1 . A lot of people think that a confident person is someone who is completely free of worry. That appears to make _________, because it would seem that confidence and worry are the complete opposite of each other. _________ it’s not the truth at all. _________ people are not people who never _________ worry. They are people who feel worry but are able to _________ it.

So how can you _________ anxiety? Firstly, we need to accept that worry serves a purpose. It is not a _________ emotion. It only becomes a _________ when it stops us from acting. Every time you feel worry, _________ yourself that it is a __________ response. Analyze the situation and if it seems OK, you can go ahead.

The second thing you can do is to look at what __________ worry. Like many negative emotions, worry comes from worried thoughts. If you are faced with a job interview, and you may think, “There are plenty of __________ people than me going for the job”, or “I’m bad at job interviews”. With the thoughts, of course you are going to feel worried!

But the thing is, if you __________these thoughts, there are plenty of things __________ behind those statements. Even if there are plenty of better persons than you going for the job, are they better in all __________? Does the job always go to the “better” candidate? (候选人) If you can attack and destroy all the false logic around those statements, you will automatically (自动地) feel less anxious.

2 . My adult son walked to the table this morning for breakfast. As he did he opened his _________ to me. I did the same and gave him a big _________ just like I do every morning. And this time a beautiful _________ came back to me.

My Italian grandma had been a big hugger when I was a boy, but my mom had _________ in a more reserved (保守的) family and didn’t hug me often as I grew into my teenage years. My dad seemed to _________ the gender roles of the day back then and didn’t hug me much as I got older. By the time I was a teenager then, _________ grandma, I didn’t hug anyone.

When I was sixteen, I went on a trip with a group of boys to _________ a college. We visited a _________ on our way, where we were _________ by the largest monk (和尚) I had ever seen. He gave each of us a HUGE HUG. My own __________ came at last. Though I felt a bit __________, I stepped in and hugged him back. I sensed a __________ in my heart as he shared his loving kindness. It was amazing. Later that day I began to wonder why I had __________ giving and receiving hugs when they brought so much joy. When my own children were born, I __________ never to stop hugging them and telling them I __________ them, no matter how big they grew or how old they got.

3 . It was Mother’s Day. Our teacher Amelia said each of us would get a mug (马克杯) later and that we would_________mugs for Mother’s Day. They were white, saying “world’s best mom” on the side. I couldn’t read it at first, but I _________the words quickly. Dad had taught me them.

When Amelia_________a mug to me, I told her I didn’t want one. She didn’t seem to have_________my answer and asked me why. I replied, “Mom _________ two years ago. Even if we missed her, Dad said she wouldn’t come back, so I was _________to give her a mug.” Amelia seemed a little_________about my unlucky experience, touching my head_________. And next to me, Amy had already_________sunflowers all over her mug. It__________me that Dad preferred others to secretly prepare gifts for him and that I also could do one for Dad. In these two years, he was more than Dad. He had been making great efforts to learn to be a__________. Even my nice braids (辫子) were all his works. He__________a gift.

So I told Amelia about my__________and took a mug out of her hands, Amelia hugged me and said in a quite__________voice, “You and your dad both are great!” Her eyes looked full of water. Later, after school, I__________the mug at the bottom of my schoolbag__________I knew how much Dad loved a__________and how long he hadn’t had one. When I met him, I__________presented the mug to him and told him it was a Mother’s Day mug. My behavior was obviously beyond his__________. Dad just stood there, opening his mouth but saying nothing. His seven-year-old girl has learnt to give back with__________to Dad.

4 . Every year on my birthday, a white gardenia (栀子花) was _________to my house. But no card or note came with it. Calls to the flower shop were always _________— it was a cash purchase. After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender’s identity and just _________in the beauty and heady perfume of that one magical, perfect white flower lying in soft pink paper.

But I never stopped _________who the giver might be. My mother _________to these imaginations. She asked me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness who might be showing _________. I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy I fell in love with or one who had a _________on me even though I didn’t know him.

