1 . Last year, I baked brownies (布朗尼蛋糕) for complete strangers to say thank you because they rescued my unconscious partner.     1     It made me much delighted than I expected and made me realize the importance and benefits of expressing gratitude. Research has shown that sharing thoughts of gratitude and performing acts of kindness can boost your mood and have other positive effects on your health.

Today, many people don’t stop to appreciate what they have, much less express gratitude.     2     With commercial and social media, everything is speeding the younger generation to make them feel that they are the centre of the universe. If it’s all about them, why thank others?

    3     It can increase people’s happiness levels, improve their relationships, and have a positive impact on their depression levels. People who wrote thank-you letters or performed good deeds for a mere six-week-period were able to feel more energetic and accomplish more daily tasks for up to six months.

Moreover, gratitude can benefit people during all stages of life. Swedish researchers have found that thankful people aged 77 to 90 are less likely to focus on the chances that they may grow weak. “    4    ” says study author Helena Hörder, a researcher at the University of Gothenburg. “It’s some kind of confidence that you can cope with this.”

Gratitude is powerful for enhancing well-being, deepening relationships and creating a positive chain effect in our lives. To harness the power of gratitude, start by expressing thanks, and sharing acts of kindness.     5    

2 . Uplifting words

When you see your friends or loved ones feeling down or being met with some setbacks at school or work, you might want to offer them a pep talk. A pep talk is usually a brief, intense and emotional talk designed to influence or encourage an audience.     1     Just saying what you think the other person wants to hear might not be enough. It requires an understanding of what your audience needs — whether it is simply cheering them up or motivating them to change.

The column offers the following steps towards an effective pep talk.

● Step one is to listen.

Don’t jump right in and insist: “you will be fine.” Show your friend that you understand how they feel and empathize.    2    

● Express care and support.

Show your friend that you believe in them.    3     Talk about their strengths based on your knowledge about them. Saying things like: “You are a very resilient person.” “You are outgoing and friendly.” “You bounce back well.” Avoid general sentences like “You can overcome your fears.” or “Time heals.”

● Talk about hope.

You can’t guarantee success.    4     But you can remind the person that he or she has been through a tough time before and gotten through it.

● Be there.

Make sure they know that you will be there for them, follow up with them after the pep talk.

●     5    

Don’t argue if the person disagrees with what you are saying or tells you: “You don’t understand; this time is different.” Tell them: “I’m Sorry, you are having such a hard time.” Then back off.

3 . Even though food itself is not the problem, developing a healthier relationship with it is essential to eating disorder recovery. Most people with eating disorders struggle with issues of control when it comes to food—often shaking between rigidity(严格) and chaos.     1    

Let go of rigid eating rules.     2     Therefore, it's important to replace them with healthier ones. For example, if you have a rule forbidding all desserts, change it into a less rigid guideline such as "I won't eat dessert every day". You won't gain weight by enjoying an occasional ice cream or cookie.

Don't diet. The more you restrict food, the more likely it is that you'll become preoccupied (专注的) with it, and even addicted to it. So instead of focusing on what you "shouldn't" eat, focus on nutritious foods that will energize you and make your body strong.     3     Afterwards, you can eat when you're truly hungry, then stop when you're full.

    4     You may be used to skipping meals or fasting(节食) for long stretches. But when you starve yourself, food becomes all you think about. To avoid this preoccupation, make sure to eat every three hours. Plan ahead for meals and snacks, and don't skip!

Learn to listen to your body. If you have an eating disorder, you've learned to ignore your body's hunger and fullness signals.     5     The goal is to get back in touch with these internal cues(提示).

4 . Knowledge is power, and the more you learn about mental health, the better the position you may be in to help those facing mental health battles. Consider doing the following things to support those closest to you.

Attend a training course

    1    . In fact, anyone can benefit from depression awareness training that focuses on supporting those at risk. You might be a teacher that manages youth or a sports coach wanting to pick up on depression risk signs in your players. You may even be a worried parent who wants to make sure your children can tell you anything. Depression awareness and prevention courses teach you both theoretical and practical skills to recognize warning signs and behaviors.     2    .

