【推荐1】Tears ran down from my eyes as I saw the essay my high school English teacher had just handed back. A big F was written on top. I was hopeless. I was stupid ! My face burned with shame when my classmates called me stupid.

“I’m the only one who doesn’t know my ABCs!” I sobbed to Mom.

“I’ll help,” she promised.

Every day I sat with her, but to me, cat looked like cta and red was reb. Frustrated, I would return to my bedroom and draw, filling the paper with houses, restaurants and offices.

“When I grow up, I want my own store,”  I told Mom , pointing to my drawings.

“ That’s great !” she said, “ but first you have to learn to read.”

Later, I was diagnosed with dyslexia (失读症). So Mom took me to a learning centre, where I was given reading exercises. But I still had a hard time. Finally, I graduated, but I was afraid of my reading skills.

“I’ll never get a job !”  I cried to Mom later again.

“ Don’t focus on what you can’t do,” she comforted, “ Concentrate on what you really can.”

But what can I do? I wondered. Suddenly, I thought of the drawings I’d made as a child and my dream of having my own store. I enjoyed sales so much that over the next few years, I tried my hand at other businesses. Today, I watch over seven branches. We have 187 employees and $15 million in sales.

While I’ll never be what my teachers might have wanted, I am a success--on my own terms. The other day a student sent me a card, reading: You gave me so much confidence. I hope to be like you when I am big. Tears of joy filled my eyes. This was my A, and I smiled.

【推荐2】When a friend approaches you in the heat of a moment, it can be hard to know what to say. There’ no blanket approach for every person through every crisis (危急), but a few guidelines could help you offer the best support.

Friends going through a crisis often just need someone to talk to and explore their feelings with, but the trick is to listen without sounding like you’re judging. Reorganize “why” questions, which can imply you’re questioning their judgment, but ‘how’ and ‘what’ questions, and ‘who’ and ‘when’ seem caring and sincere.

Open-ended questions that can’t be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will also help friends dig into their deepest feelings during a crisis. While your loved ones talk through their replies, practice active listening by focusing on their answers. After all, your friends probably just need someone to listen and prove them, rather than hearing you offer potentially unhelpful advice.

When you do respond，avoid telling friends in crisis how they “should” be feeling. “ ‘Should’ is not a valid term, saying it’s not OK for you to feel these societally ‘weak’ feelings,” says Michelle Kuchuk, director of training for Crisis Text Line. “If you’re only hearing ‘you should feel great’, you’re never going to speak again or get that weight off your chest if you think other people will judge you.”

On the other hand, tying those positive feelings to a specific action can feel more sincere. If friends hear “you’re so strong” without an example to back it up, they might never believe it. But if they’ve been explaining how hard it was to talk to someone else, praise them for taking that brave step.

Finally, it’s more important for a friend to know you’re there for support than stressing about saying the right thing during a crisis. Just be a friend and really listen to that person, not with your own agenda but “what is this person really going through?”

【推荐3】Steven Williams, an American father of 14-year-old Peter who has autism(自闭症), searched on the Internet to find a specific kind of little blue cup for his son.

When Peter was two, Steven gave him a little blue cup that was made in China and ever since the cup has become one of the most important things in Peter's life. Steven never thought that the little cup would cause such a big problem. Peter became dependent on this cup because ever since he received the gift he would only drink water from the exact type of little blue cup. Over 12 years, Peter refused to drink water without the cup. Steven was worried about this because their current cup could break soon and he needed to find a replacement for his son to drink with. The problem was that the cup was no longer being produced.

Steven tried to take Peter to a doctor to solve the cup problem, but it was of no use. So Steven decided to seek help from the public on Twitter. He got a lot of responses and the enthusiasm people from all over the world, which gave him confidence and hope. Many strangers found their identical cup and offered to send them to Peter. Though Steven received a lot of help, he still was concerned. All the cups he received would eventually break. As time passed, it would be even harder to find the same cups.

The situation took a surprising turn when the baby products company Tommee Tippee UK got in touch with Steven. They sent a team to China, and they found the same exact model for the cup in the factory that first made it. The company and the Chinese factory decided to make as many as 500 cups for Peter, and Steven was thrilled about all this.