1 . Winter goes and summer comes. The tides_______; the tides withdraw. All nature is a circle of moods and I am a_______of nature. It is one of nature’s_______, little understood, that each day I_______with moods that have changed from yesterday. Inside me is a wheel,_______turning. Like the flowers, today’s full blossom will_______, yet I will remember today’s dead flower carries the seed of tomorrow’s blossom.

And how will I master these emotions so that each day will be_______? Trees and plants depend on the weather to_______, but I make my own weather. I_______it with me. If I bring enthusiasm to my customers, they will________with enthusiasm and my weather will produce a harvest of sales and a lot of gold for me. I will learn this secret: weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions; strong is he who________his actions to control his thoughts. Each day I will follow this plan of battle before I am________by the forces of sadness,________and failure. I will know only those with inferior(较次的) ability can always be________, and I am not inferior. If I feel depressed I will sing. If I feel________I will remember my goals.Yet, some emotions approach me with a smile, which can also destroy me. If I become overly proud, I will remember my weaknesses. If I feel my skill is________, I will look at the stars.

With this new knowledge I will make________of a person’s anger of today, for he doesn’t know the secret of controlling his mind. No longer will I judge a man on one________. This secret will be my key to great wealth. From this moment I am________to control whatever personality awakes in me each day. I will control my fate, which is to become the greatest________in the world!

2 . My two little boys were happily playing when I watched a passenger jet(客机) explode into one of the World Trade Center towers(世贸大厦) in New York City on the television.

It took my husband, Matt, several hours to return home. I ran to the door to _________ him. We held each other tightly, _________ in a state of disbelief. How could this have happened in our safe_________?

Dinner was quieter than usual, although the kids helped keep things _________. There wasn’t much _________ aside from expressions of deep sadness.

“I have a _________ for you,” Matt said.

“For whom?” I asked and then remembered it was my birthday. I don’t feel much like. “_________.How about if I open it tomorrow?”

“Okay, but you have to read this tonight.   He handed me a _________.”

9/11/01

_________ today; with the horrible disaster; I want to __________ to you again, how much you __________ to me. The hard work that you are engaged in right now is __________, invisible and largely thankless in the short term.

But honey, please know that __________ these little guys grow into men is a privilege that we should be proud to __________ as we grow old together and the perfect fulfillment(实现)of our __________ bonds.

You are a great mom.

You are a great wife.

You are my best friend.

You are very pretty. Happy birthday.

——Matt

3 . One day, I experienced something that caused me to lose my temper, to the point that I was in tears. So frustrated was I that I reached out to a dear and ____ friend to ask for advice on how to let go of ___. And then, I went for a long walk.

As I walked, I ____ my anger and what may have caused it. I heard my friend’s voice saying “drop into the heart space”, a space that love booms and if we allow it, it will   ____ our hurts. It is my ____ that hate cannot grow where love ____. I allowed my mind to follow that love and to review what the ____ of my anger was. I realized my anger is the result of many emotions that are normal.

There is a ____ of being overwhelmed, frustrated, tired and there is sorrow ____ as well. And perhaps the sorrow is the biggest one. For example, it is not easy to ___ a parent’s falling weak even when I recognize that it is part of the cycle of life. I had not acknowledged my sorrow until a friend ____ that it was part of my anger, and she was correct. I am grateful for having friends I can reach out   for ____ and comfort.

I am now able to ____ my anger, to drop into the heart space, to send out love and light, and to let go of any frustration rather than to ____ my anger. I know it will get easier if I am ____ with myself and allow the healing that is needed to happen.

4 . I had not hugged a friend or a family member for more than two years.

I hadn’t had that ______ until recently when my sister-in-law came for a brief visit. For everyone’s safety, we met outside. Despite the ______ weather in January, her hug warmed me from the inside out. I realized how much I ______ embracing loved ones — the warmth that ______ long after our arms untwined (松开).

There was war in my home town in Bosnia, so I found every moment was full of ______. On one peaceful morning, I begged my mom to let me go outside after weeks wilting (蔫) indoors. She ______ agreed. I was outside for only 10 minutes ______ I was caught in an explosion. I ______ to my neighbor’s house for safety and threw my arms around her neck while my legs were ______ underneath me. She hugged me with both arms and ______ me into her house. I was still in her arms when the ambulance arrived.