Listen

If someone approaches you in their time of need, it’s not always easy to know what you’re supposed to do, and it may be more beneficial for you to just listen.     3    . They may just need to get what they are feeling off their chest and to feel valid at that moment. Try your best not to interrupt, but ask questions if you require clarification. The more listening you do, the better your position in deciding what to do next.

    4    

While being a listening ear is sometimes all someone needs to feel better, you can also become an ongoing source of support. Check in with the person experiencing a mental health problem like depression so that they know you are always there for them. Make contact with them regularly to see how they are feeling. Just knowing someone cares can make a world of difference.

Call emergency services

Your support, guidance, and listening ear can be of great value to anyone going through a tough time.     5    . If someone you know is experiencing self-abuse thoughts or tendencies, don’t delay in seeking emergency help. The faster you act, the safer your friend or family member may be.

5 . I grew up in an age of delayed gratification (满足), when I had to wait for almost everything.

The mail came once a day. Classic movies were shown on television.     1     It was the same with TV shows. If you had a favorite and you missed an episode, well – you had to wait until summer to catch the rerun.

And then there was money. The banks did business on weekdays only. They opened at 9 and closed at 4.    2     Well, check under the sofa cushions or borrow from family or friends.

Such was the world as recently as the 1970s. Everything seemed to operate on a strict clock, and the words "on demand" had no meaning, for there was no force on earth that could change the US Mail’s schedule, or get the bank to stay open a minute past.    3    

And then, seemingly overnight, everything changed. ATMs, movies on DVD and, of course, the personal computer, meant that we could have almost anything we wanted, when we wanted it.

However, I am not charmed by what we have gained.    4     Having to wait for almost everything meant living a life in slower motion. When one is subject to unchanging, institutional schedules, one has no choice but to wait.    5    

6 . All of us want to strive for perfection, don’t we? It could be submitting the perfect assignment or performing a flawless musical.     1     This is especially so when we are in a large organization, like a school or company.

When people work as a team, the end product is more likely to be of better quality than if an individual produces it alone. There is a name for this-synergy (增效) . Now, how does synergy work?

    2     Actually, synergy is abundant in the animal kingdom. Remember the clownfish darting (飞奔) among the sea anemones (海葵) in Finding Nemo? Both creatures demonstrate mutualism at play. The clownfish hide among the stinging tentacles (触角) of the anemones when their predators come close. In return, the clownfish scare off the butterfly fish that prey on anemones.

    3     From them, we learn that a team that works well together understands the strengths and weaknesses of each team member. Not only that, the teamleaders and members become proficient when they exercise specialization.     4    

In teamwork, there is much creativity.     5     While the occasional conflict may arise when certain members don’t see eye to eye over an issue, these are few and far between. The team leader will be at hand to case tensions when things go wrong.

7 . Short-form videos, also known as Shorts, have gained great popularity, particularly on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels.     1     However, there’s a growing concern that watching too many Shorts can affect children’s brains.

The phenomenon known as “TikTok Brain” arises from the app’s short and addictive videos. Similar to candy, these videos generate rapid dopamine (多巴胺) releases, stimulating the brain’s pleasure center. A study was conducted to investigate the impact of Shorts on the teenage brains.     2     They stimulated the brain’s reward centers more intensely than random videos.

Our brains process visual information faster than text, which explains why videos tend to outperform text-based content online. Due to their underdeveloped reading skills, children are more easily to become addicted to visual stimuli. Remarkably, social media platforms can do a lot harm to the development of reading habits among younger users.     3    

According to Jessica Griffin, a professor of child psychology, Shorts affect the developing brains of children and teenagers. The prefrontal cortex (前额叶皮质) is responsible for attention, self-control, memory, and learning flexibility.     4     This delayed development makes young individuals more easily influenced by Shorts.

In conclusion, the constant exposure to fast-paced and stimulating content in Shorts can impact children’s attention. To address this issue, parents can have open conversations with their children about the potential risks.     5     Furthermore, encouraging physical activities and outdoor experiences is also crucial to develop a balance d lifestyle.