One month before my high-school graduation, my father died. My feelings _________from sorrow to fear and anger: my dad was _________some of the most important events in my life. I became completely __________in my coming graduation, the senior-class play and the ball. But my mother would not hear of my losing any of those things. Mother and I had gone shopping and found an impressive dress, but it was the __________size. When my father died, I forgot about the dress.

The day before my ball, I found that dress — in the right size — hanging over the living room sofa. It was __________to me so lovingly. I didn’t __________if I had a new dress or not. But my mother did. She wanted her children to feel __________, filled with a sense that there was a beauty even in the face of __________.

My mother died ten days after I was married. The following year the gardenia stopped coming.

5 . Childhood should be full of friends, play, and happiness. But when children are _________ and without their peer group, they may _________ a helping hand to get back on track. That’s why schools in India are teaching _________.

Actually, it is important to _________ kids to be resilient (有弹力的). They needed a(n) _________ that could train students to identify emotions and ways to channel them.

The happiness course was _________ started by the Indian government in 2018. It _________ mental health, well-being. It also encouraged _________ peer connections for elementary school children. The course included storytelling and teamwork activities.

“The happiness course is a(n)_________, and schools should welcome it. The objectives include developing self-awareness, mindfulness, critical thinking, and helping children __________ life skills to deal with stress,” said Shikha Banerjee, the principal of the Seth Anandram Jaipuria School in Kanpur.

“Mindfulness is the cornerstone of the happiness course and its biggest __________ is that every day 1.6 million children in Delhi start their studies in school with mindfulness. It has __________ as a turning point in the lives of students studying in Delhi schools and has relieved (缓解) children from stress and __________ their focus in studies,” deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said during the Mindful Education Awards 2021 program.

The award is an initiative to __________ the efforts of schools in creating a mentally and physically healthy __________ for the development of children through teaching mindfulness.

6 . I love persimmons(柿子). A few years ago, preparing to travel from San Francisco to Boston, I_________two persimmons, one of which I_________in the flight departure lounge(候机室), waiting to board the_________.

A lady _________me and asked from which store in the airport the fruit was bought. She looked a bit _________hearing that it couldn’t be purchased from any airport shop. I thought to myself, “I can_________the second persimmon to her.” When I _________her the fruit, she at first _________ , but when I insisted, she was visibly glad and appreciatively accepted. I_________my corner of the lounge, satisfied to have made someone else__________and that I thought was the end of the story.

Sometime during the flight, the lady caught up with me in the aisle(过道) to__________me again for the persimmon. She__________that she had grown up in Japan, 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 this one persimmon was precious to her, __________her with memories of her parents and grandparents by our senses of taste and smell, as if magically.

Only then did the influence of this tiny act dawn on me. To this day I am__________by it so much that the taste of the persimmon I never ate gives me more__________than all the ones I have eaten, combined.

7 . Everyone gets angry sometimes, but being angry doesn’t really solve much. Your goal is to calm yourself down. This is _________ for some people. Instead of calming down, they might get more and more upset _________ they explode like a volcano. Some people might say they have trouble _________ their temper. Sometimes angry feelings can be hard to _________. So what do you do if your temper is like a volcano?

Well, the good news is that people don’t keep making the same mistakes over and over again. You can _________ your temper. Here are steps you can take at any time.

Get a lot of _________ activities. Exercise can be good because it is a way of _________ energy and stress. You can dance around your room to your favourite music, too.

Talk to your mum or dad. If you’re having trouble with your temper, tell your parents you’re trying to do a better job of controlling yourself. Let them know you are going to ask for their help.

Put _________ into words. Get into the habit of saying what you are feeling and why. Using words might help you manage your strong feelings and behaviours.

Take a break from the _________. If you are in a(n) __________ with someone, go to another part of your house. You can just say, “I want to be __________ for a while so I can calm down.”

Go into a timeout. If you feel angry and think you need a timeout to calm down, don’t __________ until your parents tell you to take a timeout for yourself. Let your family know that when you’re taking a timeout — they need to __________ your space and leave you alone. While you are sitting in your chair, try to take a deep __________.

