【推荐1】My name is Tom. When I was young, almost everything ended in failure (失败). I completely lost my heart, sighing (叹息) unhappily all day. Seeing me like that, my father decided to cheer me up.

One day, he gave me a cup of water and asked me to taste it. I found it salty (咸的). My father said he just put one small spoon (勺) of salt in the cup. And then, he led me to a lake, where he put a big handful (把) of salt, picked up a cup of water and let me taste it again. He asked, “Does it still taste salty?” “Not at all,” I said. My father said, “Now, you may know your pain is just like salt. If you want to get out of it and be happy again, you need to be a lake, not a cup of water.”

【推荐2】Since I became a mother, I cannot remember the last time I had quality time for myself. Even my simple hobby of reading a book was already a thing of the past. All my time was spent taking care of the family, doing house chores, and of course, working to make a living. I longed for “me time”.

When I say “me time”, I only mean having an hour of quietness, listening to music, reading a book, or watching a movie, without being troubled by my kids.

It was not until quite recently that I had a chance to travel to a new country all by myself! My husband and kids would have to follow at a later date.

Now, I am alone in an apartment enjoying my “me traveling”. Finally, I can do whatever I want and keep the house clean and tidy. I can read my favorite books and do all that I want to do with my time. I practically have all the time for myself!

But surprisingly it doesn’t make me happy. I am lonely. No more daily routine of nagging (唠叨) and pushing the kids to get up. I miss my kids and my husband. I feel something in me is missing. Now I realize that making time for me doesn’t mean being away from those I love. I can still have “me time” even if I have the kids around and endless chores to do. I can change my attitude toward chores and routines (日常).

Life won’t be the same without the people you love near you. Now I am looking forward to them joining me soon.

【推荐2】The dogsled (狗拉雪橇) race was going to begin. My team of dogs was already at the starting line. The air was so cold that I could see my breath. I kept my eyes on the clock. At exactly ten o’clock, the other racers and I shouted, “Mush!” The dogs ran forward!

We had trained months for this race, and I hoped my dogs and I would win. Hour after hour, day after day, my dogs pulled the sled hard in order to (为了) do well in the race.

We ran over snowy hills and down into frozen valleys (山谷). We stopped only to rest and eat. We wanted to stay ahead of the other teams. The racers had to go a thousand miles across Alaska, one of the coldest places on the earth. In many places along the route (路线), the snow was deep. Pieces of ice were as sharp (锋利) as knives. In order not to cut the dog’s feet, I had put special booties (鞋套) on their feet.

At first, the dogs seemed to pull the sled very slowly. But on the third day, they began to pull more quickly. We passed many of the other racers. When we finally reached the finish line, we found out that we had come in first place! It was a great day for me and my dogs.

【推荐3】Once, a father and his son went to the kite flying festival in their local park. The young son became very happy seeing the sky filled with colorful kites. He asked his father to get him a kite and a thread (线) with a roller so he could fly a kite, too. So the father went to the shop at the park where the festival was being held and bought a kite and a roll of thread for his son.

Then the son started to fly a kite. Soon, his kite was high up in the sky. After a while, the son said, “Dad, it seems that the thread is stopping the kite from flying higher. If we break it, the kite will be free and will go flying even higher. Can we break it?” The father said nothing and cut the thread from the roller. The kite started to go a little higher. That made the son very happy.

But then, slowly, the kite started to come down. And soon it fell down on the top of a building. The young son was surprised to see this. He had cut the thread to let the kite fly higher, but instead, it fell down. He asked his father, “Dad, I thought that after cutting the thread, the kite could freely fly higher. Why did it fall down?”

The father explained, “Dear son, we often think some things in our life are tying us down and that they are preventing us from going any higher. In fact, the thread was not holding the kite from going higher, but it was helping it stay higher when the wind slowed down. And when the wind picked up again, it helped the kite go higher and in the proper direction. And when we cut the thread, the kite fell down without the support the thread provided.”