8 . “Oh no, Haley. Why are you crying?” A question we often hear when we’re chopping onions.     1    

Well, it all starts underground. Life for an onion is pretty sweet when they’re down there in the dirt. Except when bugs (虫子) come by wanting a bite. Onions don’t like that at all.     2     When the bugs bite the onion, it releases a chemical which stings really bad. This gas acts as a natural insecticide, keeping bugs away from the onion.

This chemical is called syn-propanethial-S-oxide, which is what causes the tears when we cut into them. When we slice into onions to cook them,     3     When it reaches your eyes, it makes them sting. The gas can react with the moisture in our eyes and forms a mild acid. This acid irritates (刺激) our eyes, making them water in an attempt to wash away the irritant. This is why we end up crying when we cut onions.

So, how can we avoid crying while cutting onions? Well, here are a few tips.

    4     When the cold temperature slows down the reaction, less gas is released, which may reduce the amount of syn-propanethial-S-oxide that is released into the air. Alternatively, put a silver spoon in your mouth. When the chemical gets to the spoon, it binds with a metal before it reaches your eyes, or wear some very cool glasses like me. These glasses have side shields that block the gas from reaching your eyes.

In conclusion, onions make us cry because of the gas they release when we cut into them. Although it may be an annoyance,     5     So don’t let that stop you from enjoying their delicious flavor in your favorite dishes.

9 . Many people have reserved banquet halls in hotels and big restaurants during the eight-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday to hold wedding ceremonies or family get-togethers with special and exquisite dishes to serve the guests.

    1     While people in the West tend to believe “You are what you eat”, the Chinese people believe “To the people, food is heaven.” Few cultures are as food-oriented as the Chinese. For the Chinese people, food has a meaning far beyond its importance as fuel for life.

In Chinese culture, serving expensive and rare dishes is a way of showing respect for the guests.     2     This, however, results in waste of food at banquets (宴会). At wedding ceremonies and family reunions during holidays, food waste is even more common. So what are the reasons for food waste on such a massive scale?

First, many people are not fully aware of the importance of not wasting food. In most cases, at banquets, particularly at wedding banquets if the dishes are not expensive or excess food is not ordered for the guests, the couples’ families fear “losing face”.     3    

Second, some restaurants tend to encourage diners to order more expensive dishes by setting a minimum consumption amount for re serving banquet halls, while consumers who believe that luxury is a way of life, especially to boast of in front of friends, turn a blind eye to food waste regulations and advice from restaurant staff.     4    

    5     A recently released guideline was to solve food waste problem, promote a more sustainable approach to food consumption and encourage responsible practices in the restaurant industry.

10 . Ways to Develop Patience

Patience is essential to daily life and might be key to a happy one. Having patience means being able to wait calmly in the face of any difficulty or failure. This is all good news for the naturally patient or for those who have the time and opportunity to take a strict training in patience. But what about the rest of us?     1    

Rebuild the situation. Feeling impatient is not just an automatic emotional response; it involves conscious thoughts and beliefs, too. If a colleague is late for a meeting, you can be angry about his lack of respect, or see those extra 15 minutes as an opportunity to get some reading done.     2     And consciously trying to regulate our emotions can help us train our self-control muscles.

Practice mindfulness. In one study, kids who did a six-month mindfulness program in school became less impulsive (冲动的) and more willing to wait for a reward.     3     Taking a deep breath and noticing your feelings of anger or overload can help you respond with more patience to your children.

    4     In another study, adults who were feeling grateful were also better at patiently delaying satisfaction. When given the choice between getting an immediate cash reward or waiting a year for more, less grateful people gave in once the immediate payment offer climbed to $18. Grateful people, however, could hold out until the amount reached $30. If we’re thankful for what we have today, we’re not desperate for more stuff or better circumstances immediately.

We can try to shelter ourselves from difficulty or failure.     5     Practicing patience in everyday situations will not only make life more pleasant at present, but might also help pave the way for a more satisfying and successful future.