1 . Mark and his friends decided to visit Mount Matterhorn, a beautiful mountain in Europe this year. It can not only be _________ from countless viewpoints, but also offered a pyramid-shaped peak.

Since it was a very hard climb to the top, they _________ to make camp at the last possible spot with one of the most extraordinary views, and decided to _________ the next day, not intending to finish the whole climb.

While Mark was _________ how a handful of people were making their way to the _________, he changed his mind and invited his friends to join him. _________, no one was willing because it was too dangerous, and they were _________ with where they were. Luckily, there was a group of climbers who were just _________ past and were on their way to the top. Mark quickly asked them if he could join them, and he was _________.

When they eventually reached the top, Mark was __________ as it’s so beautiful and it’s not at all that __________ as told. A climber next to him, pointing his finger at the __________ where Mark and his friends and many others had set their camps, smiled and explained. “You see, most people in the crowd right there end up satisfied in the __________ of their journey.” continued the man. “Many of them never think that they have the potential to achieve more, so they remain part of the crowd their whole life.”

Hearing that, Mark __________ how many times he was like those who have a(n)__________ they want to reach but not follow through till the end.

Once upon a time, there was a young woman       1     worked for a businessman living high up on the hill. It was part of her daily work to walk down the hill with her two pots (罐子) to collect water from a river. With time, one of the pots got a small crack (裂缝). But she decided to keep       2     (use) the pot.

Every day when she reached the house, the cracked pot would be only half full while the other one was full to       3     top. As years went by, the cracked pot saw       4     (he) as a failure and one day he spoke to the lady,“I apologise for my defects. The crack has made me useless.”The lady replied,“I would like you     5     (look) at the road we've taken.”

Next time when the lady carried the water up to the hill, the cracked pot       6     (notice) on his side of the track that beautiful flowers were growing, while the other side was still dry. The woman said,“I took advantage     7     your crack to water those flowers. Without you being just the way you are, the track uphill would not have this       8     (beautiful).

And the cracked pot       9     (sudden) understood and was overjoyed! Every one of us     10     (be) unique and we all have our own defects. But it is those little defects that make us.

3 . Signs That You Are Growing

Growing is a lifelong process. Here are the signs that show that you are actually growing and not getting stuck in the process.

    1    

Often, we see how badly people look when they get overly upset due to unimportant things. So the first sign of maturity (成熟) is letting the small things go and not getting angry over a tiny detail that didn’t go as you planned.

You start forgiving and understanding other people

When we are young, we are often unforgiving. As we mature, we are better able to understand the world beyond black and white.     2    . It enables us to look beyond the obvious and let go of simple judgments. We begin to understand better that others have complex (复杂的) lives and personalities, and so we become more willing to forgive their mistakes.

You always complete things that matter

Immature people don’t know when to commit (承诺) themselves and their energy or resources are always not well employed.     3    . In this way, they can often keep their promises and honor their commitments.

You accept the possibility of being wrong

    4    . They are always able to accept the possibility that they are wrong, that they don’t know something, because there is always more to learn.

Being mature is knowing that you are always growing up. You are never done learning and developing. This means that you don’t set yourself up as the highest authority.     5    .

4 . I’ve had some pretty serious issues with some people in my community recently. As a result. I stopped away from them and did my best to _______ them. But the emotions that I felt from those events continued to _______ me and it began destroying the relationships in other parts of my life. I ended up making the _______ with people I really cared about.

Yesterday, I was _______ to attend a conference of community because of a major work event. 1 was _______ about this event for days and it was pretty _______ when I first saw the people I _______ with at the conference.

_______ all of this, the strangest yet most _______ thing happened to me: there were no ________ or drama with anyone. Some of the people didn’t even know who I was and it was ________ that a lot of people have moved on from the events. There wasn’t anything to worry about anymore. No one was holding ________ against me. I looked at them during the ________ and apologized in my head and ________ them. After doing this, I felt ________ in myself.

Through my recent practice in compassion, I ________ that when you forgive others, you ________yourself as well. This important ________ on forgiveness helps me to ________ things from a bigger view. I know people still ________ me during that time. I wish them the best life that they can have. And then, I move on.

5 . Have you ever felt like others don’t understand your pain when they seem to be living a happy life? You’re not alone in feeling this way, but the truth is that happiness takes work.    1    

Live in the present moment

Your past is important to learn from.    2     At the end of the day, though, the only thing that exists outside of your head is the present. In order to ground yourself in the now, you can practise noticing what’s around you, how you’re feeling, why you’re feeling that way, etc.

Be kind to others

    3     While you may not be at a place to help them financially (经济上), offering a smile or a kind word can help them feel better about where they’re in life. When others see you show kindness, they’ll also be more likely to do so.

Keep your mind open

Having an open mind is important for your growth. You may be right about something, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to look at it.    4     You are sure to learn something as long as you stay open to difficult conversations.

    5    

You’ll hear people say “I had that idea” every time you see someone create something great. Everyone had the idea for Facebook first. The reason Mark Zuckerberg got rich off it is that he went out and did it, while everyone else was talking about it. Ideas are useless if you don’t act on them. Less thinking, more doing.