We are all faced with challenges in our lives. Most people have a hard time accepting and dealing with them. The truth is that you will have to deal with difficult problems throughout your life. Here are some tips on how to deal with everyday challenges.

1. Don’t compare your lifestyle with others. It is really difficult not to compare ourselves with others; however, the more often we do that, the more dissatisfied we will feel. There will be people that may have accomplished more than you. The key thing to remember is that you create your own story and success in life.

2. Don’t blame others. Many people make a habit of blaming others for all their problems. They fail to take full responsibility for the decisions they have made in life. The more you blame others for the challenges you are faced with, the more you will make people dislike you and not want to be around you. The first thing you want to do when faced with a personal challenge is not to start pointing fingers at others.

3. Accept changes in your life. You will have to deal with changes in life all the time. Many people don’t like change because it gets them outside of their comfort zone. You may be unhappy or happy at certain times; however, you have to realize that those two feelings will not last forever. You have to always train your mind to be at peace despite the emotional state you are experiencing.

4. Don’t think too much. When you think too much about an event that happened, you will start to judge everything and everyone. When you think too much, you will have a very hard time accepting reality and you will think that something is not right. Thinking too much can also lead you not to take action on your goal. This can make you really sad in the long run.

Life is full of its ups and downs. With the right mindset and practice, you will be able to overcome them every time and grow in the process!

2 . Eradajere Oleita thinks she may have a partial solution to two of her country’s problems: garbage and poverty (贫穷). It’s called the Chip Bag Project. The 26-year-old student and environmentalist from Detroit is asking a favor of local snack lovers: Rather than throw your empty chip bags into the bin, donate them so she can turn them into sleeping bags for the homeless.

Chip waters drop off their empty bags from Doritos. Lays. and other favorites at two locations in Detroit: a print shop and a clothing store, where Oleita and her volunteer helpers collect them. After they clean the chip bags in soapy hot water, they slice them open, lay them flat, and iron them together. They use padding (衬垫) and liners (衬里) from old coats to line the insides.

It takes about four hours to sew a sleeping bag and each takes around 150 to 300 chip bags depending on whether they’re single-serve or family size. The result is a sleeping bag that is “waterproof lightweight and easy to carry around”. Oleita told the Detroit News.

Since its start in 2020, the Chip Bag Project has collected more than 800,000 chip bags and, as of last December, created 110 sleeping bags. Sure, it would be simpler to raise the money to buy new sleeping bags. But that’s only half the goal for Oleita — whose family moved to the United States from Nigeria a decade ago with the hope of attaining a better life — and her fellow volunteers. “We are devoted to making an impact not only socially, but environmentally,” she says.

And, of course, there’s the symbolism of rescuing bags that would otherwise land in the trash and using them to help the homeless. It’s a powerful reminder that environmental problem and poverty often go hand in hand. As Oleita told hourdetroit.com, “I think it’s time to show connections between all of these issues.”

A seed expert who brought high-quality vegetable seeds to many countries, was awarded the 2019 World Food Prize. Simon Groot of the Netherlands is credited with introducing high-quality, disease-resistance vegetable seeds to more than 60 countries including the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

He began his search to create better vegetable seeds to help farmers in Southeast Asia in 1981. Sixteen years earlier, he had made his first trip to Indonesia. There, Groot learned that vegetable seeds which were developed for the climate of Europe, did poorly when planted in the hot tropics (热带). He thought there was a great possibility to introduce hybrid (杂交的) vegetables to the area. The area lacked vegetable seed developers who were trying to create hybrids for the local climate.

“I noticed the seed quality in that part of world was so much below our standards and below achievable standards. I could not stand that the farmers there did not have better seeds.” Said Groot.

At that time, farmers in Southeast Asia usually saved seeds from season to season. That was because the seeds available for sale were often old. Those seeds were usually from Europe or North America and did not grow well in their -tropical climate. This meant that the farmers ended up with smaller crops, and lower quality that changed greatly from season to season. The plant also could easily become infected with diseases.

Groot partnered with seed trade r Benito Domingo of the Philippines. They put together a team of seed researchers and growers from Wageninge University. Within a few years, they developed a hybrid bitter gourd that sold successfully. Then they adapted a tomato plant, followed by eggplants, pumpkins and leafy vegetables.

