1 . Exercise and I have never had a good relationship because of my fear of sports.   From a young age, my dad __________ me into a dozen sports. I didn’t like any of them, __________.

When I entered University of Regina, my dad __________ telling me “You have to find a way to stay __________ ”or “You don’t want to get the Freshman 15, do you?” So I __________ to give swimming a shot, but I __________ managed to go to the pool twice during the fall semester (学期). Worse still, I was __________ to convince myself that “Yeah, that’s OK. ”

The spring semester came.   A friend of mine __________ me one day asking if I wanted to go to Zumba with her. All I knew about Zumba was that it was basically exercise dancing to Latin and pop songs. It didn’t sound too bad, but I couldn’t be __________ .

I went, and that was it. Zumba became my __________ of tea. The instructor would always say: “Don’t worry about the steps. Have fun. Do your own thing.” That removed my __________ about sports. I didn’t have to be __________. I didn’t even have to be good. I just needed to __________ the music and move. Zumba did __________ me from the Freshman 15, but it also did so much more. It let me make __________ with my unpleasant past with physical fitness, and enjoy staying healthy.

2 . Just a few months earlier, I would never have pictured myself acting in a play in front of two hundred people. If not for my teacher Mr Bricker, I might never have found that ______.

In the first and second grade, I was extremely ______. It just wasn’t in my personality to be very outgoing. I would escape into my writing. Mr Bricker always ______ me to write more. I think he was the first person to see my inner ______.

One day, he announced our class was going to ______ a play. “I need someone to play the lead part of Dorothy.” A few ______ students raised their hands at once. I, of course, was not one of them. After school, Mr Bricker said to me, “Dallas, I was ______ you didn’t raise your hands.” Me, the lead? I was ______ just thinking of standing on stage in front of a lot of people.

“You’re great at ______ things, so you won’t worry about lines. And you have such a sweet personality. Perfect for Dorothy! I had you in ______ for Dorothy while writing the play!”

I realized it was time to ______ my shyness. After five months of ______, we finally made the play a success. At the end of the play, when the audience stood and applauded, I knew they were ______ not just for my performance that night, but for the ______ that they knew would come in later years because of my new-found ______.

4 . My son had just gotten his driving license. On the way home, I ______ the car to a side road, unfastened my seat belt, and ______ places with him. “Okay,” I said, “I want you to drive home.”

Sitting behind the steering wheel, his body looked tense and ______ . “Mom,” he said quietly, “I can’t do this. I’m not ready.”

“It’s okay!” I said, “You’re ______ going to feel ready. You just have to go for it.”

“No,” he took a deep breath and ______ my father’s words. “Don’t ever apologize for knowing your limits. You told me that!” For a brief moment, time ______ I saw the very old photograph forever ______ in my memory. It shows my family standing arm in arm and ______ for the camera, with the then tallest roller coaster (过山车) we decided to ride together in the background. No one knew I was ______ terrified. I just didn’t want to be the one to stay behind. We ______ our way up the line and finally reached the end. Suddenly, my body was stiff (僵硬的) with ______ , and I knew: I just couldn’t do it. Too ______ to face my family, I simply called over my shoulder to Dad that I was leaving. Dad asked me what happened. “I guess I was too chicken. Sorry.” What Dad said next ______ surprised me. “Don’t ever apologize for knowing your limits,” he said, “And don’t let someone make you do something you’re not comfortable with. I’m proud of you for the choice you made.” This was the exact ______ of what I had expected him to say.

Instantly, I understood exactly how my son felt. Knowing the limits isn’t an ______ of weakness. It’s actually a sign of strength.

7 . No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own ______ .

I learned this lesson from a(n) ______ many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.

It was a tradition for the school’s old team to play against the ______ team at the end of spring practice.The old team had no coach, and they didn’t even practice to ______ the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment we were defeated. I couldn’t ______ I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to ______ that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were depending on me. I had to change my ______ about their ability and potential.

I started doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. Most important, I began to treat them like ______ . That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their vacations, we met every day and ______ passing and kicking the football.

Six months after suffering our ______ on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to improve. Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a ______ for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn’t what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest ______ of my life!

From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can ______ the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and ______ them. I helped them to see themselves ______ , and they built themselves into winners.

Winners are made, not born.

8 . It was 4 o’clock in the morning when I received the phone call.

“This is the emergency room calling and your son was just_________in with serious burns on his face, neck and arms.” The doctor described the_________, which caused the burns. At 6 a.m., my son and his friends decided to barbecue hamburgers in the courtyard of their apartment. Unfortunately, the charcoal burst into flames because they had sprayed too much petrol. The flames_________my son’s shirt tail and shot from his waist to well over his head.

Fortunately, one of the boys was quick- minded, grasped my son, and_________him on the grass. While it saved his life, there was not enough_________to save him from fearful burns and the terrible scars (伤疤).

After he recovered from the treatments, the doctors told him they would not do plastic surgery (整形手术) for 6 months _________ it took that long for the skin to stop shrinking and wrinkling. So he had to return to college with typical scars of burns.

When I was a child, my mother told my sister who had a very_________10-inch scar on her arm, “Nancy, if you ignore the scar, other people will ignore it. It does not mean they will not_________it, but it means it will not matter to them if it doesn’t matter to you.”

I_________this wisdom on to my son. He took my advice to his__________and returned to school with his head held high-glad he was alive. By the end of the six-month waiting period, he felt that the scars did not__________, so he made the__________to give up any plastic surgery.

We all have “scars” that we believe will__________people to keep away from us. And we spend a lot of time thinking that if we looked different, or dressed differently, people would like us better. But you see, people will only judge you by your looks, or your clothes, if you are judging yourself by these__________standards. Put your imperfections out of your mind and concentrate on what you value__________yourself, and your beauty will shine through.