Make a Wish List

Most of us know of New Year’s Resolutions, where one sets intentions for the year ahead. But too often, people make their resolutions     1     — “I will no longer eat biscuits left at my desk”— and then feel unhappy. In the cold month of January, the last thing you need is to     2     your energy further by setting up a series of battles with yourself. And if you break a resolution, you feel     3    , which is a rubbish way to start the year. What you need instead are things to look forward to.

So instead, try a wish list. This involves writing down 100 things you would like to do in the year ahead. The items can be enormous or tiny, ranging from “Climb Everest” to “buy a new pencil sharper”. The main thing is that at some point it has     4     to you as something that you would like to do.

The key here is — write it down.

Do you feel any resistance to the ideas? If so, ask yourself why. What is wrong with     5     what you would like to do? Try not to say to yourself: “I can’t I don’t have the money/time/energy/skills.” Just write it down.

It helps to be     6    , so rather than “Get outdoors”,     7     a place you would like to visit. And take your time when creating it — a wish list is not built in a day. Think about it, polish it and     8     it.

Finally, you have your list. And what a work of beauty it is. Here are all the things that you would like to do. Remember to     9     them up where you can see them; let yourself consider how they can be accomplished. You’ll be amazed that so many of your dreams can be realized though the simple trick of writing them down and     10     to them.

Happiness is not natural.It is a here human construct. A state of contentment(let alone happiness) is     1     by our genetic design because it would lower our guard against possible threats to our survival.

Chasing happiness is like chasing an elusive ghost, but the positive thinking industry claims to know its secrets.Self-help was popularized by Norman Vincent Peale, a colorful American pastor,       2    by several Republican presidents, including Richard Nixon and Donald Trump. He invented “positive thinking'", a concept now deeply embedded in our culture and steadily growing in influence.The global personal development industry was valued at S38.28 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1%.

Popular films and books are full of     3     inspirational statements about how all you need to do is believe in yourself and then you'll be able to achieve anything in life. This is simply, and obviously, not true. I don't think there is a need to explain that many obstacles and misfortunes in life are inevitable, or unsurmountable. Our ancestors knew this, and many philosophical and religious traditions are based on the     4     that being alive is a very challenging task,which comes with significant amounts of suffering. It goes without saying that we should do all we can to maximize our sense of well-being and minimize our suffering, but the end result cannot be a state of     5     happiness.We are not designed that way.

The self-help genre is not a homegeneous beast, however. It is,in fact, ironie how self-help books on happiness and those on how to make it big in life are lumped together in the same bookshop shelves, given that many of the former tell us that caring too much about the latter is the main     6     to happiness.

The inevitable clash between mandatory     7     and the realities of our existence comes with a heavy psychological price. It could be argued that positive psychology blames those who are suffering for their     8     ,as it is based on the misconception that unhappiness is entirely avoidable.It follows therefore that an unhappy person must be inadequate and incompetent.Positive psychology encourages people who are struggling with a particular goal to persevere in the face of unfavorable odds, which is much more     9     psychologically in the long run than accepting defeat.

I believe that coming to     10    with life as it is,and not the happiness industry tells us it could be, will make us happier, and we will feel more at peace with ourselves and with the world. Unfortunately, the devil always has the best tunes.

Things I’ve Learned From My First Year Of High School

I just finished my first year of high school, and it has been     1     different from middle school. High school has brought me so many different experiences. Some I am grateful for, yet some have not been beneficial. However, all of them have taught me so many different things, and I would not have been able to     2     my first year of high school without them. The things I have learned have been so helpful to me and can also     3     to things outside of school.

1. You’re expected to demonstrate maturity and responsibility

High school teachers won’t     4     “hold your hand” as much as middle school teachers did. Your teachers may move faster through lessons. When you have questions or meet with     5     challenges, it’s important to speak up. If speaking up makes you nervous at first, you can start by using email to build your     6     level and confidence.

High school teachers enforce higher standards, and most don’t tolerate some of the behaviors that were acceptable in middle school. Again, the goal is to prepare you for college and real life. Even if the     7     seems tough at first, remember that you’re learning helpful and important life skills.

2. Find out who your true friends are

Genuine friends are friends that you can tell everything to and they will not tell anyone else without your permission. They are also there whenever you need them, whether that is to rant or you just need a shoulder to cry on. When you find your true friends, stick with them. The thing about friends is: quality over     8    .

To be honest, high school is not easy at first, but with time, you will get to appreciate and     9     everything around your experiences. The memory will never     10    , because it is the most memorable journey. I have learned so much during my first year of high school, and I am sure that I am going to learn a lot more.

