1 . At the age of 16, Einstein failed in several exams because he often played with some bad kids. One weekend morning, Einstein Carried a fishing net and prepared to go fishing with those_______. His father stopped him and said to him calmly. “Einstein, you were spending too much time _______, so you failed in the exams. I’m _______ about your future with your mother.”

“What are you worrying about? Jack and Robert also _______in the exams, but they went fishing as usual.”

“My boy, you can’t think so,” Looking at Einstein, his father said lovingly. “There is a _______ in our hometown. I hope you can listen to it carefully.”

“There were two cats playing on the roof. _______, they fell into the chimney (烟囱). When they climbed out of the chimney, one cat’s face was dirty _______ the other’s was clean. Seeing the dirty-faced cat, the clean-faced one thought its own face was also dirty, so it quickly ran to the riverside and washed its _______. The dirty-faced cat saw the clean-faced one, thinking its own face was clean as well, so it still walked happily in the street.”

“Einstein, _______can be your mirror (镜子). Only you are your own mirror. Some of the kids are not strict with themselves. If you take them to be your mirror, even a ________ person may become stupid.” Hearing this, Einstein’s face turned red. He put down his fishing net and returned to his small room.

After that, Einstein often took himself as a mirror to be________with himself, and kept telling himself, “I am special, so I needn’t be as common as others.” This was why Einstein ________ in his career.

1,000 people have 1,000 kinds of wishes in life. Different wishes will produce different________about life. You can learn from other people, but you can ________ follow others completely.

You must see yourself clearly, and know what you want to get. Your future doesn’t ________ how others act, but on how you are going to act.

2 . When I was a young man, I had a big ego (自负) and very little empathy (同理心). I thought I knew everything. I looked forward to fame and success. I can even remember proudly telling one of my friends in college: “If only everyone listened to me, they would all be happy.” I finally left school, ready to take on the world. Little did I know the world was about to take on me.

In the years following college, instead of success, I found struggles. I had trouble finding work. The jobs I did work at were either temporary or back-breaking and none of them paid well. When my wife and I had children, we were shocked to learn that not one but both of our sons had autis (自闭症) and would need to be taken care of for the rest of their lives. I had no idea why this had happened to us and I was very angry with the world.

In time, however, I began to change. My formerly massive ego was shrinking fast and my empathy was beginning to grow. Instead of finding joy in success, I found it in moments of love. Playing and laughing with my sons brought me so much happiness. My boys taught me more about peace, patience, kindness, joy, and unconditional love than I could have ever learned on my own. I began to share the lessons I learned through my writing and my life.

I finally realized that my purpose in this world had nothing to do with fame or success but everything to do with allowing love and light into my life and sharing it with everyone I could.

4 . Did you ever have a dream, I’m talking about a conscious dream where you would like to see a new future, a different choice of employment and a _______ of your own.

Several years ago I had a dream of _______ a board game (棋类游戏) that would _______ my fortune. After many revisions, the board game was developed. It was a(n) _______ time my dream seemed to come true with sales starting to _______, and my company was also founded.

_______, another new board game came into the _______ and made great progress in sales. Eventually, my company was dissolved (解散). Perhaps for a game developer, the _______ emotions that it never was meant to be will discourage his future dreams of a different life. To me, maybe I didn’t succeed to the level I _______, but there is one thing I’m ________ of: At the very least I turned my dream into reality. If I had never transformed my dream into a ________ and then to action, there wouldn’t have been valuable lessons to be learned from the failure. It may take many ________ but success is only achieved. Once dreams are ________ into action, failure becomes a better action plan in the future. The important ________ here is that success only comes by turning dreams into reality and realizing that the ________ that you fortunately get along the way are only stepping stones to final success.

6 . Having relocated often, I’ve developed a love of de-cluttering (整理). Actually, there have been times when I’ve questioned whether it’s an/a ________. But I’ve concluded that it isn’t. Besides, the habit is just wonderful blessing.

Standing before my wardrobe (衣橱) at least once every couple of months, I consider what can go. Even doing so ________, there’s always something that I no longer love. Perhaps it’s an article of clothing that doesn’t express how I see myself any more or is not the most ________. Maybe it’s something that has ________ through the last few selections and has finally lost its fight to ________ in the wardrobe.

Either way, some clothes ________ at the charity shop. Occasionally such a ________ may see something new-to-me come home from the store. At least I know, though, that the new item adds a different energy to my wardrobe. So it’s ________. If however, I haven’t worn the new item within a few weeks, then it’s ________ that I am not as in love with it as I thought. It’s then donated back to the ________ on the next trip.

De-cluttering does not belong only to wardrobes, though. I also delete old computer files and emails, ________ the recycle bin on my computer daily. That way, when I look at my computer, it is like my wardrobe — only that which serves a purpose remains.

The best form of de-cluttering we can really do is to rid ourselves of outdated ________. Like with all forms of de-cluttering, saying goodbye to thinking patterns that no longer serve us creates ________ to breathe. It also makes room for new ways of thinking. Yes, de-cluttering can ________ all areas of our lives.

I wish you the courage to abandon the parts of your life that no longer ________ you and make space for fresh energy to flow.

The Power of not Giving up

9 . At the age of nine, I was taking swimming lessons at a pool. The day had arrived when I was to be tested to see if I could ______ to a higher level class.

Fifteen of us were to ______ swimming from one side of the pool to the other and back. I watched as my ______ , one by one, tried and failed. Then it was my turn to swim, I mean, my turn to attempt to pass the test. I was about halfway when I got ______ , so I immediately stopped and ______ the side of the pool, ending my test. Our instructor, a college student, was standing ______ me. “Why did you stop?” he yelled, in a less than ______ voice. “I got water in my nose,” I explained.

That’s when this college student ______ me one of life’s great lessons, ______ he probably never realized that. Bending down, he shouted, “So?”

“So?” The question shocked me. It had just seemed reasonable to me that the answer to pain was to remove the thing causing the ______ . My nine-year-old brain had not understood the fact that a valuable ______ is worth achieving, however difficult to get there. Recognizing that, I was ______ nothing would keep me from completing the test. In fact, I did it rather easily on my next attempt. Seeing me ______ the test, almost all the others did so as well.

Life is a journey, and the road won’t ______ be easy. We have to focus on the final destination, not the ______ along the road.