1 . For one Wisconsin father of three, being 45 years old hasn’t stopped him from performing 3, 000 push-ups while competing in a marathon. _________, Nate Carroll set a new world record for _________ 1.5 million plus push-ups over the course of a single year.

When Nate Carroll _________ his mission on June 14, 2020, he had two _________. First, he hoped to teach his children a lesson about the power of perseverance (坚持) by _________ an example to them. But in addition to being a _________ role model for his children, Carroll also devoted his time to _________ money for a charity.

With a full-time job, finding the time in his _________ to clock thousands of push-ups per day was one of Carroll’s biggest challenges.

“To _________ time to do 4,000 push-ups is impossible.” he told the Wisconsin State Journal. “There is a fact you need to __________. You have to weave that into your day.”

And he did push-ups whenever a (n) __________ presented itself.

In order to set a new Guinness World Record, Carroll has been __________ documenting his accomplishments both in a logbook and with video throughout his year-long __________.

“Set a goal, and try your best to __________ it,” he told Fox News. “Make it who you are, not something you do. That way, when life throws obstacles in your way and offers you __________ excuses to stop or says it’s too difficult, you find a way to persevere in spite of difficulties.”

2 . Two tickets. Only two tickets to the big quarter-finals basketball game. Three pairs of eyes all focused on the tickets in Dad’s, outstretched hand. Marcus, the oldest, spoke out the question running through everyone’s mind: “Only two tickets? But, Dad, which of us gets to go with you?”

“Yeah, Daddy, who gets to go?” repeated Caleb, the youngest.

“Dad, can’t you get any more tickets?” I asked. I might be the in-between sister, but I was just as eager as my basketball-crazy brothers were for a night out with Dad. “I’m afraid not,” Dad answered. “I guess I’ll have to figure out a fair way of choosing among the three of you by tomorrow morning. I’ll have to decide who deserves it most. Let me sleep on it.”

The next morning, Dad and Mom went to the library. And he said we should all get started on our Saturday chores as soon as we finished breakfast.

“Chores!” Marcus said, “How can we concentrate on chores when the big game is eleven hours away?” Then he and Caleb went downstairs to play basketball.

I looked at the breakfast table in front of me. Well, it seemed that Saturday morning chores started right there. I did dishes first. Then I lifted the lid (盖子) on the garbage container and placed the full plastic bag inside.

As began to replace the lid on the garbage container, a white envelope on the inside of the heavy black plastic lid caught my attention it must have stuck to the lid by accident. But then I noticed that he envelope was actually taped to the inside of the lid, and someone had written the word “Congratulations!” on the front of the envelope.

I opened the envelope and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “To the one who deserves to go,” the paper read, and inside of it was a ticket to the basketball game!

4 . Jasen Bracy was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer when he was only one year old. Though he received several treatments, they all failed to save his eyesight, and at the age of 7, Jasen was completely blind. But Jasen never hesitated about following his dreams, no matter how tough they may have seemed. And it was this ambitious attitude that won him the role of captain on a local football team.

Jasen grew up playing football at least three times a week. He fell in love with the sport and knew that he wanted to give it a try himself. He started practicing with his dad, and two years ago, when his parents gifted him his own iPhone, he started contacting all the football team until they got a phone call from David Nichols, coach of the Modelo Raiders.

David admitted him the first time he saw Jasen. He asked himself “how am I going to do this?” but after seeing the boy play, he realized the kid “could do anything”. What Jasen lacks in vision is compensated for by his super spatial awareness and memory, so he knows exactly where his teammates are supposed to be, and throwing the ball accurately. Most of the time, the players on the opposing team don't even know Jasen is blind, so they treat him like any other player.

“As a leader, I have to take control of this team, leading them through good and bad times. And I’m as tough as iron. I’m going to play hard,” said Jasen.

“He shows us there’s nothing we can’t do, and that reflects well on the other kids. Ever since he joined us, we’re been attracted by him,” David said, “He changes our whole attitude toward life.”

6 . I remember my high school English teacher telling me not to apply to Cornell University. My teacher said they wouldn’t accept me and even if they did I wouldn’t be able to _________ it through the years. I almost _________ but a few days later I came across Ivan Foldfarb, a former teacher, who told me _________, “You apply. You can do it” His words made all the _________. I put in my application and was _________.

Too often we think it’s our _________ to help make someone aware of “reality”. We think we must point out how _________ the job market is as well as how bad the economy is. This world never lacks “ _________ ” and pessimists. It calls for more optimists and encouragers who say, “I believe in you. Have the _________, and you will have the power to make it happen. We may __________ lots of barriers, but we’ll get the project finished. Even if you fail, it’ll lead to something more __________” I know that every one of us loves working for and with people who __________ the best in us. We love being around people who bring us __________ and uplift us. __________ we’ll always remember the negative people, we will always treasure those who encourage us.

So share encouragement. It __________ and we all need it.

My wife, our two kids under 4 and I were in the post office a few weeks ago. We have to go there every month to pay various fees. I was being served when an old man in his eighties, with obvious, significant health issues, was waiting to pay his electricity bill. He was struggling to walk on a walking stick, and his hands and arms were shaking all the time. I knew by feeling that the old man was in trouble. After asking, I figured out that the old man's problem was that he was 20 cents short.

The lady behind the counter had the old man in such a state, looking for a further 20 cents, and he was shaking, obviously looking upset. But instead of letting the man go, she insisted that if his bill wasn't going to be paid in full, the electricity company would probably give a fine on his next bill for unpaid fees.

Hearing this, I got really upset. So I went over and asked the lady behind the counter to give ALL of his money back to the old man and I handed her my debit card and paid the bill for him.

The old man was asking “why are you doing this?” as he began crying. I told him because it was the right thing to do. He thanked me over and over and smiled at my two kids on his way out of the post office.

The best part of this event was that the old man walked out of the post office and straight to Woolies and bought a full basket of food, which he wouldn't have been able to buy had I not done that at the post office.

It happened that we met this old man again in our community.

Our family decided to help improve the old man's situation.

8 . My mother enters her ninth decade. Thankfully, she is blessed with good health.

I still remember ten years ago when she turned 80, she surprised my brother and me with what she described as “independent birthday”.

One day she informed us she'd booked a seven-night trip to Turkey. Alone. Because she had never been. Of course, that was absurd. There was no way my brother and I could allow that. A weak, little old lady wandering the streets of Istanbul on her own, not speaking a word of Turkish, with no knowledge of the laws and customs of the land—it was out of the question!

She paid no attention to us. Off she went. When she returned, she told us it had been a wonderful success. As it turned out, she had barely spent any time alone, after hiring a taxi driver to show her around Istanbul for some days. He took her to all the sites—the markets, churches and restaurants. He introduced her to a blanket seller, “a lovely fellow,” and she bought some blankets. The seller took her address details and promised to ship them to Canada. They would be arriving in three or four weeks. My mother beamed (眉开眼笑) as she told this story. The blanket seller and my mother apparently built a friendship and she told him to drop by if he were ever in Canada.

To our great shock, her blankets did arrive some weeks later, along with a lovely note from the seller Mustafa. To our even greater surprise, the following year Mustafa himself arrived in Canada. He called our mother to inform her be was in Ottawa.

“I invited him over and he came by for a cup of tea. They drink a lot of tea in Turkey,” my mother told my horrified brother and me.

Her trip of independence seems to be thoughtfully based on a realization that life is to be lived. It reminded me of the line from The Shawshank Redemption: “Get busy living or get busy dying.”