A Blessing From A Homeless Person

On the way back from work every evening, more often than not, there would be a homeless man standing at the exit of the freeway. He seemed to be in his late 40s, but was probably a little younger. Although wearing ill-fitting clothes and a mismatched pair of shoes, he seemed neither scruffy nor gloomy. With a huge grin highlighting his face, he always waved at every car and sometimes almost danced, which made the thick moustache appear “stylish” and even adorable.

Every day after work I would remember to gather any spare change, and put it aside to give him if I saw him. A feeling of joy would come over me every time I caught sight of him while coming down the ramp. He did have that effect. I’d quickly roll down my window and give him the coins. Occasionally the red light would be on for a minute and we would ask each other about our day. His answer would always be the same— “I’m blessed!” I knew what his answer was going to be every time, yet I would still ask just as if his words could work their magic on me. It amazed me that even in his situation of being homeless he was so positive, and his answer would always remind me how blessed I was: a single mother of four amazing kids, with a place to call home and a job to provide for my family.

One day I was called into my boss’s office and informed that I was being laid off due to the depressing economy. This came as a nasty shock for a single mother whose big family survived on this salary. A feeling of helplessness and grief engulfed me, then followed by endless worry. For the rest of that day, all I could think of was “How am I going to provide for my kids? How am I going to pay rent? And what am I going to do?”

Needless to say, I was very sad and upset on my way home that day.

You see that day he gave me more than a dollar bill; he taught me a valuable lesson.

A Little Boy

A little boy selling magazines for school walked up to a house that people rarely visited. The house was very old and shabby and the owner hardly ever came out. When he did come out, he would not say hello to his neighbors or passers-by but simply just glared at them.

The boy knocked on the door and waited, sweating from fear of the old man. The boy’s parents told him to stay away from the house, and a lot of other neighborhood children were told the same thing from their parents.

Dusk found the boy lingering on and hesitating what to do. As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened. “What do you want?” the old man said impatiently. The little boy was very afraid but he had a quota (定额) to meet for school with selling the magazines. So he got up the courage and said, “Uh, Sir, I am selling these magazines and, uh, I was wondering if you would like to buy one from me.”

The old man just stared at the boy without a word. The boy could see inside the old man’s house and saw that he had dog figurines (小雕像) on the fireplace mantle. “Do you collect dogs?” The little boy asked. “Yes, I have many collections in my house. They are my family here and they are all I have.” The boy then felt sorry for the man, as it seemed that he was a very lonely soul.

“Well, I do have a magazine here for collectors. It is perfect for you. I also have one about dogs since you like dogs so much.” The old man was ready to close the door on the boy and said, “No, boy. I don’t need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye.”

The little boy was sad that he was not going to make his quota with the sale. He was also sad for the old man being so alone in the house that he owned. The boy went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figurine that he got some years ago from an aunt. The figurine did not mean nearly as much to him since he had a real live dog and a large family.

The little boy headed back down to the old man’s house.

From that day on something changed inside the old man.

3 . Running is often tiring and a lot of hard work, but nothing beats the feeling you get after finishing a long workout around the track.

But while it’s long been believed that endorphins (内啡肽) —chemicals in the body that cause happiness—are behind the so-called “runner’s high”, a study suggested that there may be more to this phenomenon than we previously knew.

According to a recent study published by a group of scientists from several German universities, a group of chemicals called endocannabinoids (内源性大麻素) may actually be responsible for this familiar great feeling.

To test this theory, the scientists turned to mice. Both mice and humans release high levels of endorphins and endocannabinoids after exercise. After exercising on running wheels, the mice seemed happy and relaxed and displayed no signs of anxiety. But after being given a drug to block their endorphins, the mice’s behavior didn’t seem to change. However, when their endocannabinoids were blocked with a different drug, their runners’ high symptoms seemed to fade.

“The long-held notion of endorphins being responsible for the runner’s high is false. Endorphins are effective pain relievers, but only when it comes to the pain in your body and muscles you feel after working out,” Patrick Lucas Austin wrote on science blog Lifchacker.

