What a great year we had had! A new baby daughter, a job promotion (晋升) for my husband, and a new home were among what we had received. My husband and I were grateful for them. We wanted no gifts for Christmas, because our cups were running over. So my husband and I decided to teach them to learn to share.

After dinner, we talked about doing something special for someone else at Christmas. Our oldest son said, “Why don’t we find a family who needs help and give them presents?”

All of us were excited about the idea. We didn’t know exactly how we find our “Christmas family”, but we did know we wanted to help. The next morning I made calls to friends who might know of someone in need. That evening at dinner I described the family I had found. The father was a repairman but lost his job two weeks before. He hadn’t landed a new job yet. There were three children in the family. The wife gave birth to a new baby, who was the same age as ours. But unluckily, the baby had been taking many tests as doctors tried to determine why she wasn’t developing properly. They had spent almost all their savings on the treatment, with little for daily necessities. They were in great trouble. Of course, they had little hope of having gifts for Christmas.

“Can we give them some of our clothes?” asked our daughter. We all agreed that her idea was good, and so the children ran to their bedrooms and began sorting out the clothes they had outgrown. But my husband and I knew that clothes were not enough.

On Christmas Eve, my family went for holiday shopping.

Then we were off to deliver Christmas gifts to our special family.

5 . More and more people are making eco choices on the road. Follow these tips to get your next trip off to the greenest start possible.

Pack light

Lighter luggage is the first step to reduce your travel footprint. Pack quick-dry, washable items that you can mix and match.     1    . This multipurpose item will come in handy throughout your travels.

Go your own way

Some destinations are too popular for their own good, but there are so many beautiful places to visit beyond these overcrowded hotspots. Get off the beaten track.     2    . Visit a different national park, or explore smaller towns in the countryside.

Slow down

You may as well stay a little longer and really get to know a place. Start up a conversation and find out where the locals like to eat and drink. Get around using public transport, book a homestay, and explore some days without a plan.     3    

Show kindness

Visiting another country is a chance to build bridges between cultures, and learn about different points of view.     4    , and be kind to those who help you on your travels. A tip or thank you and a smile can brighten the day of the people that help you carry your bags, check you in, or serve your meals.

    5    

Social media can take a beautiful destination from fantastic to horrible in no time when shared images and videos draw crowds from around the world. National parks and other ecosystems have suffered a lot from the flood of travelers. Avoid sharing the location on social media.

6 . Gifts are more than just an economic exchange of goods. They signal things about the giver, receiver and their relationship. It’s a sort of language that lets us communicate without words. Use the following little tricks to make gift-giving perfect.

Aesthetics (美学) of a gift shouldn’t be ignored and neither should presentation be. All the time and energy you spend picking the perfect thing for your receiver will fall short if you do. A gift should delight. It should be unique and easy on the eyes. So receivers often prefer appearance over function. This is why gift stores are filled with such gifts. These items are often low in their usefulness yet they make most gifts.

The price isn’t necessarily a priority. Even costly items can be considered as cheap sometimes. It’s better to pick an item from the top of an inexpensive sort than one at the bottom of an expensive sort. Even if you’re paying the same for both choices, the former will be received well.

A gift that feels heavier tends to be considered as of higher quality. Giving someone a hardcover book is better than giving them a paperback as a gift. You may also package it in a relatively heavy box. Anyway, pick items that aren’t too light.

Don’t present your gift without the wrapping (包装). It shows effort and devotion. Presentation expresses special thought on behalf of the giver. When they receive a gift, receivers process the exchange and analyze the giver in terms of thoughtfulness, which is communicated through gift presentation. If you want your receiver to think of you as thoughtful, make sure you wrap it in a good wrapping paper. Bad presentation can ruin a great gift. So it matters making a present more attractive to your receiver.

7 . People can see more and more information about light steel villas (别墅). Their style is very beautiful, which is very attractive for many people who long for high quality of life, especially young people.

However, many people have concerns about the safety and comfort of light steel villas. After all, compared with ordinary building structures, the building structure of light steel villas looks obviously “thin”. For those who are preparing to build light steel villas, they need to have a real understanding of light steel villas before making choices.

In fact, depending on advanced technology, the overall structure of the house is stronger and safer than the ordinary building structure. In addition, thanks to the light weight, the light steel villa is relatively good in seismic (抗震的) performance. What’s more, because the walls of the light steel villa are thinner, compared with the houses under the ordinary building structure, the actual indoor living area is increased, and there are more space for doing activities.

At present, most of the light steel villas on the market are based on two or three floors. If people only intend to build a one-floor house, then it is still recommended that they give up light steel structure and choose ordinary building structure to build houses. After all, the beautiful advantages of light steel structure cannot be reflected, while the cost is relatively high. However, if you plan to build more than two floors of buildings with enough planned money, light steel villas are still recommended.

It must be pointed out that people must avoid blindly focusing on low prices. To know that “good things are not cheap” at any time is an iron law, otherwise it is easy to suffer big losses.

10 . Arsh believes in the importance of making the world a more beautiful place. The talented boy not only paints but also sells his artwork and donates the money.

It all started when his parents bought him a set of painting tools for his 8th birthday. Once he had his own materials, he began spending much of his free time putting color on his canvas. As Arsh’s paintings began to grow in number, he decided to give them as gifts to friends and family. Receiving a positive response from people around him, he soon realized his pieces had the potential to get much more than smiles and praise.

His light-bulb moment came shortly after: he would sell his artwork and donate the money to charity. His first plan was to raise $1,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which he accomplished in around nine months by selling his paintings on social media and at local art shows. Since then, he’s broadened his reach to benefit other organizations, including childhood cancer nonprofit Compass to Care and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He’s raised over $16,000 for charities so far.

Arsh’s artwork is often colorful and cheery, as one might expect from a youngster, but it showcases the impressive technique of a gifted artist. Some pieces are more abstract in nature; others feature realistic renditions (演绎) of flowers and animals. They range in size and complexity, and, accordingly, price. Small paintings might sell for $10 while larger canvases, up to five feet, have gone for $800.

Last year, Arsh won The Diana Award, an honor presented by a UK charity founded on Princess Diana’s belief that young people have the power to change their country. And the young artist has advice for other kids looking to make a difference. “Helping others doesn’t have to be, like, money or anything. It can be your time, your skills, your talent,” he says, “and overall, just be kind to other people to make their day better.”