1 . A nurse named Aly Hogarth has reunited with a mother and daughter at the same hospital ship 30 years after saving their lives.

In 1993, Ms Hogarth was touring a hospital ship in Sierra Leone when she knew that a patient Catherine Conteh needed a Caesarean section (剖腹产手术), but she couldn’t _____ it. Ms Hogarth contacted her colleagues and they paid for the 170 surgery, so that Catherine’s daughter, Regina, could be _____. Later, Ms Hogarth volunteered to take care of her in the hospital, _____ her wound and teaching her how to feed the baby. In this way Ms Hogarth formed a _____ with the mother and the baby, but they lost _____ when she returned home to New Zealand.

Ms Hogarth, now 52, volunteered for charity Mercy Ships. Surprisingly, she _____ Catherine and Regina at the same hospital ship. They both became nurses, inspired by Ms Hogarth, and Regina now has a child of her own.

Ms Hogarth said, “To see Catherine in person again, it’s very unreal really. It’s not something I _____ expected until we made contact again. For me, I felt _____ at the moment when we met and didn’t know how to react.” “We just cried and cried,” Catherine said. “Regina and I would have died without Ms Hogarth’s pure love.”

“It’s really _____ to see Catherine again,” Ms Hogarth shared. “I thought about her every time I told that story for the last 30 years. I know it was a significant time — realizing that you can make a real ______ by doing something.”

2 . Movement is our first language; I believe we’re born to dance. I’ve always had a special liking for dance, and my job.

I got great _______ working in the therapeutic (治疗的) world; it felt more like a calling. I enjoyed every moment; my purpose and mission _______ me. My highlights are when I’ve witnessed once dull and hopeless eyes light up when the person felt seen, heard, and accepted.

Then, ill health struck. As my health declined progressively, I had to stop doing what I loved. _______, all I had was being able to facilitate the occasional workshop when opportunity and energy aligned (一致). Chronic fatigue syndrome (慢性疲劳综合症) is a merciless beast.

In 2020, the unimaginable happened. In addition to soul-destroying feeling of being _______, I began experiencing frequent vocal challenges of varying degrees. I could no longer accept facilitation invitations because my _______ was now unreliable. I grieved, feeling like I was being swallowed by a damp, dark fog.

After an extended period of being in self-pity, I _______ my thinking. I have internal value. My value or identity is not _______ by what I can or cannot do. Regarding my health journey, in time, I _______ this: it is what it is. For this season, this is my path.

So, I started dancing again. Life is full of surprises, pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral, yet what matters is how we _______ to those surprises. Despite ongoing voice loss and health challenges, I found new ways to make a difference.

You and I may not be able to choose the ________ life plays for us; however, we do get to choose how we will dance to it. May we dance with strength, courage, and grace.

3 . Steven took his 7-year-old son Alex and 4-year-old daughter Mia out on his boat for fishing and fun. But in the blink of an eye, things took a terrifying _______ when a strong current suddenly swept through, causing Mia to _______ her hold on the boat.

While Mia wore a life jacket, Alex did not. But as the current pulled his sister away, Alex wasn’t going to leave her alone. He, too, let go of the _______ and swam toward his sister.

Realizing the danger, Steven _______ jumped into the water and tried to help his kids. But the strong current made it difficult even for him. So he told Alex to swim to shore while he tried to rescue Mia.

“I told them both I loved them because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen,” Steven recalled. “I tried to _______ Mia as long as I could. But finally I wore myself out, and she drifted away (漂走) from me.”

Alex followed his dad’s _______ and headed for the shore. But it was no easy task. “The current was going the opposite way,” he explained.

This little boy spent an hour _______ his way back to land. He swam more than a mile. Once he finally made it to the shore, the boy ran to the first house he could find and begged for _______. From there, Jacksonville authorities _______ and rescued Steven and his daughter.

Alex, the brave and __________ little boy saved his sister and dad. If not for him, it would have been a different story.

4 . You may have heard of the famous workplace communication software, Slack. Many companies use Slack to virtually communicate across teams. What most people don’t know is that Slack, despite its _________, was never meant to exist. In fact, the company who developed Slack actually had been hoping to create the next popular video game. But after raising millions of dollars to fund the game development, the company ultimately _________ the project because the game failed to attract enough users.

The _________ goal of the company wasn’t achieved. However, during the process of creating their game, something else happened. The team realized that the _________ system they created to accompany the game was worth investing more time in. And they _________ to invent the communication system idea for one of the fastest-growing startups (初创公司) in history, and Slack was born.

