2 . It was nearly dark; the sun was dropping down the mountains far away. Little Tom came back home, with tears in his eyes.

“What’s the matter, Tom? How’s your trip?” His mother asked with a big smile. “I failed. The mountain is so high and full of big or small stones on the way, I still go ahead. But I was tired and it was so late that I had to come back.” Tom cried. “It doesn’t matter, you are only 14 years old after all. You will have another chance.” His mother said. “But, standing at the top of the mountain is my dream!” Tom said. His father came over and asked, “Did you see the green trees on your way to the mountain?” “Sure, and there were a lot of beautiful flowers by the side of the road.” Tom replied. “Did you hear the birds singing?” His father asked. “There were many kinds of birds singing in the trees, and the sound was very sweet.” Tom said. “Did you feel the beauty of nature?” His father asked. “Yes, the blue sky, the white clouds, the green trees and the colorful flowers made a nice picture.” Tom answered. “That’s enough!” His father smiles and said, “Please remember, my son. For often, achieving what you expect is not the most important thing. Although you didn’t reach the top of the mountain, you got a lot on the way.”

It is true that not every goal will be achieved, not every job will end up with a success, and not every dream will come true. The most beautiful scenery is on the way.

3 . I know what courage looks like. I saw it on a flight I took six years ago, and only now can I speak of it without tears filling my eyes at the memory.

Our flight left the Orlando Airport one Friday morning. But immediately upon the take-off, it was clear that something was wrong. The aircraft was bumping (颠簸) up and down. All the experienced travellers, including me, looked around with knowing (会意的) smiles. If you fly much, you see these things and learn to act calmly about them. However, we did not remain calm for long.

Minutes after we were in the air, our plane began falling quickly. The pilot soon made a serious announcement. “We are having some difficulties,” he said. “Our indicators show that the control system has failed. We will be returning to the Orlando Airport. The flight attendants will prepare you for a bumpy landing. Also, if you look out of the windows, you will see that we are dumping (倾倒) fuel from the airplane. We want to have as little on board as possible in the event of a rough touchdown.” In other words, we were about to crash. Many travellers looked visibly frightened now. No one faces death without fear, I thought.

Then a couple of rows to my left, I heard a still calm voice, a woman’s voice, speaking in an absolutely normal conversational tone. I had to find the source of this voice. All around, people cried. Many screamed. Finally, I saw her. In this state of complete confusion and lack of order, a mother was talking to her child. The woman, in her mid-30s, was staring full into the face of her daughter, who looked to be four years old. The child listened closely, sensing the importance of her mother’s words. The mother’s eye held the child so fixed that she seemed untouched by the sounds of grief and fear around her.

Finally, I leaned over and could hear this soft sure voice with the tone of comfort. Over and over again, the mother said, “I love you so much. Remember, no matter what happens, I love you always.” Fortunately, our landing gear (起落架) held at last and our touchdown was not a tragedy.

However, the voice I heard that day never faded. That mom showed me what a real hero looks like.

5 . For years, I played around with writing. I wrote when I felt like it. Then one day, a friend asked me what my dream was. When I said it was to be a writer, he said these words that changed my life, “You don’t have to want to be a writer. You are a writer; you just need to write.” So I started calling myself a writer. Everywhere I went, I introduced myself as “Jeff Goins, Writer,” and even put it in email signatures and on my Facebook page. And you know what? I started acting like it. Eventually, I even began to believe it. It turns out that sometimes you do have to fake it before you make it.

The lesson here is simple: If you wait for someone to give you permission to start following your dream, you’ll be waiting for a long time. You have to begin before you think you’re ready.

After I decided to pursue my dream, I still had to find the time to do it. Working a full-time job and having a wife and other things to do, I didn’t have enough free time. I had to find time to write. For me, that meant getting up early. Like, 5:00 a.m. early. Every morning, I would wake up, get my coffee, and write for two hours. At first, this was difficult; I had to force myself out of bed and downstairs before the sun rose. But eventually, it became a habit. I did it without even thinking about it. And soon, what started as a discipline became a daily joy.

By doing this, I learned the excuse I had given myself — “I don’t have enough time” — wasn’t true. I did have enough time; it was just hiding in “inconvenient” places.

These days, most people I meet are talking about their dreams. However, they’re doing it all wrong. They think they need to take a huge leap out into the unknown when, in fact, the opposite is true. So if you have a dream, just take action. And don’t say you don’t have time for it.

6 . As you read, remember: gifts from the heart are the best ones you’ll ever receive.

According to legend (传说), a young man while moving about the desert came across a spring of delicious clear water. The water was so sweet that he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to an elder who had been his teacher. After a four-day journey he gave the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.

Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was very smelly. It had become no longer fresh because of the old leather container. The student asked his teacher, “Master, the water was smelly. Why did you pretend to like it?”

The teacher replied, “You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter.”

I think we understand this lesson best when we receive gifts of love from young children. Whether it’s a piece of paper or a ruler, the natural and proper response (反应) is appreciation and we express thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.

Gratitude (感激) doesn’t always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling in it. We should tell ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.

It is universally accepted that filial duty (孝道) is a important virtue in China. It means respecting and caring parents and the elderly. Take my parents as an example, after my grandma passed away last year, my parents spent much more time chat with my grandpa, going out for a walk with him and cooking him delicious food. At first, my grandpa seemed to be happy. And as time went by, he became uneasy, because he was not used to leading so a comfortable life. Therefore, my parents encouraged him to attend some activity in our community. They also encouraged her to go to a drawing class in a school for the old, which gave my grandpa a great sense of achievement. He becomes very happy again.

My parents set a good example to me. In my opinion, the real filial duty is giving the old that they really need.