【推荐1】I have tried many ways to be ill. I don’t wear a sweater when I should, and two days ago I walked in the rain without my shoes. But so far nothing has happened. Cindy once told me about a boy in her class who liked being away from school. He would rub (擦) the end of the thermometer (温度计) until it went up to 39℃. Then he’d put it in his mouth and his mother would think he was really ill.

This morning I tried doing that but it never went above 35℃ and I rubbed it for ten minutes. So I held the thermometer next to the light on my desk and it went up to 40℃. I thought I’d put it in my mouth and walk downstairs like that. Then my mother would take it out and she would be worried when she saw that I was rather ill.

The only trouble was I didn’t know the thermometer would be so hot. As soon as I put it into my mouth, it burnt my tongue(舌头)! I spit the thermometer out. It fell on the floor but it didn’t break.

I will have to think of a better way to get my mother and father back together.

Life is not perfect. It never has been and never will be. We often complain about the weather, the traffic, and the weeds in our yard. We complain about tight clothing, misplaced keys, late planes.

    1     Here are some useful steps to help you complain less:   

Consider the importance of accepting the change.     2     But when given the choice, most of us would prefer to give life rather than waste life with our words.

    3     Life is not always going to serve up what we would like (or even expect) at every turn. There will be trouble. Again, this is okay. And the sooner we stop holding out for a world around us, the sooner we can embrace the fact that our contribution (贡献) is far more needed than our pleasure.

Avoid beginning conversations with a complaint. Take notice of how often we begin conversations with a complaint. Often, when we talk with a complaint, we’ll begin complaining too. So, try not to begin conversations with a complaint.     4    

Notice your triggers (触发).     5     Morning, evening, or late afternoon? When you are drinking coffee or having lunch with your friends? Maybe it is around the water cooler with your co-workers? Take notice. Then, avoid triggers if possible. Complaining serves little purpose in our lives. We’d live happier without it. Moving forward, let’s embrace the positive instead.

【推荐3】Why are some people more successful than others? Why do some people make more money, live happier lives and achieve much more in the same number of years than most people?

Over the years, I have read thousands of books and articles on the subjects of success and achievement. It seems that the reasons for those achievements have been discussed for more than two thousand years in every way. But one thing that most experts agree on is self-discipline（自律）some years ago, I attended a meeting in New York. I happened to meet a gentleman. His name was Kopmcyer. He was famous in the field of success and achievement. He had written four books, and each of them had 250 success principles（原则）. He had developed these during more than 50 years of research and study. I had read all of his books more than once.

Luckily, I had a chance to talk with him. I asked him a question that many people would ask. “Of all the one thousand success principles you have discovered, which is the most important?”

He smiled at me as if he had been asked this question many times and replied without thinking twice.“There are 999 different success principles, but without self-discipline, none of them work” He went on, saying, “Many years ago, Thomas Huxley said the most important success principle is, “Do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”

Self-discipline is magic because it opens all doors for you and makes everything else possible.

【推荐3】If you get into the forest with your friends, stay with them always. If you don’t, you may get lost. If you really get lost, this is what you should do. Sit down and stay where you are. Don’t try to find your friends—let them find you by staying in one place.

There is another way to help your friends or other nearby people to find you. Give them a signal (信号) by shouting or whistling (吹口哨) three times. Any signal given three times is a call for help.

Keep up shouting or whistling always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making noise for fun. They will let you know that they have heard your signal. They give you two shouts, two whistles, or two gun-shots (枪声). When someone gives you a signal, it is an answer to a call for help.

If you don’t think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house—cover up to the holes with branches (树枝) with lots of leaves. Make yourself a soft bed with leaves and grass.

What should you do if you get hungry or need drinking water? You would have to leave your little house to look for a river. Don’t just walk away. Pick off small branches and drop them as you walk so that you can find your way back. The most important thing to do when you are lost is to stay in one place.