The early success led to the start of the East-West Seed Company, which now has more than 970 improved seeds of 60 vegetable crops. Over the past 40 years, the discoveries have led to the creation of a tropical vegetable seed industry aimed at small farmers. The tropical seeds are now spreading into Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The award was announced during a ceremony at the U. S. Department of State hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “The remarkable improvements made in these tropical vegetable seeds helped small farmers in developing nations produce more food and importantly get more income for themselves and their families,” Pompeo said. He added that these seeds fight hunger and help increase economic growth.

4 . Lessons in the Lost Art of Listening

When was the last time you listened to someone? And when was the last time someone really listened to you? I once asked people what it meant to be a good listener. The typical response was a blank stare.

Of course, technology plays a role. People find phone calls interrupting them, preferring text or wordless emoji. Besides, schools and colleges rarely offer classes or activities that teach careful listening. You can join clubs to perfect your public speaking. but who attempts to achieve excellence in listening? The loud unpleasant mixture of sounds of modern life also stops us from listening.

Generally, listening goes beyond simply hearing what people say. It also involves paying attention to how they say it and what they do while they are saying it, in what context, and how what they say is related to you. It’s not about merely holding your peace while someone else holds forth. Quite the opposite. A lot of listening has to do with how you respond — the degree to which you facilitate the clear expression of another person’s thoughts and, in the process, have a clear mind of your own.

Good listeners ask good questions. They engage in exploring the topic, not to divert attention. There are curious questions like “Wouldn’t you agree..” or “Don’t you think..” These questions have strong tendencies. They will greatly influence the other person to change his or her view. And you’d better stay away from some personal questions like “What do you do for a living?” or “What part of town do you live in?” Just try to find out what excites people. Ask about the last movie they saw or for the story behind a piece of jewelry they’re wearing. Also good are expansive questions, such as, “If you could spend a month, where would you go?” Research indicates that when people who don’t know each other well ask each other this type of question, they feel more connected than if they spend time together achieving a task.

Because our brain can think a lot faster than people can talk, be careful with the tendency to take mental side trips when you are listening. Smart people’s attention is easily taken away by their own runaway thoughts. They may also assume they already know what the other person is going to say.

The reward of good listening will certainly be more interesting conversations. Researchers have found that attentive listeners receive more information from speakers, even when they don’t ask any questions. We are, each of us, the sum of what we attend to in life. The gentle voice of a mother and the criticism of a boss both ultimately form and shape us. And to listen poorly, selectively or not at all limits your understanding of the world and prevents you from becoming the best you can be.

5 . In today’s world, online social media has become more powerful and the most destructive thing over worldwide, although with time all generations have come to accept the changes social network has brought about, teenagers and young adults are the most enthusiastic users of these sites. According to various research studies in the field of online social networks it has been revealed that these sites are impacting the lives of the youth greatly. When using these sites such as Twitter, Facebook or Myspace, there are both positive and negative effects on the youth.

Firstly, social media helps the youth and any other user updated with what is happening around the world, and helps the teenagers stay connected and interact with each other even if they are many miles apart. This strengthens their relationship. Even if they finished school and moved to different locations, they stay connected and update one another.

In addition, social media sites have provided a platform whereby the youth can create groups and pages based on their Common discipline and end up building connections and opportunities for their respective careers by updating different topics to discuss. Youth who have been interviewed say that social media has become their lifestyle and it makes their lives easier and more efficient.

While on the one hand social network sites seem to bring people together and stay connected, on the other hand it causes many physical and mental health problems such as eyes infection, back problems, etc. Other negative effects of social networking various people suggested included encouraging poor spelling and grammar, exposing underage to online predators（捕食者）, allowing spread of misinformation that is seen as fact, decreasing productivity as those who are supposed to be working spend time in the sites to chat, providing a perfect platform for cyberbullying and providing details that increase risks of identity theft.

“The more social media we have, the more we think were connecting, yet we are really disconnecting from each other.” One researcher said.

In conclusion, social networking clearly portrays both positive and negative effects on the youth. It is the decision of individuals whether to use it in a right way or wrong.