1 . An old man went to live with his son, his daughter-in-law, and a four-year-old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was very poor, and he couldn’t walk steadily (平稳地). The family ate together nightly at the dinner table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating rather difficult. Rice often dropped on the floor.

The son and the daughter-in-law became angry with the old man, so they put a small table in the corner. There, the grandfather ate alone, while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner at the table. Since the grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

The four-year-old son watched it all in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with a piece of wood on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?” The boy answered, “Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and mama to eat your food from when I grow up.” The four-year-old son smiled and went back to work. The words struck the parents so hard that they were in silence. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks (脸颊). Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table.

2 . I am honored to work in the greatest profession (行业). Despite the long hours and hard work, I finish each day, feeling as though I have made a difference. This is the drive that keeps teachers energetic and passionate (热情的). As Christa McAuliffe said, “I touch the future, I teach.”

When I was named Maryland Teacher of the Year, I received a congratulatory e-mail from a former (以前的) student, Morgan, who is currently attending Georgetown University and is an officer of the student-run Women in Politics group. I recently turned on the television to watch a college basketball game to find another former student, Austin, running up and down the court for Georgetown. Walking through a shopping mall recently, I encountered (邂逅) a former student, Olade, dressed in a suit. After a brief greeting, he handed me a business card for the company that he just had started, at age twenty-two. Another student said he is in the process of applying for law school at Howard University. Believe it or not, I encounter former students with similar success stories nearly every week. One student, Tasha, is off to the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore next year to study, of all things, Social Studies/Education. Now that’s a student after my own heart!

Seeing the success of former students and knowing that I was able to make a small contribution to their success during the time that they sat in my class, is the greatest reward. Sometimes, while I am watching my current students working and interacting (互动) in class, I try to picture what they will be doing ten years from now. I wonder if I am looking at a future senator (议员) or judge. Can you imagine being able to say, “I taught Senator Thomas government in the tent h grade?” I would not trade my career for any other. I literally (真正地) touch the future each and every day.

3 . What makes you happy? You may want to answer that spending time with your family, taking a vacation or driving a new sports car makes you happy but the key to happiness may be altruism. Helping others may actually improve your happiness.

According to Time Magazine, the greatest thinkers in the world have suggested that true happiness is found in helping others and now there is scientific research from a team of psychologists at the University of Missouri-Columbia to prove it.

While Americans are guaranteed (保证) the pursuit (追求) of happiness in their Declaration of Independence, it is usually referring to individual rights and is self-serving (自私的). The researchers led by Liudmila Titova and Kenno n Sheldon looked at whether pursuing happiness for others will actually make people happier. They found that it does.

Two experiments were conducted by the team, according to Psychology Today. The first experiment asked participants to recall (回忆) a time that they tried to make themselves or another person happy. They were asked to write about the event and rate how happy it made them feel. In the second experiment, they were asked to remember a time that they tried to make someone else happy and also write about how it made them feel. This experiment produced a higher rate of happiness than the first.

“The results of these studies include findings from previous research showing that people get improved personal happiness from attempts to make other people happy—an approach that might seem unbelievable for a lot of people at first,” researchers wrote in the study.

But how does the research translate into real life? Find your passion and share your values. Whatever you do, the key is to find an approach that works for you and let it come naturally. Remember that improving happiness is a benefit of helping others and not the goal.

5 . A famous person once said, “We live much happier lives when we are generous(慷慨的) in as many ways as possible.”

I love persimmons (柿子). A few years ago, ready to fly from San Francisco to Boston, I packed two persimmons, one of which I ate in the waiting room. A lady asked me from which store in the airport the fruit was bought. She looked a bit disappointed hearing that it couldn’t be bought from any store in this airport. I thought to myself, “I can give the second persimmon away.” When I offered her the fruit, at first she refused, but when I insisted (坚持), she became glad and accepted. I felt happy to make someone else happy, and I thought it was the end of the story.

Sometime during the flight, the lady met me in the aisle (过道) and thanked me again. She shared that she had grown up in Russia, where there was a persimmon tree in the yard of her childhood home. She now lived in Boston, where she hadn’t been able to find the fruit. The taste of the persimmon was valuable to her, reconnecting her with memories of her family.

Only then did the tiny act make a difference to me. As a famous saying goes, “______” The taste of the persimmon that I offered to the lady gives me more joy than all the ones I have eaten.

6 . The new, “used” car that I bought just three months ago wouldn’t start the other day. The factory battery (电池) that came along with it decided that it had worked long enough and chose to take an early, permanent retirement (永久的退休). My kindhearted neighbor gave me a jump but the battery stubbornly wouldn’t hold the charge (电量). After getting one more jump, I headed to the local auto parts store to buy a new one. Fixing it was more difficult than we thought, however, so I took it to a local mechanic (机修工) who finally got the new battery in and the car ran once again.

Driving it this morning, I noticed that the time and date on the screen had suddenly gone back nine years to the original date of the first time it was started. While my son smartly worked out how to program it back to today, I thought about all the times I had wished I could go back in time and make up for some of the mistakes I had made in my own life.

How many of us wish that we could go back to a certain time and change things? I know that I have wished that before. Yet, when I look back on my life today, I think that I wouldn’t change anything. Every choice I have made, every step I have taken, every road I have traveled has led me to where I am now.

Yes, many of my choices have brought me pain in the past, but they have also brought me wisdom for the present. I wouldn’t want to change things if they would then change me. All that I have learned, all that I have become, comes from the roads I have taken.

When you look at your own life, don’t regret the roads not taken. Instead, celebrate the path you are on. Keep your feet moving forward.

8 . Once upon a time, a daughter complained to her father that her senior high school life was unhappy and that she was tired of struggling with homework all the time.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, h placed potatoes, eggs and coffee beans in them. After 20 minutes, he took them out, putting the potatoes and eggs in a bowl and the coffee in a cup.

Turning to his daughter, he said, “Look closer, and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After puling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to taste the coffee. Its good smell brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked. He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and the coffee beans were in the same adversity (逆境)—the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently.

The strong and hard potato became soft and weak in boiling water. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However, the coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new. “Which one do you want to be like,” he asked. “When adversity knocks on your door, how will you respond?”

In life, challenges happen to us all, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.

9 . There are only 24 hours in a day, but people can use the time wisely. In other words, good time management (管理)is important if you want to succeed.

Knowing the importance of daily matters is the first step towards good time management. Write down the things that you want to do and organize them according to their level of importance. The important thing should be done first. If there are too many things that have to be done in one day, then you have to give up doing something that is less important on your list.

Besides this, you need to spend a specific (特定的) amount of time doing all the activities you have written down and make sure you finish them on time. People often slow down in their work even though they know that time will never wait for them. Make sure you keep to your plan and finish the tasks one by one. Do not try to do too many things at once.

Also, you can group similar activities together and do them one by one. For example, you can group all the tasks you need to do in the office together and do them while you’re in office. Do all the tasks that have to be done in one place first, and then move to the next place to do the other tasks.

“The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you’re the pilot, ”said Michael Althsuler. Your future is in your hands, so remember to invest(投资)your time wisely from today on.