplexing questions. Many of these books were shared with my family, and created a sense of belonging and acceptance as we discussed Aslan’s sacrifice and argued over whether or not Frodo was a failure. Even we didn’t agree, these conversations united us through shared thoughts and experience. When I married, my wife, my children and I read Lioyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain on our honeymoon, rejoicing and mourning together through Taran’s Journey from Assistant pig-keeper to High king.

Then I began my graduate studies in Marriage and Family Therapy, and I wanted to enrich others’ lives with this experience I found so personally rewarding. I first assigned a couple to read a fantasy novel, which the couple did read. Just reading the book together, discussing it and wondering together why I had asked them to read it, led to recovery and a renewed romantic relationship. I discovered that the farther from reality the book could take the reader, the more effect it appeared to have. I have been using this technique for years and haven’t yet seen it fail in my practice. As evidence I have many people who have been unified and healed through the reading of these fantasy novels.

【推荐1】Most people would shake at the idea of getting caught up in a 73.5-foot wave. But for Brazilian surfer Maya, it presented the perfect opportunity to break her former world record. The athlete skillfully managed the monster earlier this year, at the first World Surf League (WSL) Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge in Praia do Norte, Portugal, which was the same site where she established her 2018 world record by riding a 68-foot wave.

“Although I say I’m not a competitive person, I was very excited and braver than I usually am on this day,” said Maya. “When I let go of the rope, I had a feeling that this was probably the biggest wave I’d ever ridden.” It turned out that Maya’s 73.5-foot monster was two feet higher than that of her competitor’s wave, earning her WSL’s 2020 women’s XXL Biggest Wave Award. It was also 3.5 feet higher than the 70-foot wave ridden by the 2020 men’s XXL Biggest Wave Award winner Kai Lenny!

The 33-year old believes her achievement may be a turning point in the understanding of the ability of women surfers. “Our sport is very male dominated, with the performances on the male side often much stronger than ours as females,” she told The Atlantic. So Maya’s success opens the idea that there are other possibilities.

Though Maya seemed to effortlessly ride over the monster surf, it has not all been smooth sailing. Her first attempt at pursuing the world’s biggest waves in 2013 could have ended the career of someone with less determination. The surfer suffered a deadly wipeout that broke her ankle and almost killed her. However, the “minor” difficulty did not remove her love for the extreme sport and her desire to be one of the world’s greatest surfers!