Learn to shift. The idea is to shift from a really angry mood to a better mood. After you __________ the angry feelings out, you have to start thinking about other things. You can say, “I lost my temper, but I’m going to get myself under control now.”

8 . In 1980, Dad was diagnosed(诊断) with a serious disease. The disease _________ his memory and expression. Dad couldn’t think or process information as fast as he _________ to. He grew to repeat the same words, which drove Mom _________. On one of my visits home, Dad was sitting in his deck chair. I reached down to _________ and kiss him. “What’s new? How are you?”

“Oh, you know, dear, the same. They treat me like a mushroom around here. They keep me in the dark.” He laughed, proud of his _________.

As I walked through the kitchen, I stopped to hug Mom. She _________ her head. “I heard your dad and those words! It’s not his will. He just can’t _________ himself.” She stopped for a while before _________. “He always says he’s just like a mushroom…” She took a _________ breath and laughed. “Goodness,” she said, “I’m going to be __________ the adversity(困境) for a long time.”

__________, Dad never became difficult, or had personality changes. I often felt grateful for that. Dad loved and __________ everything Mom ever did for him as well, no matter how big or small.

Care-giving comes at a __________. Mom was annoyed with Dad, but there was lots of love between them. Through the 21 years of care giving for Dad, there was __________ and tears, as well as weddings and babies. Without __________, I’m not sure what would have happened to us.

9 . One of my happiest moments was when my longest friend invited me to be in her wedding. I was pretty delighted and ________ . Katie and I have known each other since she was born, but she is a very ________ and generous person who has made many friends in the last 20 years. I agreed and the wedding was ________ in October.

Several months before the wedding, Katie made a special ________ -she asked me to bring beloved toy, a lamb from our ________ , to the wedding so we could recreate a special photo. When Katie and I were young, my mother ________ two lambs in a gift shop and she got them for us. We’ve had them ever since, and they were the ________ of our friendship.

When she asked me to bring my lamb, it ________ me that I hadn’t seen it for years. I had the whole family help search for it, but had no ________ . It was August, and I only had two months before the wedding. I ________ my options and decided I wasn’t ________ to admit to Katie that I’d lost something precious. Many times I would have ________ my courage to tell her about that but I still ________ the matter.

Finally, Katie’s wedding arrived. The first thing she asked me when she saw me was ________ I had brought my lamb. She just looked so excited. I ________ deeply and admitted my whole family had spent days looking for it, but it hadn’t ________ . I told her I was absolutely ________ . She gave me a hug and said she was sorry for my loss. I held Katie tight, knowing I will have the ________ friend. Eventually, we recreated the photo, using just her lamb.

I’m impressed that Katie has ________ to hold on to hers for so long. Her wedding day was not only a beautiful celebration of her and her husband’s love, but it also felt like a wonderful ________ that a lifelong friendship can make you feel great, even years later.

10 . I happened to see my first butterfly of the spring today. I was carrying some groceries into my house when _______ the little lady flew right down in front of my face. She was so _______ that my heart beat with love and my eyes filled with _______. After she left I smiled, wiped my eyes, and_______ for the miracle of life and the miracle of butterflies.

Butterflies have held a(n) _______ place in my heart ever since I _______ my mum when she was only 55 years old. She used to _______ it when the butterflies would _______ near her while she tended her flower boxes. She would even speak to them gently in her musical _______. After she died I would think of her when I saw one of the wonderful angels ________by. I even told my young children that every time they saw a butterfly, it was their ________ saying “Hello” from Heaven.

When today’s butterfly ________ to say “Hi”, I once again felt a ________ beyond words. I felt like it was my mum showing her love. I felt like I was ________ on the clouds with her while a thousand angels sang.

Now some may say that I am just a ________ man, but I know this isn’t so. Delusions (幻觉) ________ your life with love. Delusions fill your heart with ________. The next time that you get your own “Hello from Heaven” then don’t ________it. Welcome it into your soul ________. Let it help you to be the people that the loving person wants you to be. Let its love ________ you.