When Coca-Cola was first sold in 1886, nobody thought it could be improved. Nearly a century later, in 1985, New Coke was introduced to replace the original recipe of Coke in order to rebrand the product amidst falling sales——Coke was losing customers to Pepsi, whose sweeter taste was finding     1    . Unfortunately, the Coca-Cola Company saw a significant drop in sales soon after the release of New Coke. Some customers just preferred the “classic” recipe. The old adage(格言), “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” seems to apply here.

Something similar is happening with A Bite of China, a     2     food documentary focusing on the stories, traditions and culture surrounding interesting regional dishes from around China. The first two seasons of the show saw great success. However, when the third season began last month, the reviewers were not so “sweet”. With an entirely new production team, Season Three steers away from(偏离) the show’s core focus on     3     dishes and towards intimate life stories, non-food-related subject matter and even product placement(植入广告).

In the first episode of Season Two, a teenager in the countryside collects honey high up in a tree. The scene is stunningly filmed, telling a moving story about the dangerous     4     to which people go to gather food for their families. In the third season, however, the focus is taken almost completely away from the food. In one of its most infamous episodes, DIY lipstick using questionable ingredients bought online is     5    . Viewer response has been swift and severe, with several commentators wondering whether it is still suitable to call the show a food documentary. The production crew have     6     the changes, claiming that the innovation is meant to keep the show fresh and interesting to an expanding audience. While this may     7     in part, to explain the show’s creative differences from previous seasons, it doesn’t     8     the show’s declining professionalism, which has led to some silly mistakes such as mixing up ingredients or confusing the correct names of regional dishes.

Innovation is generally     9     in industries big and small, but a winning formula that has popular     10     is not necessarily something that requires changes. Innovation is a tool often best used when a new direction is called for. By trying to reinvent the wheel, one might just end up with a flat tire. It’s time that A Bite of China took a page out of Coca-Cola’s playbook and returned to the classic recipe, where success has never tasted so sweet.

Probably everyone dreams of having a great career, but first let’s     1    what this means. When thinking about what makes a career great, many ideas may    2     in your head, such as the desire for money, power, or fame. Different people might have different opinions about this, but wouldn’t it be kind of greedy to focus on money and fame     3    on something more meaningful? Please close your eyes and think of someone professional and successful. It could be a famous entrepreneur, a great leader, a scientist or an artist, or a teacher who     4    you. My choice would be Marie Curie, who discovered     5    . For me, she is great not just because she was world-famous, but because she made great contributions to mankind. Being a female scientist was much less common in her time, but in spite of this she devoted her life to her career. So I    6     that if you want a great career, you need to     7    yourself to something meaningful. I believe all great careers have this    8    .

Answer this truthfully... are you really living your life? Or are you pretty good at existing, flowing with, and reacting to things as they happen? Better yet, are you steering at the helm, taking personal responsibility, or are you sitting in the passenger seat, letting others decide for you?

You have the     1     of deciding who you want to be every single day you wake up. It is the people who have mastered the art of living happily and peacefully that have    2     this code, the ones who wake up content and taking responsibility for their actions.

If you feel     3     or lost at sea, whatever it is, you have to accept a portion of responsibility for where you are. You are not responsible for the beliefs you hold based on things people have told you, but you     4     for dealing with them.

The road to learning how to take personal responsibility can be a difficult one, but start simple, and then begin to tackle the more difficult aspects.

Open Your Sails and Be Willing to Fail

When was the last time you took the courage to really open your sails? To be vulnerable and willing to fail?

Opening your sails means that you seek out new,     5     and uncertain events to develop yourself. Wouldn’t it be nice to raise the tide for the other boats and seize amazing opportunities? Imagine if you could just forget all about what’s negative and just focus on being in the moment.

Move Forward with Intention

As you sail through life, are you making intentional goals and plans, or are you simply letting things happen and watching life pass by without    6     hold of the moments?

To start taking personal responsibility, work on goal setting. When possible, set SMART goals so that you can     7     your progress as you move through them. When you know when and how you should be completing goals, it will be easier to     8     away the difficulty and take responsibility for all you have and haven’t done to achieve them.

Live in the Moment

As you’re    9     the ups and downs on the ocean of your life, are you really honing in on each present moment, or are your thoughts focused on the past and future? Are you    10     in the mistakes others made that forced you into a difficult position?

Stop blaming other people or situations if you really want to relish each moment in your life. Start taking personal responsibility for each thought and emotion that passes through you. Stop reacting and start analyzing.