An outcome-focused company might have just moved on from the failed video game or, worse, continued investing resources, risking further negative outcomes. But _________, this company didn’t do that. _________, they had been paying attention to the process. Focusing on the process allowed this company to _________ and redefine their desired outcome.

You’ve probably heard a quote or two in your life about the _________ of “the journey”—how often the journey is more significant and impactful than the __________. The company that developed Slack understood this principle, and by focusing on the process rather than the outcome, they were able to achieve greater success than they first had hoped for.

8 . Samuel worked in the town’s bookstore. His life had been predictable and boring. But one sunny morning, the bookstore owner _________ that the shop would be closing for good. Samuel’s heart sank, and he found himself facing an _________ future. Yet a ray of hope emerged — an opportunity to start anew.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, he thought, _________ the courage to break new ground. With a newfound determination, Samuel decided to go after his dream of becoming a _________.

With pen in hand and a blank page before him, Samuel poured his soul out onto the paper. He _________ tales of adventure, love and self-discovery. As he wrote, he gave life to the characters that danced across the page. _________, an unexpected opportunity presented itself. A local publishing house, charmed by Samuel’s stories, offered him a _________ to share his work. He took a leap of faith and said yes!

“Out with the old and in with the new” became Samuel’s pet phrase. The once-shy clerk _________ a confident author. His books found their way into the hands of readers near and far, touching hearts and igniting (点燃) passions.

Samuel’s _________ didn’t come without challenges, but he remembered the saying, “When one door closes, another opens.” Each closed door became an opportunity for growth and a stepping stone to even greater achievements. With each book he composed, he turned over a new leaf. His journey reminded everyone that starting anew was not just surrendering(屈服)to the unknown. It was an invitation to __________ a life filled with purpose and fulfillment.

9 . The bell rang to signal the beginning of lunch. Juanita rushed out of the classroom and headed _______ for the library. There was no way she was going to eat in the cafeteria today. Not after she did _______ when she was asked to represent her class to give a speech in the school. She was afraid that this would make her classmates and teacher sad and disappointed.

Juanita couldn’t believe her luck. No one _______ she had gone missing. Even the teachers, in their _______ to have their own thirty-minute break, weren’t aware that she had slipped away from the rest of the class. If her luck would only hold, she could slip (滑) past the eyes of Mrs. McGuire, the librarian, and _______ out in the corner where there’s a nice, minute cubbyhole just large enough for her to sit and go unseen.

It didn’t take long for Juanita to solve her next dilemma. When she rounded the comer, she was _______ to see her entire class, including her teacher, standing in her way. They must have entered through the other set of double doors while Juanita was trying to sneak (溜) past the front desk.

“I can explain,” Juanita’s voice sounded worried even to her own ears. “You don’t need to,” her teacher _______. “We are like a family, Juanita. Sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes we get embarrassed. Sometimes we get upset. Sometimes, we even do things we wish we hadn’t done. But, what we don’t do, what we never do, is not be there for each other. And we don’t give way to the _______.” She smiled at Juanita, and all the other students began to _______.

Juanita knew she would never forget today. No matter what happened from this point forward, she would always remember how kind everyone had __________ her, and she hoped she could pay the kindness forward.

10 . It was my first day of high school, and it was my first day of school in a new city. There was only one thing on my mind: what to wear. A good image is everything, so it was important for me to _______ the people who I would spend the next four years with.

For the first time in my life, I thought about how convenient it would be to wear the school uniform. After carefully selecting, I emerged proudly in a patterned dress. An hour later, I felt _________ as I stepped off the bus and headed toward room 1136. But as I turned the corner into my first class, my jaw dropped to the floor.

Sitting at her desk was Mrs. Hutfilz, my English teacher, _______ the exact same dress as I. I kept my head down and tiptoed to my seat, but the first day meant introductions in front of the whole class, and soon enough it was my _______. I made it through my minute speech, until Mrs. Hutfilz stood up, jokingly adding that she liked my _______. Although this was the moment I had been worrying from the moment I walked in, all the _______ that had increased surprisingly melted away; the students who had previously been staring at their phones _______ their heads as I shared my story. My smile grew as I laughed with my peers, ending my speech with “And I am very stylish, much like my first period _______.” After class, I stayed behind and talked to Mrs. Hutfilz, sharing my previous worry about coming into a new school and city. I was _______ to make a humorous and genuine connection with my first teacher, one that would continue for the rest of the year.

While my first period of high school may not have gone exactly the way I thought it would, it certainly made the day __________ in the best way, and taught me that Mrs. Hutfilz has an awesome sense of style!