Kristin Beale could easily have fallen into self-pity. Instead, she used life-changing injuries to fuel her creativity.

In August 2015, at the age of 18, Beale suffered a Jet Ski (水上摩托车) accident on Lake Gaston, along the Virginia-North Carolina border. She and a schoolmate were riding a Jet Sk when another ran over them, hitting Beale. She suffered a spinal cord (脊髓) injury.

Prior to the accident, Beale was an active student at college, involved in competition cheerleading and hockey. Afterwards, she had to relearn how to perform daily tasks. “When was in the hospital, doctors told my parents I would be a vegetable, and that I wouldn’t be able to breathe or swallow. I wanted to disprove everything they had on their list,” Beal said. “I told my parents, ‘I am going to work and do this.’”

Her parents discovered a facility in California for people fighting with spinal cord injuries and flew Beale there to spend four hours a day for more than a month relearning tasks and strengthening her muscles. She traveled to California nine times to work on her recovery.

To process her thoughts, Beale began writing about her experiences. By the time she finished, she had written 32 stories. She eventually gathered them into her first nonfiction book about how people react to her and how she has overcome her injuries and stays positive. “I never thought it would become a book, but that’s how it all started,” Beale said.

After the accident, her disability affected her life in some way, especially after her graduation. “For whatever reason, all my dates were bad.” she said. “Each meeting was disability-centered dating. It didn’t feel like dating; it felt like interviewing about my disability. I would open up on the dates and then never see them again. It happened over and over.” Fortunately, Beale has the distinct ability to turn everything about her into humorous and creative ones by writing books.

In fact, Beale didn’t start dating to get material for a book.

Shortly after her second book was published, Beale built a happy family.

I'm an English self-learner. English is not my first language. Today I’m an English teacher. I like to voice that failures are not disasters. Have faith, keep moving on and never give up. You will see your hard work pay off.

I was a slow learner when I was little. Before five, I couldn't even speak in full sentences like most other children. I sound interacted with others. I neither cry nor go, nor got angry. My extreme quietness made my parents wonder if I was mentally slow. But they were not sure. Actually, I have to admit that my memories of my early childhood are quite uncertain.

When I was in elementary school, I learned very slowly and was as quiet as a doll. While my teacher was teaching, my mind often would wander outside of the classroom to the playground. The learning problems and inactive personality remained with me until I was in Grade 5. As a fifth grader, I finally started interacting with my classmates. That was the first time in my memory that I had some friends. Most amazingly, from that time on, I became talkative, laughing and playing like any normal child.

After heading full speed for my junior education, my learning situation got stuck in the mud again. In my country, students were arranged into different levels of classes based on their IQ test scores. For example, students with higher IQ scores were placed in the “outstanding class”; average ones joined the “intermediate class”, and slower students were destined for the “bottom class”. I was placed in the “bottom class” as a result of my below average IQ score. Most of my teachers taught us using easy and slow methods because they considered us unable to learn much. Despite that, I never lost faith that I might one day succeed. As if to prove that when God closes a door, he will definitely open up a big window, a miracle occurred. That's when I discovered a strong passion for English.

Paragraph 1: At the age of 13, I found myself deeply interested in English.

Paragraph 2: That way, I could further expand my vocabulary.

Jackson Merle was exhausted (筋疲力尽的) . He had been knocking on door after door，looking for work, but no one would even listen to what he had to say. No one wanted to talk to him. He stood in front of the biggest house in the block. This was his last chance for the day.Every homeowner on the street had run Jackson off,without even listening to him,but maybe this one would be different? Jackson rang the doorbell. Within minutes a pretty young woman opened the door.

“Good morning,” she said cheerfully,“What can I do for you?”Jackson was heartened by her sunny smile and friendly attitude. “Good morning,” he said, “I’m a handyman (杂务工) , and I'm here to offer you and your family my services.” “What kind of work do you do?”she asked. Jackson answered,“I do some woodwork, painting and cabinet making. I fix small appliances and do some gardening, and my rates are very reasonable.” “Come on in,” the woman smiled, “I have a table with a wobbly (摇摆的) leg that needs fixing,and maybe you can paint my guest room?” Jackson couldn't believe his ears. He walked into the woman’s beautiful house,toolbox in hand.

First, he fixed the table, while the woman who introduced herself as Ruth-sat watching him work and chatting to him. Then he looked at the guest room. Ruth gave him money to buy paint so he could paint the guest room the next day. She also paid him twice what he’d asked for the table. Jackson said,“You've given me too much money!” Ruth told him firmly, “My daddy always told me to pay a fair price for a job well done, and that's what I'm doing!”

Over the next few weeks,Ruth’s neighbors were surprised to see the elderly man coming in and out of her house with his toolbox in hand. Somehow Ruth always found something that had Jackson coming back.

One afternoon, Jolene, Ruth’s neighbor, decided to find out what was going on.

Jolene was moved by Ruth’s kindness and thoughtfulness.

William, a highly skilled plumber (水管工) with three decades of experience, was admired by everyone for his outstanding plumbing abilities. However, what many didn’t know was his deep love for music. Ever since he was a young boy, William was passionate about singing. He dreamed of attending a music school and becoming a famous pop singer, just like his idol Willie Nelson. He even dreamed about performing in his own private concerts someday. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when a car accident claimed the lives of both his parents, abruptly ending all his ambitions for the future. As the eldest brother in his family, William had to drop out of school and find a job to support his two younger sisters.

After three decades, William’s passion for singing remained as strong as ever. As he went about his plumbing work, he always carried a little radio with him, belting out tunes and joyfully singing along. The dull tasks of repairs became enjoyable and much more manageable with music in the background. Occasionally, when inspiration struck, he even composed a song or two of his own. In fact, he had setup a small basement studio where he recorded some of these songs, purely for the fun of it.

One day, William received a call from a client, Remus Gall, asking him to help repair the pipes in his kitchen. William accepted the mission readily. Upon arriving at Mr. Gal’s, he was led into the kitchen and began his work. As usual, while doing the repair work, he happily sang along to his small radio. Coincidentally, Remus Gall was a music producer and owner of a small recording company. Remus overheard the plumber singing and immediately realized there was something in William’s voice. He was amazed that an ordinary plumber should have such great talent in singing. After the repair work, Remus got the chance to talk with William and introduced his profession to him.

“You’ve really got a beautiful voice.” Remus said sincerely. “Have you ever thought of releasing an album of your own? If so, I would be more than glad to help you.”

William was greatly shocked by what he heard.

After three months’ hard work, William’s first-ever album finally came out.

Mark was a 11-year-old boy. One day he was selling magazines for his school fees, walking 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(怒视) them. It was said that the old man’s name was Henry.

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

Dusk found Mark wandering and hesitating(犹豫) what to do. As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened: “Why are you standing here?” the old man Henry said impatiently. Mark was very afraid but he had to sell a certain number of magazines for his school fees... 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.”

Henry just stared at Mark without saying a word. Mark could see that Henry had dog figurines(小雕像) on the shelves inside his house. “Do you collect dog figurines?” Mark asked. “Yes, I have many collections in my house. They are my family here and they are all I have.” Mark then felt sorry for Henry, 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.” Henry was ready to close the door on the boy and said, “No, boy. I don’t need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye.”

Mark was sad that he was not going to achieve his goal of selling a certain number of magazines. He was also sad for the old man being so alone in the house that he owned. Mark went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figurine that he had got some years before from an aunt. The figurine did not mean so much to him since he had a real living dog and a large family.

Mark held the dog figurine and ran out of his house.

Mark’s contact and communication with Henry made a difference to Henry’s life and character.