5 . At 88, I remain a competitive runner. The finish line of my life is drawing close, and I hope to reach it having given the best of myself along the way. I’ve been training my body to meet the demands of this final stretch. But, I wonder, should I have asked more of my mind?

If I didn’t exercise, I would release the hungry beasts that seek their elderly prey on couches, but not in the gym. The more I sweated, the more likely it was my doctor would continue to say, “Keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll see you next year.” My mind, on the other hand, seems less willing to give in to discipline. I have tried Internet “brain games”, solving algebraic problems flashing past and changing the route of virtual trains to avoid crashes. But these never approach my determination to remain physically fit as I move deeper into old age.

Though I have many friends in their 70s, 80s and 90s, I’ve been far too slow to realize that how we respond to aging is a choice made in the mind, not in the gym. Some of my healthiest friends carry themselves as victims abused by time. Other friends, many, whose aching knees and hips are the least of their physical problems, find comfort in their ability to accept old age as just another stage of life to deal with. I would use the world “heroic” to describe the way they cope with aging.

One such friend recently called from a hospital to tell me a sudden brain disease had made him legally blind. He interrupted me as I began telling him how terribly sorry I was: “Bob, it could have been worse. I could have become dead instead of blind.”

In spite of all the time I spend lifting weights and exercising, I realized I lack the strength to have said those words. It suddenly struck me that I’ve paid a price for being a “gym rat”. If there is one characteristic common to friends who are aging with a graceful acceptance of life’s attacks, it is contentment. Aging had to be more than what I saw in a mirror.

But rather than undertaking a fundamental change in the way I face aging. I felt the place to begin would be to start small. A recent lunch provided a perfect example.

I’ve always found it extremely difficult to concentrate when I’m in a noisy setting. At this lunch with a friend in an outdoor restaurant, a landscaper began blowing leaves from underneath the bushes surrounding our table. Typically, after such a noisy interruption, I would have snapped, “let’s wait until he’s finished!. ”, then fallen silent. When the roar(吼叫)eventually faded, my roar would have drained(消耗)the conversation of any warmth. It troubled me that even a passing distraction(分心)could so easily take me from enjoying lunch with a good friend to a place that gave me no pleasure at all. I wanted this meal to be different.

My years in gyms had taught me to shake off pains and other distractions, never permitting them to stop my workout or run. I decided to treat the noise this way. I continued talking with my friend, challenging myself to hear the noise, but to hold it at a distance. The discipline was so familiar to me in the gym—this time applied to my mind— proved equally effective in the restaurant. It was as though I had taken my brain to a mental fitness center.

Learning to ignore a leaf blower’s roar hardly equips me to find contentment during my passage into ever-deeper old age. But I left the lunch feeling I had at least taken a small first step in changing behavior that stood in the way of that contentment.

Could I employ that same discipline to accept with dignity the unavoidable decline awaiting me like the finish line? Hoping that contentment will guide me as I make my way along the path yet to be travelled.

7 . Nothing succeeds like success, as every parent of a straight-A student knows, but trying to stress academic excellence by telling your child, “You’re so smart!” may be counterproductive. Why? According to a 2017 study, children who think their intelligence is fixed are less likely to pay attention to and bounce back（重新振作）from mistakes than children who think intelligence can grow and change.

In the study, researchers looked at 123 children. The team assessed the children to determine whether they had a “growth mindset”(believing that you can work harder to get smarter), or a “fixed mindset” (believing that your intelligence is unable to change). They then asked the children to complete a fast-paced computer accuracy task while their brain activity was recorded. During the recording, researchers noted that brain activity stopped within a half-second after making a mistake, as children became aware of their mistake and paid closer attention to what went wrong. The larger the brain response was, the more the child focused on the mistake. Based on the data, they concluded that children with a “growth mindset” were much more likely to have a larger brain response after making a mistake. While children with a “fixed mindset” were able to “bounce back”, only if they gave their full attention to the mistake.

For parents, the lessons are clear. Don’t pay your children compliments that suggest that intelligence is fixed. If your child hands you an A+ score, don’t say, “You’re so smart!” Instead, say, “Wow, that studying really paid off!” or “You clearly mastered this material-way to go!” Note the effort, not the intelligence.

Besides, many parent shy away from addressing a child’s mistakes, telling them “It’s OK. ”You’ll get it next time. ” without offering them the chances to figure out what goes wrong. Instead, it’s better to reassure your children that mistakes happen, and work to figure out where and how they make the mistake.

8 . It could be said that the northernmost part of our planet holds the secrets of our past as well as our future.

Through our exploration of the Arctic, scientists have discovered more about the biodiversity (生物多样性) of the area as well as how to preserve Earth’s ecosystems. Yet as one of the most severe but most primitive (原始的) places on Earth, the Arctic has been affected by human activities---research and exploration, booming tourism and above all, global warming---in recent decades.

Jonathan Smith, producer of the BBC documentary Blue Planet II, shared his filming experience in the Arctic. “We were all set and ready to film but we needed two major things---walrus (海象) and ice. I had expected that walrus may be hard to find, but I didn't expect it to be hard to find ice,” he told the BBC. “The crew was all commenting on how surprisingly warm it was.”

They were not mistaken. Scientists have been recording changes in the Arctic. Its sea ice minimum in summer, for example, has reduced by 40 percent in the past 30 years, NASA data showed. These changes have had bad influences on the Arctic and the human, animal and plant life that calls it home.

But the effects of these changes are not limited to the inhabitants of this area alone. In fact, it could be said that the weight of the world relies on this icy region. The Earth’s steady climate depends on the Arctic’s sea ice, which acts as a huge white reflector (反光体) at the top of the planet, bouncing some of the sun’s rays back into space. The more Arctic sea ice melts, the less light is reflected, and the more the dark oceans will absorb the sun’s radiation. The Arctic also helps circulate ocean movement, moving cold and warm water around the globe.

With visible changes in the global climate, the Arctic has given us a wake-up call---what happens “up in the North” doesn’t just stay there. It comes with a high cost to the world at large. It's time for us to pay attention to this chilly region and learn more about what’s happening there, as well as its past and possible future.

10 . Modern agriculture and its ability to feed billions of people may be one of humanity’s greatest achievements. However, it comes with hidden costs. For example, have you ever considered how much water is needed to provide you with a steak or a salad? It may surprise you.

In a recent study published in the journal Nutrients, scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), took a close look at the diets of 9,341 adult Australians – specifically, their “water-scarcity (缺少) footprints”.

The water-scarcity footprint is a widely recognized measurement of water consumption（消耗）. First, it counts the liters of water you used. Then, it looks at the place where the water was used. Using a liter of water in the desert is not the same as using a liter of water in a tropical (热带的) rainforest. The more scarce water is in your area, the larger your water-scarcity footprint.

The scientists found that the average Australian’s diet had a water-scarcity footprint of 362 liters per day. Snacks and beverages – cookies, cakes, sodas and alcohol – accounted for 25 percent of the water-scarcity footprint. The research also included a glass of wine (41 liters), a single serving of potato chips (23 liters), and a small bar of milk chocolate (21 liters). Not surprisingly, cutting out snacks would be the NO.1 priority if you wanted to lower your own water-scarcity footprint.

Climate change is causing droughts and extreme weather. In 2018, Cape Town, South Africa, nearly ran out of water due to a drought. Its freshwater reservoir(水库) stayed at just above 13.5 percent of full capacity. By 2030, a world of about 8.6 billion people will need 35 percent more water, and 50 percent more food, according to the United States National Intelligence Council.

So, we need to watch what we eat, not just for our personal health but for the health of our societies.