______, I made a full physical recovery, but the emotional ______ never left me. Years later there was another explosion near my house, when my father was away to buy a loaf of bread. When he came back inside, I gave him the biggest hug ______, choked in tears as I held him tight.

That same night my parents managed to arrange my escape from our war-torn city. They desperately wanted at least some of my childhood to be ______. I was 16 and came to America on my own. A generous host family took me ______. Over next several months, I suffered ______.   The only way I shared my feelings was by giving Oscar, their dog, a big ______.

Now, due to our pandemic lives, hugging a stranger is the ______ thing on our minds. For many of us, ______ hugging a relative or a friend comes with stress and anxiety because of risks and precautions (防范). I ______ that in the not-so-distant future we can safely hold one another again, a friend, relative, or a stranger.

5 . When a man lies in a chair in a barbershop with a steaming, hot towel across in his face, he relaxes. Going to the barbershop is a great opportunity for men to gather and _________ life stories. Men walk out feeling great _________ spending just an hour in this community setting and taking time for_________.

Lorenzo Lewis considers that the barbershop is one of the few safe spaces where men feel _________ to express their feelings openly. In 2016, Lewis _________ The Confess Project, a community-led project that trains barbers as mental health advocates after years of struggling with his own mental health. It mainly reaches out to men who may be _________ to receive therapy (心理治疗) because it means opening up to a stranger in a clinical setting.

Matt Dillion, who owns a barbershop that _________ The Confess Project, explained why he _________ that the barbershop is the _________ place for men to open up. “This is our ‘country club’. There is fellowship (交情), and there’s that wonderful __________ when you’re around guys that have been through what you’re going through.”

Speaking about one’s __________ and being listened to in an accepting way greatly __________ mental health. A study shows that when people share their feelings, they __________ to have strong immune systems.

The barbers support their clients in the moment, __________ trust and opening a pathway for communication. They encourage their __________ to seek support from therapists and other mental health professionals if necessary.

6 . One night, I read a book about some parenting strategies, one of which was to talk with your _________ and use those three magic words: “I love you.” It had _________ over and over that children need to know that you really love them.

_________ by this, I went upstairs to my son's bedroom. As I knocked, _________ I could hear were his drums. I knew he was there but he wasn’t _________. So I opened the door and, _________ there he was playing his _________. After I _________ over to get his attention, I said to him, “Tim, have you got a second?”

He said, “Oh sure. Dad.” After about 15 minutes’ small _________, I just looked at him and said, “Tim, I really love the __________ you play drums.”

He said, “Oh, thanks, Dad, I appreciate it.”

As I was walking downstairs, it __________ me that I went up there with a certain __________ and had not delivered it. I felt it was really __________ to get back up there and have another __________ to say those three magic words.

“Son, do you remember __________ you were learning how to drive, it caused me a lot of problems? I wrote three words and __________ them under your pillow.” Finally after a little small talk, I looked at Tim and said, “What I want you to know is that we love you. We just don’t express it __________.”

He said, “Thanks, that means a lot. I know you do.”

__________ I was walking downstairs, I started thinking, “I can't believe this. I’ve already been up there __________. I know what the message is and __________ something else comes out of my mouth.”

7 . Even though my Grandpa was a farmer, Grandma would iron his work clothes everyday. She would sprinkle (喷洒) Grandpat's _________ with something, hang them over a chair so they could dry a bit, and then iron them. I _________ her do this through my childhood. I thought every _________ woman in the world did it. But as the years passed, I began to _________ this practice. Why did Grandpa need his work clothes _________ ? Most days, he never _________ anyone but me and a few other farmers.

One day I asked Grandma about it. She told me that Grandpa was the most _________ man in the world, and that he was the _________ of her life.

Later that day, I looked _________ at Grandpa. He sure didn't look all that handsome to me. He was a short and skinny man. His hair was __________ on top, and his false teeth didn't line up very well when he smiled. So I __________ Grandma about it again. She __________ and said, "You just aren't viewing things from the __________ perspective (角度). He has beautiful blue eyes." She __________ , "I want him to feel beautiful. I iron his clothes everyday __________ he has made me feel beautiful for all these years. He is a man worthy of __________ ." I heard what she said and was still __________ . How could this old woman think that an old man with false __________ was beautiful?

The years went on, and I watched Grandma and Grandpa grow old together. I __________ knew what beauty really was—it was Grandma ironing Grandpa's pants. I was ashamed and decided to __________ the question I had asked.