Similar studies are yet to be carried out on humans, but it’s already known that exercise is a highly effective way to get rid of stress or anxiety. The UK’s National Health Service even prescribes (开药 方) exercise to patients who are suffering from depression. “Being depressed can leave you feeling low in energy, which might put you off being more active. Regular exercise can improve your mood if you have depression, and its especially useful for people with mild to moderate (中等的) depression,” it wrote on its website.

It seems like nothing can beat that feeling we get after a good workout, even if we don’t fully understand where it comes from. At least if we’re feeling down, we know that all we have to do is to put on our running shoes.

6 . Emma Jones’ three-year-old son, Eric, was sharing a hot dog on the deck overlooking her friend Sarah Roth’s swimming pool. One moment Jones was watching Eric play around with the other children at this _________ of moms and kids last July. The next moment he disappeared without a _________. She turned to her friend Machel Rawlings and asked, “Have you seen Eric?”

Rawlings stood, _________ the pool and suddenly screamed. Eric was found _________ face down in the deep end. What happened next was a _________ textbook response: As Rawlings dived in the pool, grasped the boy, _________ him over and swam him to the end. Meanwhile, their host, Sarah Roth, dialed 911. At the pool’s _________, Rawlings handed Eric up to his mother. His skin was blue and wasn’t breathing.

Rawlings who’d taken a CPR course just four months earlier, immediately began rescue breathing. Hanging up the phone, Roth, a former flight attendant who’d accumulated _________ experience before, _________ CPR from Rawlings. Three long minutes went by with Roth breathing into Eric’s mouth and __________ chest compressions (按压) while Rawlings and Jones __________ his condition. Gradually his color __________, and as the ambulance was arriving on the __________, Rawlings looked at Roth. “He’s breathing,” she said.

The __________ with which the women acted saved Eric’s life. Emma Jones found any words seemed powerless. She said __________, “They did everything right.”

In October, I told the eight-year-olds in the religion class I teach in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, about my plan. “I’d like all of you to do extra jobs around the house to earn some money,” I said. “Then we'll buy food for a Thanksgiving dinner for someone who might not have a nice dinner otherwise.” I hope they could experience a sense of their own power to effect change.

Early in Thanksgiving week, the boys and girls arrived in class with their hard-earned money. They had set tables, washed dishes and helped with baby-sitting. And now they couldn’t wait to go shopping. I watched while they dashed up and down the supermarket aisles(过道). At last we headed toward the checkout, pushing a cart filled with turkey and all the items needed. Much to my surprise, I saw a pot of purple chrysanthemums(菊花) on top of the cart. It was more reasonable to use any extra money to buy food. “You can’t eat flowers.” I pronounced. But the children insisted and placed the purple plant into the cart.

An agency had given us the name and address of a needy grandmother who had lived alone for years. Soon we were arriving at her house. Between the laughing and those purple flowers, I wasn’t sure that any lesson about giving and receiving was getting through.

10 . I believe that life's toughest lessons are best learned through personal experience. Throughout my childhood, my grandmother ________ me with unconditional love but always stressed, "You're not ________ than anyone else, but you're just as good as anyone. Treat others with dignity, and you would earn respect ________.

However, I never really ________ it until I was seventeen and got a summer job as a janitor. As I cleaned floors and toilets, I watched people walk right by me and ignore my ________. This made me feel angry and wonder why they treated me so poorly.

When I ________ to my grandmother, she offered me some words of ________ and reminded me never to forget the feeling of being "________" and to do the best job, because it was still my work, in which I should take pride. She added that it would make me a better man someday.

Make me a better man someday? She must be ________, I thought to myself. But I needed the job to ________ college and there were few other jobs available, so I bit my tongue and kept on working as best as I could for the rest of the summer.

Today, when asked what job helped prepare me to gain the ________ of a key university, I tell people it was my summer job cleaning restrooms that ________ me as a man and, down the road, as an educator.

As you can see, ________ can only be understood by walking in a lot of different shoes. So I suggest students get out of their comfort zones and get deeply ________ in different work and community experience. It's essential for people to find ________ in every person, no matter who they are or what they do for a living.