【推荐1】Perhaps you’re in the middle of a divorce, suffering the loss of a loved one, or facing an illness. Perhaps you have a dream you’ve strived for long, but it still seems out of ______. Maybe you’re ______ a difficult time looking for a job, or you’re working but just getting by, and burdened with ______. Have you ever felt like giving up?

My friend Jorge Perez, a screenwriter in his 30’s, working 12 hours a day, six days a week, has put every extra waking ______ and every penny he ______ into Bodies of Work, an independent TV pilot he wrote, ______, directed and shot. He’s ______ to be a success. When he gets ______, he thinks of the words from Racing in the Rain. “Your car goes where your eyes go. In other words, wherever you focus your attention is where you’re ______, with related consequences. It takes the same energy to focus on positive outcomes as negative ones, with better ______.”

I never knew anyone more realistically optimistic than my own ______ sister, whose dying words were, “I’m not giving up.” Pam ______ Cystic Fibrosis(囊肿性纤维化), lived independently, graduated from college and ran her own daycare before we ______ her to the illness. Pam taught me that even when you are at your most ______ and feeling like you can’t go on, you ______ have the power to choose between ______ or hope, forgiveness or revenge. She supported the words of Viktor Frankl: “When you can’t change your circumstances, you are ______ to change yourself.” 

These people accept their present circumstances and they ______ it. They focus on the best way to move forward and set goals to do so, rather than looking back or blaming others for their current ______. Ultimately, of course, our ______ is a letting go— but until then, don’t give up.

【推荐2】“U—S—A! U—S—A!” Jeremy Holst, 16, screamed from the sidelines as the clock counted down. The timer buzzed (发出蜂鸣声), and he and his teammates stormed the rink (溜冰场) to _______ their goalkeeper--- but the next person Jeremy ran to was Kenny Kinsey, 17. “We _______ it! We won the bronze!” Jeremy said, giving him a high five.

It was March, and Kenny and Jeremy had _______ from New York City to Austria to _______ in the Special Olympics World Winter Games as part of a floor hockey team that _______ students with and without intellectual disabilities. “Our paths might _______ have crossed if it weren’t for this opportunity to _______ together,” Jeremy says._______, he goes to a private school at one end of New York City, while Kenny attends a _______ needs program at a public school all the way across town.

But the two boys got along very well from the very first ________ “We connected over our ________ of sports — and now we’re like any friends,” Jeremy says.

And that ________ just might have helped them bring home the bronze. “In a team meeting, Kenny spoke about how Jeremy and other team members had ________ him even more than some of his schoolmates,” coach Joseph Stewart ________. “That speech really brought the team together.”

The ________ in Austria was an unforgettable moment for all involved, but the biggest ________ these two athletes learned is more ________ than any award. “________ many differences among people, it just ________ that we can all find ________ to combine,” Jeremy says.

【推荐3】One morning, I walked down the path to my car and right into a huge spider web that had appeared overnight.

I felt _______for not having seen it or having _________ myself of the web tendrils （须状物）, and went

The next morning, the ______ same scene occurred, and I felt even more foolish. _______a moment, I thought I should not _______ myself.

On the third day, I was ______to look for the web – the spider had rewoven it,_______this time off the path in the bushes.

How surprising it was to _______that the spider and I had learned the exact same _______ in the same amount of time.

It is _______ for certain things in life to happen to you. There will be heartbreak, _______, and days where you feel like you aren’t special or purposeful. You cannot let these _______ you. If you don’t _______ yourself to move past what happened and what was felt, you will _______ your future with that pair of glasses, and nothing will be able to change that _______.

As a saying _______, “The only mistake in life is the lesson not _______.” (Albert Einstein)

【推荐1】It was pouring outside. We all stood there ______, some patiently; others angrily

“Mom, let’s run through the rain,” a girl’s voice ______ me.

“No, honey. We’ll wait until it ______ down a bit,” Mom replied.

The young girl waited about another minute and ______: “Mom, let’s run through the rain.”

“We’ll get wet if we do,” Mom said.

“No, we won’t, Mom. That’s not what you said this morning,” the young girl said as she ______ her Mom’s arm.

“This morning? ______ did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?”

“Don’t you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer (癌症), you said, ‘If God can get us through this, he can get us through ______.’”

The entire crowd turned ______. Mom paused and thought for a moment about ____ she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly.

____ then, we heard, “Honey, you are ______. Let’s run through the rain. If we get wet, maybe we just need washing,” Mom said. Then ______ they ran.

We all stood ______, smiling and laughing as they ran past the cars. Yes, they got wet. But they were ______ by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the ____ to their cars. Conditions or people can take away your material possessions (物质财富), and they can even take away your ______. But no one can take away your valuable ______. So, don’t forget to make time and take the ______ to make memories (记忆) every day! I hope you still take the time to run through the rain.

【推荐2】My 7-year-old daughter always has her nose in a book. She even continued reading in the car on the long drive to summer camp, where she lost the book. This is the first lost _______book in my life. In my childhood, my family had always been expected to be _______, but we were poor, and I didn’t own books. I had to borrow books. My library books lived on a _______shelf while they were mine, and it _______me when I had to return them to the library on the due day.

However, my daughter has more books now than I owned during my whole childhood. So it’s probably my _______that she didn’t cherish the books. “Sorry. I can’t find it.” My daughter said with a shrug, “We just pay $ 20 for the book. What’s the big _______?” The missing library book just met with a cold _______from her, but it met with nail-biting _______from me. I walked into the library in a deep _______as if I had lost the book.

Feeling the need to make her feel responsible for the book, I asked her to do the chores. She agreed to clean up all the pets’ houses _______my paying the library book. I’d meant the chore to be _______!

Surprisingly, she was enjoying herself. I took a picture of her lovely back. So, was I winning or losing at _______? Did I teach her the _______of keeping a library book if the picture I took shows she is working _______?

To my _______, my little girl knew what matters in her life. She could devote herself to the chores as much as books.

【推荐3】A few months ago, one of my fellow graduate students was offered an incredible career-building opportunity. His efforts on a student-led campaign to increase federal funding for basic research had _________ an invitation to speak on a conference panel(专家组). It would look great on his CV(简历). I was _________ for him, of course. I had been a(n) _________ partner in the campaign. I felt that I deserved the same opportunity. Yet I hadn’t been _________ and I wasn’t sure why.

Growing up, I had been taught that the way to _________ was to put my head down and work hard. If my work was good enough, it would speak for itself and I would be _________. This view, coupled with a natural _________, meant that I _________ worked up the nerve to put myself forward. However, I decided that I need to _________ my life again——by becoming my own biggest __________.

So, with my __________ beating fast, I asked my colleague to ask the panel organizers to __________ me. My mind flooded with a list of well-practiced __________. Maybe I didn’t deserve it. Maybe I was being too __________. But my colleague immediately contacted the organizers, who quickly agreed to __________ me to the panel. I’ve come to understand that I can’t be recognized for my work if I’m invisible. This isn’t a revolutionary __________ which many people are unfamiliar with, I know, but as an introvert(内向的人) this is my __________ Mount Everest.

I think advocating for myself will always make me a little __________. But I do plenty of other uncomfortable things to __________ I’m living my best life, like getting flu shots. I suppose I can do the same for my __________.