8 . During the last few years of his life my Dad lived just up the road from me in a tiny home that used to _______ my Nana. He had been a widower for over 20 years by then, _______ my Mom when she was only 55 years old. Recently his Mom, my Nana had _______ too. He just lived with himself and spent a lot of time _______.

Several times a week, though, I would take a walk up to his _______. We would sit in the living room or on the front porch, sip tea and talk. It wasn’t anything _______. We just talked sports, gardening, weather and occasionally _______ a laugh over old memories. It was a simple sharing a real _______ between a father and a son, an hour spent just enjoying each other’s _______. Those afternoons ________ some of my happiest times ________ with my Dad. It allowed us to gently ________ any old wounds we had given each other when I was ________. It allowed us to ________ give each other the time and love we hadn’t before. It ________ us with sweet chances to grow closer together ________ he left this world. And I thank God for that time.

I know too that when my own time in this world is done, when my own ________ on Earth is finished I will get to spend another afternoon with Dad. And we will make that afternoon last an eternity.

If there is one thing that I ________ from those afternoons I spent with my Dad during the last years of his life, it is this: It is ________ too late to spent time with those you love and tell them that you love them. Because love ________ anything, even death. Begin today then! Spend an afternoon with those you love and those afternoons will become a lifetime.

9 . Like many writers, I'm an expert at procrastination (拖延). When I ought to be working on a(n) _______, I'll sit there watching pointless videos.

According to traditional thinking, my problem is _______ management. Increasingly, however, psychologists are _______ this is wrong.

Tim Pychyl at Carleton University in Canada has proposed that procrastination is an issue with _______ our emotions, not time. The task we’re _______ is making us feel bad---perhaps it's too boring, too difficult or we’re too _______ failing---and to make ourselves _______ better in the moment, we start doing something else, like watching videos. One of the first _______ to inspire the emotional effect of procrastination was published in the early 2000s by researchers at Case Western Reserve University, Ohio. Researchers first made people feel bad by asking them to read sad stories and showed that this _______ their possibility to procrastinate before an intelligence test.

The further research has also highlighted the ________ of procrastination. A recent study has shown that ________ procrastination can affect mental and physical health due to a build-up of guilt and frustration over avoiding important work.

Over time, high ________ and poor health behaviors are well known to have an effect on health as they can increase the ________ of serious and chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and even cancer.

All of the following means of ________ procrastination could have a major positive effect on your life. The next time you feel ________ to procrastinate, make your focus as simple as “What’s the next ________---a simple next step---I would take on this task if I were to get started on it now?” said Pychyl. “________ this takes your mind off your feelings and onto ________achievable action. Our research and personal experience has ________ us very clearly that once we get started, we're typically able to keep going. Getting ________ is everything.”

10 . It was just the three of us—my parents and me. My dad is a truck driver, and was gone most of the time, ______ supplies around the Midwest. So my mother was always like a ______ mother. We moved there on my third birthday. My first memory is our next-door ______ Arlene and her husband Bill, to whom I was always talking. I think what drew me to Arlene and Bill is that they never ______ listening to me. I also think Arlene saw a lot of herself in me-we were both lonely, anxious kids. Bill too. And that may be ______ she always took the time to listen to me. It was a wonderful ______.

One day, my parents asked Bill and Arlene whether they’d ______ me while they went out on a date. This worked well, so it became a monthly ______ .When I was about five, I had an idea, “What if Bill and Arlene ______ me as their granddaughter?” The next day, I knocked on their door, sat down in their living room, and asked, “Will you guys be my grandparents?” They started crying and ______ accepted. Soon after they printed an adoption certificate, and ______ it on their living room wall from then on. I was surprised that they took my offer so ______. They could have ______ it off. Thinking of that moment still brings tears to my eyes. There is something truly ______ about a child offering up her love and adults being so excited to accept it.

Over the years, Bill and Arlene ______ me in all my dreams. They encouraged me to apply for college. And when I got accepted to Colorado State University, they presented me with a ______. They told me they’d been putting away money for me.

Since I’ve become an adult, I’ve learned more about my grandparents. Both of them grew up poor. Their lives weren’t as ______ as they appeared to be. But the two of them always seemed genuinely happy in each other’s ______ .

Arlene passed away in 2013. Bill gave me the ring he’d ______ to Arlene on their 25^th wedding anniversary which I wear on my ring finger as a ______ of the kind of love I wish to put into this world.